Who killed Butter Chicken?

One Friday in the middle of the pandemic in July 2020 Noel Atkinson 48 felt a strong urge to eat Butter Chicken It is wellknown that Melbourne is not the home of Butter Chicken but there were plenty of Indian restaurants offering that famous dish except that Werribee the suburb where he lived was far from them Nevertheless such was his craving that Noel Atkinson decided to drive 32 km downtown and get his Butter Chicken since it was past 11 pm and all nearby Indian places were closedAlas when he was just a few metres away from the restaurant he was flagged down by Melbourne Police and charged with violating COVID19 regulations Poor Atkinson who gets his taste for Punjabi food from his Ambalaborn mother was fined AU 1652 about Rs 96000 and sent home mdash without any Butter ChickenBy Sunday the event had gone viral all over Melbourne Tonka just off Flinders Street claimed that Atkinson had ldquovery likelyrdquo been headed to their restaurant and started a ldquoWho is Mr Butter Chickenrdquo campaign They calculated that AU 1652 translated to 61 Butter Chickens or pretty much a lifetime supplyDesi Dhaba another nearby restaurant publicly offered Noel free Butter Chicken for a year though by then Mr Atkinson may have lost his taste for anything with either chicken or butter in itRecently the beloved dish that is arguably Indian cuisinersquos single most recognisable culinary icon exploded in controversy with two young men who went to court each claiming that his grandfather had invented Butter Chicken The grandfathers Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi however were good friends both refugees who had fled to India from Pakistan during the Partition It would not have occurred to them to fight over such a silly matterTo understand why this legendary dish is dying in a courtroom we need to go to a time before Butter Chicken was born when a man called Mokha Singh Lamba ran a wellknown tandoori joint called Moti Mahal in Peshawar and the two Kundan Lals were his employees As Pakistan broke off from India the restaurant shuttered and the three men fled to Daryaganj a hub for refugees coming to Delhi Mokha Singh old and tired gave the two lads his blessings to start a new Moti Mahal in DaryaganjLetrsquos talk about Bombai Click the QR code above to join my WhatsApp group to share your Bombai stories for my bookmdashand perhaps answer some of my Bombai questionsIt started as a tearoom in 1947 but soon acquired three tandoor ovens adding tikkas kebabs and naans to their menu Gujral whom the New York Times described as a ldquoportly florid man with a splendid moustacherdquo was the restaurantrsquos face while his junior partner Jaggi managed kitchen operations Since they could not afford a hall Moti Mahal became Delhirsquos first openair restaurant A singer sang tinny qawwali songs from PakeezahButter Chicken was born here not from an attack of creativity but frugality caused by a simple problem what to do with tandoori chicken left unsold at the end of the evening which would go dry by the next day Why not recook it in a simple sauce The legendary Butter Chicken sauce was an inspired creation of tomatoes cream and butter with just enough spices to give it a personality while rehydrating yesterdayrsquos tandoori bitsTo everyonersquos surprise it was a smash hit Within a year ministers and heads of state including Jawaharlal Nehru Richard Nixon Nikita Khrushchev and John F Kennedy among others had visited Moti Mahal just to taste its famous Butter ChickenMoti Mahal expanded opening branches in other cities and countries but when the owners died it was sold in 1992 Monish Gujral grandson tried to continue the tradition on his own opening a chain called Moti Mahal Delux Not to be outdone in 2019 Raghav Jaggi the other grandson started his own franchise calling it Daryaganj with a kicker claiming they were ldquoThe Inventors of the Original Butter Chicken and Dal MakhanirdquoIncensed by this Monish filed a 2700page lawsuit in Delhi High Court in 2024 claiming that it was his grandfather who had created the original Butter Chicken and in Peshawar not Delhi well before Indiarsquos Independence while working in Moti Mahal there He sought R2 crore in damages as well as an injunction against Daryaganjrsquos false claimButter Chicken flourishes unfettered as a global dish while it dies in India It shows up in pizza toppings burgers in justaddwater meals and other forms As food historian Pushpesh Pant said Butter Chicken now belongs to everyone in the world who loves a good curryOf course the final nail in Butter Chickenrsquos coffin comes from those who would improve a perfect recipe that should just be left alone We may forgive the Paneer Makhani a nod to the vegans among us but why should you tolerate tofu and chick peas instead of dairy and meatA local genius has spawned a white Butter Chicken by leaving out tomatoes entirely Certain Michelinstarred chefs have introduced nuts yoghurt and clear essence of tomatoes Everyone is playing fast and loose with Butter ChickenInspired by these stunning assaults on such a venerable dish I plan to create my own version in which I will omit chicken tomatoes all spices and cream It will be called just mdash ButterYou can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper