January 20th, New Delhi (THND) A mouthwatering legal dispute is about to unfold in the Delhi High Court about who exactly created the popular Indian dishes Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani. As the “Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani” slogan comes under scrutiny in court, tensions rise between the Moti Mahal and Daryaganj eateries.
Moti Mahal claims that Daryaganj is deceiving customers by implying a link between the two eateries.
At issue is Moti Mahal’s contention that their restaurant’s original location was in the Daryaganj area. Daryaganj, they say, is using this geographical association to make up a fake gastronomic connection.
Justice Sanjeev Narula presided over the case and ordered the Daryaganj landowners to respond to the lawsuit in writing no later than one month after the case began. On top of that, he set a hearing for May 29th after receiving notice of Moti Mahal’s request for an interim injunction.
Each eatery insists that they were the first to serve Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani, but this is where the disagreement begins. These famous dishes have become worldwide symbols of Indian cuisine, and Moti Mahal attributes their creation to its creator, the late Kundan Lal Gujral.
After the Partition, Gujral brought three of his creations to India, including Butter Chicken, Dal Makhani, and Tandoori Chicken, according to Moti Mahal.
Moti Mahal’s lawsuit lays bare a culinary backstory in which Gujral, worried about the spoilage of unsold chicken, came up with the brilliant idea of the “makhani,” also known as butter sauce. The delicious Butter Chicken was built upon this sauce, which was a mixture of tomatoes, butter, cream, and spices.
Since the same recipe was used with black lentils to make the popular Dal Makhani, Moti Mahal goes on to say that the two dishes are closely related to each other.
Although Daryaganj has not yet responded formally, its senior lawyer Amit Sibal strongly denied Moti Mahal’s claims and characterized the whole case as “baseless.”
“He (Sibal) strongly disagrees with Mr. Sethi’s claims, describing the whole lawsuit as flawed, without merit, and without a basis for action. The court ruling stated that Mr. Sibal and Mr. Anand also argued that the defendants, who are the owners of Dariyaganj, have not made any fraudulent claims or representations, and that the charges made in the suit are completely unfounded.
They went on to say that the forefathers of both groups—Gujral of Moti Mahal and Jaggi of Daryaganj—had worked together to open Peshawar’s first Moti Mahal restaurant.
Regarding the photo of Peshawar’s Moti Mahal restaurant, Sibal explained that the establishment was started by the forefathers of both sides, which rules out any claim to exclusive ownership of the image by the plaintiffs.
According to Mr. Sibal, the defendants have the same right to utilize this photo as anyone else. The court observed that he highlighted how the defendants’ website imagery was altered to remove the term “MOTI MAHAL,” which rendered the plaintiffs’ complaint baseless.
The owners of the Daryaganj restaurant were represented by senior counsel Sibal and lawyers Pravin Anand and Dhruv Anand, among others, while Moti Mahal was represented by senior advocate Sethi and Chander M. Lall, among others.
