There are strange little collections of facts, ideas, statistics, superstitions and strange little notions that come bound together under the heading of conventional wisdom: a completely dodgy view of the world we live in, reinforced and bound together by the fact that most people believe them to be entirely accurate. Just because everyone believes them doesn't make them true, though. Consensus reality isn't actually real. We're aiming to bring you something a little different from the usual article like this, that gives you trivia exaggerated to try and appear interesting. Some, let's face it, you'll have heard before... but we're banking on most being entirely new to you.
15. Chicken Tikka Masala Is An Authentic Indian Dish
Of course it is! Its on every Indian menu in England! And tikka masala is a proper Indian-sounding name.
Except the most popular dish on the Indian takeaway and restaurant menu (it accounts for around 15% of all of the half a million curries eaten in British homes every day) isnt actually from India at all. The recipes as authentic as a three pound note. Legend has it that the CTM came about when a customer at a Glasgow curry house sent back his chicken tikka, claiming that it was too dry. The proprietor (probably grateful that the complaint didnt come accompanied with a headbutt and a string of indecipherable curses) improvised a replacement: adding tomato soup and spices to create the beginnings of a countrywide phenomenon. Ridiculously, its the brand thats popular: the name value attached to the meal, not the meal itself. How do we know this? Because the colour, taste, consistency and spiciness the actual recipe and ingredients of the dish varies wildly across the whole of the UK. A few years ago, The Real Curry Guide forensically tested forty-eight different chicken tikka masala variants from across the country, and found that the one ingredient all of them had in common was chicken.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
