Who invented butter chicken? Spicy legal drama erupts in India with Moti Mahal, Daryaganj restaurants’ rival claims

The Moti Mahal and Daryaganj restaurant chains are battling it out in Delhi High Court for the right to be recognised as the famous curry’s inventor

Each accuses the other of falsely laying claim to creating the dish. Observers say it’s a ‘storm in a teacup’ – but it’s certainly good for business

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A waiter serves butter chicken at the Moti Mahal restaurant in New Delhi. Photo: TNS

Published: 12:00pm, 15 Apr 2024Updated: 1:59pm, 15 Apr 2024

Butter chicken, one of India’s most beloved dishes, has become the subject of a spicy legal drama between two prominent Delhi restaurant chains fighting for the right to be declared the inventor of the world-famous curry.

In January, the family behind the famed Moti Mahal restaurants, founded in 1947, filed a 2,752-page lawsuit at the Delhi High Court accusing rival chain Daryaganj of falsely claiming to be the dish’s creator.

Over the past few months, both sides have presented their arguments to the court, with the next hearing set for May.

Moti Mahal owners the Gujral family say it was restaurant co-founder Kundan Lal Gujral who invented the dish.

They are pursuing 20 million rupees (US$240,000) in damages for copyright infringement and unfair competition – further claiming that the Daryaganj chain copied Moti Mahal’s website layout and the ambience of its restaurants.

Daryaganj’s most popular dishes, dal makahani (left) and butter chicken (right). Photo: Amy Sood

The Gujrals also accuse Daryaganj of falsely claiming credit for the invention of a second dish, a lentil stew called dal makhani, which the family says was the brainchild of Kundan Lal Gujral.