Dal Makhani for vegetarians and Butter Chicken for non-vegetarians have been special dishes. These are very popular in large parts of North India including Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. Not only this, there are many fans of these in many provinces of Pakistan too. But both these dishes are currently being discussed due to a case going on in Delhi High Court. The hearing in this case is to be held again today. This case is between two famous restaurant chains of Delhi, Moti Mahal and Daryaganj. Under this, Moti Mahal had filed a case in the High Court saying that Butter Chicken was invented in its restaurant. Kundanlal Gujral, the founder of Moti Mahal, invented it in 1920.
At that time he used to run a restaurant in Peshawar. On the other hand, Daryaganj restaurant chain argues that butter chicken was invented by Kundanlal Jaggi, the founder of their restaurant. He came to Delhi after independence and ran a restaurant here. Daryaganj restaurant chain says that at that time Jaggi and Gujarat were friends and also partners. But Gujral, a resident of Peshawar, used to look after the marketing of this business. In such a situation, only Jaggi had prepared a dish like butter chicken and on that basis, Daryaganj restaurant has a claim. Interestingly, now both are no longer friends. Gujral died in 1997 and Jaggi in 2018.
Meanwhile, a different argument has been given in an article published on the website of Pakistani TV channel Geo News. It says that butter chicken was not invented in Moti Mahal or Daryaganj but in Peshawar. In this way, it is also connected to Pakistan. Moti Mahal restaurant claims that butter chicken, dal makhani and tandoori chicken were invented by its founder Kundanlal Gujral. ​​This information has also been given by Moti Mahal on its website.
Moti Mahal claims that after the discovery of butter chicken, the world of non-veg food has found a new taste. This changed the eating habits of people and this dish of India started being discussed all over the world. The restaurant in Peshawar where he prepared these dishes was named Moti Mahal. In such a situation, when he started his business in India after the partition, he also named it Moti Mahal. It is worth noting that this case between the two famous restaurant chains started in January 2024. Some pictures have been submitted to the High Court in this case by both the parties. Moti Mahal has demanded damages of about two and a half lakh dollars from Daryaganj restaurant.