Chicken tikka masala

The dish many Britons order without opening the menu: pieces of chicken marinated in spices and yogurt, roasted, then served in a creamy tomato sauce. Expect mild, with a gentle warmth rather than any real heat. Its birth is a happy argument. The best-known legend credits chef Ali Ahmed Aslam at the Shish Mahal in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1971, improvising a sauce for a customer who found his chicken tikka too dry; others see it as an adaptation of Delhi's butter chicken. In 2001 the British politician Robin Cook called it a true British national dish. Order it when you want comfort, not a challenge.