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‘Who invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani?’ The Delhi High Court may answer this question in the coming days amid a dispute between the Moti Mahal and Daryaganj restaurants, Bar and Bench reported. 

Moti Mahal owners sued the proprietors of Daryaganj restaurant after it used the tagline “Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani“. 

“Daryaganj restaurant is misleading people into believing that it is associated with Moti Mahal, which first opened its doors in the Delhi neighborhood of Daryaganj,” Moti Mahal claimed. 

Judge Sanjeev Narula heard the case on January 16 after the owners of the restaurants in Daryaganj were served with a summons and instructed to respond in writing to the lawsuit within 30 days. 

Additionally, Moti Mahal’s application for an interim injunction was noted by Justice Narula, who scheduled a hearing for May 29, as per Bar and Bench reports. 

Over the years, the two restaurants have been claiming that they invented Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani. 

Daryaganj restaurant claims that Late Kundan Lal Jaggi was the one who originated the concept, but the owners of Moti Mahal claim that their predecessor, Late Kundal Lal Gujral, created the dishes that are now synonymous with Indian cuisine worldwide.

In its lawsuit, Moti Mahal asserted that their ancestor Gujral invented the first Tandoori Chicken, as well as the Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani, which he then brought to India following the division of the country.

They claimed that in the beginning, Gujral worried about his cooked chicken drying out because unsold chicken leftovers could not be kept in the refrigerator. As a result, he created a sauce to help him rehydrate them.

“The invention of Dal Makhani is closely linked with the invention of Butter Chicken. He [Gujaral] applied the same recipe with Black lentils and gave birth to Dal Makhani around the same time,” the lawsuit read as quoted by Bar and Bench. 

“Baseless and lacking a cause of action,” the Daryaganj lawyers labeled the suit while appearing before the court on January 16. 

They said that the original 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).

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Published: 20 Jan 2024, 11:26 AM IST

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