Bitter chicken

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a large, once-joint family in possession of a crumbling haveli must be fighting over it in court. We Indians may not fight for our civic rights, or human rights but when it comes to baap-dada ki property, well, wo to hum kabhi nahin chhodenge.

?It doesn’t matter how well-heeled you are, or whether you already own 7 houses (one for yourself, one for each kid, a couple of ‘investments’ in New Panvel and a villa you never visit in Jumeirah ‘The Palm’. Apna haq to apna hai toh even if takes a lifetime in the slow slow slow train that is the Indian legal system, you suck it up - not give up.

?Well, ‘ancestral property’ has taken on a new meaning, with a fight going on over who has dibs on the original recipe of butter chicken. Moti Mahal restaurant was set up in Delhi’s Daryaganj by Kundan Lal Gujral, a refugee who came to India from Peshawar in 1947. He had two business partners – Kundan Lal Jaggi and Thakur Das Mago.

When Mago passed away, the two Kundans fell out. Jaggi Gujral, son of Kundan Gujral was a hotel management graduate. His friend and batchmate Vinod Chadha bought the rights to the establishment in 1991. No recipe was officially ‘passed on’ – Moti Mahal’s butter chicken is created based on his memories of the ‘original'.

In 2003, the grandson of one of the original partners – Kundan Lal Gujral – started his own restaurant. Moti Mahal Deluxe was set up by Monish Gujral and for two decades, both Moti Mahals existed in relative harmony. But then a third restaurant – Daryaganj – came into existence in 2019. Owned by Raghav Jaggi, grandson of Kundan Lal Jaggi.

Daryaganj’s board proudly proclaims – ‘by the inventor of dal makhani and butter chicken’ and that’s what the Gujral grandson is objecting to. He wants 2 crores in damages for what he considers infringement and unfair competition. As the much-loved dish is an original which has ‘the soul of his grandfather’. He may have legal grounds - I don't know, I am no lawyer.

Waise courts will ask proof kya hai? In Indian kitchens, there is no tradition of actually writing down a recipe. Sab kuch hota hai andaaz se. So two people make the same dish with the same ingredients and yet, they taste different. Isey kehte hain haath ka kamaal. To instinctively know kitna namak, kitna masala. And even how much heat to give, or when to stir.

There is, in fact, an urban legend about how butter chicken was invented. Oral historian Sohail Hashmi narrates it as follows: ‘One day an order of tandoori chicken was cancelled because of a death in the customer’s family. So Kundan Lal Gujral tossed the chicken in a tomato gravy, cream and butter to make it last longer’. Everyone who tried the dish loved it and it became a regular on the menu.

The flightless bird went on to spread its wings to distant lands, where immigrants made it a standard item in their spice-heavy, sitar-playing Indian restaurants. Adapting the cream and masala mix to whatever the customer’s tastebuds demanded. Butter chicken is one of India's top three cultural export, just behind yoga, just ahead of Shahrukh Khan.

At the end of the day, fights over ancestral property are seldom over the actual building or land. It’s about hurt feelings and bruised egos. Bhai-bhai ke beech ke jhagde, unwittingly, unconsciously passed on to the next generation. Like genes, which get activated, without our volition. Except that we can choose to be dispassionate. And either make up, or move on.

As a vegetarian I have no gastronomic interest in this whole fracas. But on behalf of the omnivores, I say God bless Kundan Lal Gujral.

?He made chicken better with butter now why get bitter.

Khao aur khilao. Jai Butter Chicken. Jai Hind.

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