- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Both restaurants have claimed credit to the creation of the popular dish saying the two men who were behind its creation decades ago were partners.
By: Shubham Ghosh
BUTTER chicken — a renowned Indian dish we all have heard about and relish eating. But now, a legal battle has emerged as to who invented it.
The culinary controversy has seen two prominent Indian restaurant chains pitted against each other. The dispute, generating considerable attention in India, involves Moti Mahal, a renowned Delhi-based restaurant brand whose distinguished clientele included India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former American president Richard Nixon.
The lawsuit, initiated by the family behind Moti Mahal, alleges that the curry’s creation can be traced back to the 1930s when the restaurant was originally established in Peshawar in modern-day Pakistan by its founder, Kundan Lal Gujral, before relocating to Delhi. Spanning an extensive 2,752 pages, the legal filing asserts that the rival chain, Daryaganj, has made false claims about inventing the dish and dal makhani, another popular lentil dish rich in butter and cream.
Read: Named after Raj Kapoor, Indian restaurant celebrates Uzbekistan’s love for Bollywood
In addition to the culinary dispute, the Gujral family is seeking $240,000 (£188,287) in damages, accusing Daryaganj of imitating Moti Mahal’s website layout and replicating the overall ambiance of its restaurants, citing similarities in “the look and feel”. The legal clash has become a focal point of discussion, shedding light on the intriguing intersection of gastronomy, history and intellectual property in the culinary world.
“You cannot take away somebody’s legacy … The dish was invented when our grandfather was in Pakistan,” Monish Gujral, managing director at Moti Mahal said, according to Reuters.
Read: UK chef Jake Dryan’s Instagram series explores India’s regional cuisines
Daryaganj — which was established relatively recently in 2019 — counters saying that its late family member, Kundan Lal Jaggi, had partnered with Gujral to open the Delhi restaurant in 1947, and the dish was invented there. According to it, that gives it the right to lay claim to the creation of the popular dish.
Reuters saw a faded, hand-written document with Daryaganj registered more than seven decades ago to support its claim.
The dispute has drawn attention of the Indian TV broadcasters running segments on the dish’s history as well as debates raging on social media.
“It’s an offbeat, unique case. You really don’t know who created the first dish of butter chicken. The court will be hard pressed and will need to rely on circumstantial evidence,” Ameet Datta, an intellectual property lawyer at India’s Saikrishna & Associates, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Testimonies of people who can link the brand to the dish they consumed decades ago could be critical proof, he added.
Butter chicken was ranked 43rd in a list of world’s “best dishes” by TasteAtlas as rated by nearly 400,000 users. It was also the second best Indian food after butter garlic naan bread. The two often make a successful combo for food lovers.
The unique case was first heard by the high court in Delhi last week. The next hearing is scheduled for May.
