MY UNCLE’S MUSTACHE &

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA (CTM)

Now the question is what my uncle’s mustache has got to do with the famous Chicken Tikka Masala!

For some years in the recent past I have been hearing about this great ‘English’ invention of an original Indian dish called CTM, which has now come to be known as "Britain's True National Dish".

One can read about a hundred odd yarns on how CTM is a true Bangladeshi recipe, while others talk of its original limey (English) version and so on. Apparently someone is running a bull shitting industry, fully loaded with facts about CTM. The truth is that the CTM was and is one hundred percent a dish of Indian origin.

Perhaps little story from my past which (involves my dear uncle Mr.Bhisham Varma & and his sexy moustache) will help all to discover the truth behind CTM.

The story begins in early 60’s in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon where my mentor, my guru, my uncle Bhisham Varma lived…

He was wild restless & rebellious from the very beginning. At the age of 21 he had three Harley Davidson of his own. He had a knack for repairing cars; motor cycles and all kinds of motors. It is because of these qualities my father wanted to send him to Rolls Royce for training on completion of his graduation. He was studying in Hindu College-Delhi. Due to his rebellious nature (during the final practical examination) he tried to reason with his professor defending his own method of solving the practical which was different than what his professor had taught, after lots of reasoning and altercation, when the professor didn’t agree with him then my uncle told the professor to his face, “Sir, If you have not seen London, it doesn’t mean London doesn’t exist”. The livid professor ‘failed’ him. After this incident he lost faith in the academic system and refused to study any further.

…He owned and operated a chain of Indian Restaurants in the Middle East and London. He was a versatile genius. His imposing personality was aptly complimented by a moustache which he sported. He was a national swimming champion, and commercial pilot turned Restaurateur. He was a visionary and an entrepreneur of his times, who worked hard to become one of the richest and most influential Indian Businessman in Lebanon.

As I finished my schooling he called me to Beirut and there I lived with him for over 8 years. Under his wings & fold, I learnt a lot and more to became a thorough hospitality professional.

Beside the restaurant chain, we also ran a very large flight kitchen operations that catered to Air India, PAN AM and BOAC (now British Airways). In fact, outside India we were the largest Indian food caterers in the world. Our Indian restaurants were the single most popular and renowned chain in Europe and the Middle East, with branches in Cyprus and London. It was called ‘Sirena- Indian Restaurants and Flight Kitchens’.

It must be mentioned at this moment that PANAM & BOAC use to load our Indian Food for their global network, including India. Mr.Bhisham Varma’s association with Air India was well knit and strong. We had the likes of JRD Tata and Bobby Kooka, Air-India's then Commercial Director visiting our restaurant whenever they were in Lebanon.

Mr.Bhisham Varma started his restaurant business with six partners to become one of the most distinguished restaurateurs in the world in sixties and seventies. He also owned a huge restaurant and recreation center called COCODI, situated next to Beirut International Airport (now known as Rafic Hariri International Airport).

I remained under the tutelage of my uncle for eight years,during which I observed, prepared, entertained and once in a while even tried Indian cuisine -Life was good, I was happy.

It was in Beirut, for the first time, that I noticed the name TCTM on the food menu. TCTM is a spicy curry in which boneless tender pieces of Tandoori Chicken are cooked. Since we had limited number of Chefs of Indian origin, every evening we kept a decent stock of half baked Tandoori chicken to meet the rush (a common practice even today) next day, we used the remaining tandoori chicken to make CTM. The bones were removed, the meat was then diced and cooked with onion, tomatoes, green chilies, garlic & ginger paste and finished with yogurt marinade, which is how the CTM gets its rich red color and unique taste. This ‘creation of compulsion’ was called TCTM.

The CTM was actually a dish born out of necessity and ingenuity of Indian Chefs who ventured across the seas in search of promising pastures. Perhaps they had the recipe in their minds not knowing that it is destined to become the most served and sought after dish globally. The good thing is that each claim is as interesting as the other. But we must pause and think and ask ourselves- Just-what can go wrong when these simple ingredients (onion, tomatoes, green chilies’, garlic - ginger paste and yogurt) are married, especially in the Indian cuisine & context.

In 1969 when I went to Hounslow-London to look after ‘Sirena’, TCTM was added to the menu. It was an instant success and soon it became a hot seller on the menu. The standard order with TCTM was stuffed parantha and half Chicken Tandoori.

TCTM was available at Sirena only till 1994.After which Sirena in London closed the same year, and I have enough feed back to believe that TCTM was in demand for a long time and that every restaurant made efforts to develop their own version of TCTM. Some Bangladeshi restaurants even went to the extent adding tomato soup to the replicate the taste. Sirena is still open and operating in Beirut under the name 'India'.

The purpose of dedicating this blog to CTM and my uncle is to clear the haze (In all humility) that surrounds this humble Indian staple dish and its genesis, also put to rest all the feverish claims and controversies that revolve around CTM.

My Chef Pratap Singh, first for many years in Beirut and subsequently in London who prepared thousands of portions of CTM during 1969-73 will happily vouch for my words. Our efforts and hard work made Sirena one of the best Indian restaurants in London where the most popular dish use to be TCTM. Yet another hot favorite creation was, Seekh Kabab Rolls - Crispy Fried Paratha with Seekh Kabab, chopped onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes , served with mint chutney.

Those days we had a tie up with Air India, they provide us with menu covers for our restaurant. For reasons of posterity I still have one copy of the menu cards. A scan of which is placed below for all to see and draw their own conclusion about TCTM that was made by Sirena chefs and served with pride in London during 1969 to 1994.

Ah! yes the Brits can now officially call it the "Britain's True National Dish", I give them my permission to do so.– Enjoy!

ENDS

Written by Anil Chak & Virat Varma