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25-01-2024
NEW DELHI: One of India’s most well-known meals outside of the country is butter chicken, which is both tasty and controversial, with two Indian restaurant groups battling it out in court over who invented it.
The Gujral family, owners of a famed Delhi restaurant brand, Moti Mahal, filed a 2,752-page court filing against rival chain Daryaganj, accusing it of falsely claiming to have invented the popular curry dish, dal makhani, and claiming it was invented in the 1930s.
The lawsuit, which has become a “hot” topic across India, alleges that the founder, Kundan Lal Gujral, created the dish in Peshawar before moving to Delhi.
The Gujral family is seeking $240,000 in damages, also alleging that Daryaganj has copied the layout of Moti Mahal’s website and “the look and feel” of its restaurants, media reported.
“You cannot take away somebody’s legacy … The dish was invented when our grandfather was in Pakistan,” said Monish Gujral, managing director at Moti Mahal.
Daryaganj, founded in 2019, argues that its late family member, Kundan Lal Jaggi, partnered with Gujral in 1947 to open a Delhi restaurant and invented the dish, which it claims is the right to claim.
They have shared a hand-written partnership document from 1949 to support their argument.
The dispute has captured the nation’s attention with Indian TV broadcasters running segments on the history of the dish and debate raging on social media.
Made with tandoor-cooked chicken pieces mixed in a tomato gravy with dollops of cream and butter, the dish was ranked 43rd in a list of the world’s “best dishes” by TasteAtlas as rated by nearly 400,000 users?
It was the second-ranked Indian food after butter garlic naan bread. The two are often paired together.
The case was first heard by the Delhi High Court last week and the next hearing is scheduled for May.
Regarding the screenshot extracted in paragraphs of the plaint, Adv Sibal clarified that the same is not from the Defendants’ Facebook page and evidently belongs to “A to Z Kitchen”, an entity unrelated to the defendants.
Regarding the photograph of the Moti Mahal restaurant in Peshawar, advocate Sibal explained that the said restaurant was established jointly by predecessors of both parties, thus invalidating any claims of exclusive rights over the image that the plaintiffs might claim.
