A brief history of the dish of Delhi, that swiftly conquered the world, while I try the one by the ‘inventors’
What’s the greatest Delhi invention that conquered (North) Indian restaurants around the world, rather swiftly? Answer: butter chicken. Representation pic
Unlike regions, countries, even continents, are cities not credited enough for creating cuisines? I think so. Take the ‘desi Chinese’, for instance; for all other epithets attached to it—‘Chindian’, Sino-Ludhianvi, etc—surely food writers will admit it’s actually Calcutta cuisine, to start with.
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Likewise Bombay’s ragda pattice—what else could it be but a street concoction influenced by North Indian migrants running the streets, who mixed the eastern ‘aloo tikki’, with a particular type of cooked chana, that’s even added to the Bombay pani puri.
In that vein, what’s the greatest Delhi invention that conquered (North) Indian restaurants around the world, rather swiftly? Butter chicken (BC). But, of course, to think of it, even the British claim ownership to BC’s sibling, the chicken tikka masala (CTM)—attributing it to Bangladeshi chefs at local curry houses.
On one end, a Pakistani-origin chef Ahmed Aslam Ali says he invented CTM at Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow in the 1970s. At the other, its first recipe is attributed to a 1961 British cookbook by one Mrs Balbir Singh. In between are slightly phoney theories about kitchens of Mughals. Of course it’s seen as a Punjabi dish after all.
Only that outside of Delhi—even their wedding banquets will do—BC is a joke everywhere. Notably Punjab’s capital Chandigarh, and its most loved Pal Dhaba, where the oil floating over BC is enough for the Indian government to levy a higher tax.
Over two decades in Bombay, I’ve only sworn by one restaurant for authentic BC—the word having spread now, its price exponentially rising by the day—a place called Ranjeet Da Dhaba (in Chembur). This is the bowl in Bombay that can legitimately scream, “Mein Dilli se hoon, BC!” Surely the owners are too.
For, here’s what’s most broadly uncontested about BC, if you let alone the details, that there used to be a restaurant, 1920s onwards, owned by a Hindu-Punjabi Mokha Singh, called Moti Mahal, in Peshawar. This is where originated the practice of cooking chicken in a tandoor, otherwise used to make breads (roti, naan, etc). Hence tandoori chicken was invented. Post-Partition, Singh’s employees moved to Delhi.
These refugees, it is said, met up accidentally at a booze shop/theka. From there began the idea of re-establishing Peshawar’s Moti Mahal, in Delhi’s Daryaganj neighbourhood, in 1947—introducing the tandoori chicken to Delhi alongside.
This new restaurant had three partners: one was the moneybag, the other two were chefs—with the same first and middle names, Kundan Lal—Gujral and Jaggi. These guys eventually exited the Daryaganj Moti Mahal business in 1992.
Whatever I’ve known about BC’s invention is thanks to Monish Gujral’s book, Moti Mahal’s Tandoori Trail. That it came out of a need to keep fresh the chicken roasted in a tandoor, by adding tomato as preservatives—in Moti Mahal, Daryaganj. That’s how BC first became a thing.
Monish knows this, because? Besides having set up a massive chain of Moti Mahal restaurants all over India, years later, he is the grandson of Kundan Lal Gujral, who passed away in 1997. You can sense from Monish’s book that Gujral Sr was quite the hobnobbing face of the original Moti Mahal.
Which Nehru, as India’s first PM, loved enough to appoint as his official caterer. Nehru was quite a BC aficionado, I’m told. As were apparently the global dignitaries, who tried it with him. If I recall right though, Monish’s book doesn’t quite mention the other Moti Mahal BC chef, the other Kundan Lal, Jaggi, who died in 2018, aged 94.
Why have we heard of him now? In 2019, a restaurant called Daryaganj came up (with three branches in Delhi now), claiming to be from the “inventors of butter chicken and dal makhani”. This is run by descendants of chef Jaggi.
The BC invention on this restaurant’s menu relates to Jaggi once packing up for the day (other kitchen staff gone) at Moti Mahal in 1947, when a big group showed up. There was only some tandoori chicken left to serve. He made “butter gravy” to go with it—with hand-crushed tomatoes, butter and spices—to suffice for all.
Since pandemic followed the new Daryaganj restaurant chain coming up, I don’t know if a legal case is being pursued over the two BC “secret recipes” between Gujral and Jaggi families. Or maybe both should be invited over to Arnab’s show for a non-debate.
Having finally induced myself into a legit food-coma at the new Daryaganj restaurant (at Aerocity in Delhi), I can say with much authority—it doesn’t matter who invented BC; rather, who consistently serves it better! The dal makhani here is equally to die for.
Daryaganj has two BCs on its menu: “Original 1947 Butter Chicken”, which tastes a lot like from old restaurants like Kwality (in Delhi, Bombay, etc), but way, way better; and then there’s the creamier, brownish, boneless “Today’s Butter Chicken”.
This latter, modern dish has yet no parallels in the world over about half a dozen restaurants, standing adjacent to each other, in New Delhi’s Pandara Road Market, which came up in the late 1950s. There’s a debate over your preferred outlet from that lot—Pindi, Chicken Inn, Gulati… I just go for HaveMore. That’s where I still dream to have more and more, BC!
Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture. He tweets @mayankw14
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