ExplainerBattling over butter chicken: why is beloved Indian dish at centre of a legal fight?
- Two New Delhi restaurants have found themselves at legal loggerheads over who invented butter chicken – and it’s not just about bragging rights
- It’s up to the Delhi High Court to decide which can claim the title, in a ruling that’s bound to benefit the winner given the dish’s popularity
Earlier this month, Moti Mahal, one of New Delhi’s oldest and best-known restaurant chains, dragged another relatively new outlet called Daryaganj to court. Managers in both restaurants claim that their ancestors pioneered the recipe.
1. What’s the history of butter chicken?
Butter chicken dishes are thought to come from the kitchen of Moti Mahal, which is also credited with contributing heavily to tandoori cuisine.
The first Moti Mahal in independent India opened in 1947 as a partnership in the Delhi locality of Daryaganj. As the story goes, it was here that butter chicken was invented by adding cooked chicken pieces to a gravy with tomatoes, butter, cream and spices.
The heirs of men who worked in that first restaurant are now at loggerheads over who gets the inventor tag.
2. Who’s involved in the legal battle?
Moti Mahal told the Delhi High Court that its founder, Kundan Lal Gujral, crafted the dish because he was concerned about unsold chicken turning dry. He came up with the idea of adding chicken to a butter-rich gravy to keep it soft and moist.
Daryaganj claims 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.