Ali Ahmed Aslam, the self-proclaimed inventor of chicken tikka masala and a Pakistani immigrant turned restaurant entrepreneur in Scotland, died at the age of 77, according to his son Asif Ali.

Hundreds of condolences were paid to Mr. Ali, who was well-known in Glasgow, where his restaurant Shish Mahal was opened in 1964. Customers remembered him as a “gentleman” who served delectable curries.

Aslam was born in Pakistan and migrated to Glasgow at the age of 16, eventually becoming a star of the city’s Indian cuisine scene. According to Shish Mahal, Aslam developed the chicken tikka masala recipe by chance in the early 1970s after a customer complained that the chicken tikka was too dry. Aslam quickly whipped together a curry sauce with spices and a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, which he had been eating while suffering from a stomach ulcer.