The story
Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, comes from Moti Mahal in Daryaganj, on the edge of Old Delhi. Its founders, Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi, were Punjabi refugees from Peshawar who opened the restaurant after Partition in 1947. The usual story says leftover tandoori chicken was simmered in a gravy of tomatoes, butter and cream so it would not dry out, and by the 1950s politicians and visiting dignitaries were coming in for it. Grandsons of the two men are now in court over which of them deserves the credit.
Rival claims
Both founding families of Moti Mahal agree on the Delhi restaurant but are in court (since 2024) over whether Kundan Lal Gujral or Kundan Lal Jaggi invented it. The Gujral family has also argued it began earlier in Peshawar (now Pakistan), though their own older accounts placed it at Moti Mahal in Delhi in the 1950s.
Also known as murgh makhani, makhani chicken, chicken makhani.
On the Meridish menu
Butter chicken was the main course on menu No. 4 on October 4, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Tandoori chicken in a tomato and butter gravy, created in the 1950s at a restaurant in this capital's old quarter.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- foodrepublic.com/1544207/origin-butter-chicken-curry
- wamc.org/2024-03-01/who-cooked-up-butter-chicken-a-court-seeks-the-answer-plus-madhur-jaffreys-recipe
- homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/whose-butter-chicken-is-it-anyway-the-history-origin-of-an-iconic-indian-dish
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_chicken
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
