Who invented butter chicken, dal makhani? Moti Mahal and Daryaganj restaurants battle it out in Delhi High Court

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, January 20

Who invented butter chicken, dal makhani—Moti Mahal restaurant or Daryaganj restaurant?

The two restaurant chains are battling it out in the Delhi High Court which has been confronted with a rather unusual question regarding the use of the tagline – ‘Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani’.

Moti Mahal has dragged the owners of Daryaganj restaurant to the Delhi High Court over the use of the tagline ‘Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani’, alleging that the latter misled the public by suggesting a connection between the two establishments.

On January 16, Justice Sanjeev Narula issued summons on Moti Mahal’s suit and asked Daryaganj restaurant to respond in 30 days and posted the matter for framing of issues on May 29 when it will also take up the plaintiff’s application for interim injunction.

Interestingly, Moti Mahal and Daryaganj—the two restaurant chains have claimed to have invented popular dishes butter chicken and dal makhani. Moti Mahal owners claimed that it was their predecessor, late Kundal Lal Gujral who came up with the dishes, while Daryaganj Hospitality Pvt Ltd owners attributed it to late Kundan Lal Jaggi.

On behalf of the plaintiffs, senior counsel Sandeep Sethi alleged that the defendants’ manipulated the photograph of the Moti Mahal Restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan on their website, substantiating his claim with a comparison to the ‘original’ photograph shown at plaintiffs’ own website.

Senior counsel Amit Sibal, representing the defendants, vehemently disputed Sethi’s contentions, saying the entire suit was “misconceived, baseless and lacking a cause of action”.

Regarding the photograph of the Moti Mahal restaurant in Peshawar, Sibal argued that the said restaurant was established jointly by predecessors of both the parties and the defendants were equally entitled to use the photograph in question.

However, without conceding to any of the plaintiffs’ claims, Sibal said the defendants would remove the disputed photograph from their website within one week to alleviate the plaintiffs’ concerns.