Delhi HC to decide who invented Butter Chicken, Dal Makhani - Moti Mahal or Daryaganj

NEW DELHI: Who invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani? the question has come up for adjudication in the Delhi High Court with restaurant chain Moti Mahal suing renowned eatery Daryaganj for taking the credit for the two world famous dishes.

The proprietors of Moti Mahal have claimed before the court that it was their predecessor Late Kundal Lal Gujral who invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani and restaurant chain Daryaganj is “misleading people into believing” that their predecessor was the inventor of the two dishes.

The plaintiffs sued the owners of Daryaganj restaurants for claiming that there is a relation between Daryaganj restaurants and Moti Mahal whose first branch was opened in the Daryaganj neighbourhood of Old Delhi.

Moti Mahal’s owners have sought to restrain Daryaganj restaurants’ proprietors from claiming that their predecessor Late Kundan Lal Jaggi was the inventor of these two dishes, which are now world famous, and from using the tagline “by the inventors of butter chicken and dal makhani” on its website www.daryaganj.com and various social media websites including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter and in print and electronic media.

Justice Sanjeev Narula recently issued a summons to the owners of Daryaganj restaurants and asked them to file a written statement in response to the suit along with an affidavit of admission or denial of documents of the plaintiffs. The court listed the matter for further hearing on May 29. For so many years, the two restaurant chains have claimed that that they invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani.

In its suit, Moti Mahal’s owners have claimed that their predecessor Gujral created the first Tandoori Chicken and later went on to create Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani and brought it to India after partition. They claim that in the early days, the unsold leftovers of chicken could not be stored in the refrigeration and Gujral began worrying about his cooked chicken drying out. He thus invented a sauce with which he could rehydrate them.

His invention was ‘the makhani’ or butter sauce (a gravy with tomatoes, butter, cream, and some spices) that now gives the dish a tangy and delectable taste, the claim goes. During the hearing, the counsel for Daryaganj restaurants vehemently opposed the claims and contended that the suit was misconceived, baseless and lacking a cause

of action.