The Delhi High Court is about to settle a legal battle between two Delhi-based restaurants Moti Mahal and Daryaganj. The core of the issue is the question- Who was the true creator of the famous dishes Dal Makhani and Butter Chicken, and now the court may soon provide the answer.
The proprietors of the Daryaganj restaurant have been sued by the owners of Moti Mahal for using the tagline “Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani.” According to Moti Mahal, whose original location was in the Delhi neighbourhood of Daryaganj, the former is “misleading people into believing” that there is a connection between the two businesses.
The court issued a summons to the owners of the Daryaganj restaurant, when the matter was addressed before Justice Sanjeev Narula on 16th January, and demanded that they provide written responses to the claim within a month. Justice Narula set a hearing date of 29th May along with notifying Moti Mahal of the appeal for an interim injunction.
The two restaurants have been claiming to be the creators of Dal Makhani and Butter Chicken for years. The owners of Moti Mahal assert that their founder Late Kundal Lal Gujral was the one who developed the dishes that are now synonymous with Indian food worldwide, whereas the Daryaganj restaurant contends that Late Kundan Lal Jaggi was the one who developed the recipe.
Moti Mahal has insisted in their lawsuit that their ancestor Late Kundal Lal Gujral was the one who invented the first Tandoori Chicken as well as Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani, which he brought to India following India’s partition. They state that in the beginning, Gujral worried about his cooked chicken drying out because unsold chicken leftovers could not be kept in the refrigerator. Therefore, he prepared a sauce to help him re-hydrate them. According to the claim, he invented “the makhani” or butter sauce which is a gravy made with tomatoes, butter, cream, and a few spices which provide a delicious and tangy flavour to the food.
Moti Mahal pointed out, “The invention of Dal Makhani is closely linked with the invention of Butter Chicken. He (Gujral) applied the same recipe with black lentils and gave birth to Dal Makhani around the same time.”
Daryaganj’s attorneys went before the court on 16th January and vigorously disputed the charges, calling the entire suit “baseless and lacking a cause of action.” However, they have not yet filed a response to the litigation. They declared that the accusations stated in the lawsuit are untrue and they have not participated in any misleading representation. They noted that the first Moti Mahal restaurant in Peshawar was founded by the forebears of both parties (Jaggi of the Daryaganj restaurants and Gujral of the Moti Mahal restaurants).
The owners of Moti Mahal were represented by senior advocates Sandeep Sethi, Chander M. Lall, and Shreya Sethi while the owners of the restaurant in Daryaganj were defended by senior counsel Amit Sibal along with lawyers Pravin Anand, Dhruv Anand, Udita, Revanta Mathur, Nimrat Singh and D Khanna.
