The Queen's Official Birthday - Chicken Tikka Masala From the United Kingdom

Currently the UK has no single official national day, although the Queen's Official Birthday is used for this purpose in some contexts. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21st April 1926 making her 96 years old this year. However, in the UK, since 1748, the Queen has a second 'official' state birthday occurring on the second Saturday in June. But, in 2022, it has been moved to Thursday 2 June to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend.

This year's Platinum Jubilee is being celebrated in the entire Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. This is the first time that any British monarch has celebrated a platinum jubilee.

The traditional Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping of the Colour) will be held on Thursday 2nd June 2022. The colour will be trooped by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1200 officers and soldiers from the Household Division will put on a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade, together with hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses. During the parade a Royal Gun Salute will be fired.

As well as there is no single official National Day in the UK, there is not one single national dish of Britain, mainly because the UK is made up of four separate countries, each of which have their own national dishes:

Chicken Tikka Masala in England; Haggis in Scotland; Welsh Cawl in Wales; and Irish Stew in Ireland. But there's also many other traditional meals from the UK that get mentioned among the topic of Britain's national dish, such as the Full Breakfast, Shepherd's Pie and Sunday Roast.

Scottish Haggis, Irish Stew and Welsh Cawl (fom left to right).

But, why is Chicken Tikka Masala the English Favourite? In 2001, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook mentioned the dish in a speech acclaiming the benefits of Britain's multiculturalism, declaring:

"Chicken tikka masala is now a true British national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. Chicken tikka is an Indian dish. The masala sauce was added to satisfy the desire of British people to have their meat served in gravy."

Chicken tikka masala comprises of chunks of roasted marinated chicken known as chicken tikka. The chicken is marinated in a yogurt then baked in a tandoor oven and served in a masala sauce. Enjoy your meal!