Competition Heats Up as Indian Curry Houses Fight for Butter Chicken Supremacy

A recent court battle in Delhi has brought the origins of butter chicken into question. The lawsuit involves two competing restaurants and families, both claiming to have a lineage with the renowned Moti Mahal restaurant and each calling themselves the inventors of the popular dish. The lawsuit was filed by the family of Kundan Lal Gujral, one of the founders of the original Moti Mahal, who claims that Gujral created the curry and has accused rival chain Daryaganj of falsely taking credit for it. The lawsuit also alleges that Daryaganj has wrongly claimed to have invented dal makhani, another popular dish. The story of the invention of butter chicken dates back to pre-Independent India and the city of Peshawar. Mokha Singh, the owner of a popular restaurant called Moti Mahal, and three of his employees, Kundan Lal Gujral, Kundan Lal Jaggi, and Thakur Das Mago, fled to Delhi after India's partition in 1947. They reunited at a makeshift liquor joint and convinced Singh to let them open a new Moti Mahal in Delhi. It was at this small open-air diner that butter chicken was born out of frugality, mixing leftover tikkas with a thick tomato gravy and butter. The dish became a hit and attracted high-profile customers, including India's first prime minister. The Gujral family faced financial difficulties and had to lease out Moti Mahal in 1960. They later launched a separate chain called Moti Mahal Deluxe and opened franchises across the city. However, in 2019, the grandson of Kundan Lal Jaggi, the second partner, opened a rival chain called Daryaganj and trademarked the description "By the inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani". The owners of Daryaganj argue that Mr. Jaggi played a major role in creating the dishes, while the Gujral family claims that butter chicken was created by Mr. Gujral in Peshawar. The family is now demanding that Daryaganj be restrained from calling themselves the inventors of butter chicken. Food ownership disputes are not uncommon, but they usually have little impact on customers. Dishes become popular and their inventors are often forgotten. The fight for butter chicken is inconsequential because the dish is now found everywhere. What matters is who serves it with better quality. The court would have to rely on circumstantial evidence and testimonies from those who had the dish decades ago to determine who made the first pot. But even then, it may be difficult to settle the issue after so many decades. Regardless of the outcome, both Moti Mahal and Daryaganj are likely to continue flourishing.