Restaurant heirs battle over legacy of Indian dish 'butter chicken'

Dana Forsythe
·2 min read
2
UPI
While butter chicken has been prepared and served for decades around the world, a new trademark lawsuit before the Delhi High Court is seeking to assign ownership to its creation in India. Photo by blandinejoannic/Pixabay

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Similar in taste to the famous Indian dish chicken tikka masala, butter chicken has been a staple in traditional Indian restaurants around the world. The popular dish was first served in Delhi, located in Northern India.

While butter chicken has been prepared and served for decades around the world, a new trademark lawsuit before the Delhi High Court is seeking to assign ownership to its creation in India.

Moti Mahal, one of Delhi's oldest and best-known restaurant chains, recently filed a lawsuit against a newer restaurant called Daryaganj over the dispute. Owners of both of the restaurants claim to have created the recipe for the popular dish.

Traditionally known as murgh makhani, butter chicken is rich in texture and made from curry, spiced tomatoes and butter sauce.

Moti Mahal's lawsuit is seeking $240,000 in damages, alleging Daryaganj owners stole the "look and feed" of its restaurants in addition to claiming ownership over the creation of butter chicken.

The Delhi high court to seek the ]Daryaganj's response in a notice issued on Jan. 16.

Moti Mahal opened in 1947 as a partnership in the Delhi locality of Daryaganj. According to the owners, its founder, Kundan Lal Gujral has long been credited for creating the dish "because he was concerned about unsold chicken turning dry."

Chef and food writer Sadaf Hussain told the BBC that the dish's lore goes back to pre-Independent India and the area known as Peshawar.

There, a young Mokha Singh ran a popular restaurant called Moti Mahal. When India was partiitoned in 1947, Singh and several of his Hindu employees fled Peshawar and moved to the Indian capital.

"Kundan Lal Gujral, his cousin, Kundan Lal Jaggi ,and Thakur Das Mago ran into Singh at a makeshift liquor joint, and convinced him to let them open a new Moti Mahal in Delhi," he told the BBC.

"It was at this small open-air diner, located on the crowded Daryaganj street in the old quarters of Delhi, that butter chicken was born."

Daryaganj owners have claimed that it was actually Kundan Lal Jaggi, a chef in Moti Mahal's kitchen, who created the dish one night to serve a large group of unexpected customers. Jaggi's heir is one of the founders of Daryaganj.

"You cannot take away somebody's legacy. ... The dish was invented when our grandfather was in Pakistan," said Monish Gujral, managing director of Moti Mahal, according to CBS News.

The next court hearing is scheduled for May.