In 2001, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declared chicken tikka masala a true British national dish, and the debate over who owns it has not stopped since. This episode separates the two components: the dry, yogurt-marinated chicken tikka cooked in a tandoor that dates to the Mughal Empire of the 1520s, and the creamy tomato masala sauce added centuries later. We explain why yogurt's lactic acid is essential for meat that survives a 900 degree oven and why the original dish had no sauce at all.

Then we take apart the famous Glasgow legend of chef Ali Ahmed Aslam and a can of Campbell's condensed tomato soup, including the admission that the soup detail was invented as a PR stunt. The more supported history involves Bangladeshi lascar sailors who converted fish and chip shops into curry houses and deliberately built gravy-rich dishes fo ...