Butter chicken: A unique delicacy and global comfort food

Perhaps no other dish represents Indian cuisine better than butter chicken. People around the world recognize the dish, have tried it, and love it! It is a dish that stays with you. You visit your favorite eatery and find yourself ordering it regularly. When choosing from a range of ready-to-eat meals, you reach for butter chicken more often than not. You may even have your own preferred recipe to make it at home. 

Nowadays, we also have innovations such as butter chicken pizza, burrito, and samosa, and even butter chicken mac and cheese! It wouldn’t be wrong to say it started as a humble dish from a local restaurant in India, but it quickly became a phenomenal global success story! 

Origin of butter chicken

So, who invented this amazing dish, and where exactly was it created? The answer is a bit complicated. Before we dive into the story of butter chicken, we should remember that dishes emerge from long culinary traditions and countless people contribute to them. Sometimes, a chef perfects a certain recipe to make a signature dish that has been in the making for decades. It can also be that a particular restaurant popularizes a specific kind of cuisine and is credited with taking a dish to the next level. 

If we examine the elements of the iconic butter chicken or in Hindi murgh (chicken) makhani (butter) we see that it is a combination of tandoori chicken (chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, and baked in a clay oven to acquire a smoky flavor) and a rich creamy tomato and butter sauce, seasoned with Indian spices and dried fenugreek (kasuri methi). Originally, the dish was served with bone-in chicken, but later, to adapt to changing palates, the boneless version became established.

Essentially, butter chicken is quite similar to chicken tikka masala. Of course, the two dishes differ in flavor because the main ingredient, butter, is missing from tikka masala. Compared to other Indian dishes, butter chicken is milder and a touch sweet. 

Now, returning to the question of who ‘invented’ the dish, we can be quite sure that it was first served by two chefs working together: Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi. Both hailed from Punjab and started out working at a restaurant called Moti Mahal or Pearl Palace in Peshawar, where they popularized tandoori cuisine, including tandoori chicken. 

The question of when and where butter chicken was first created and served is tricky. 

From Peshawar to Delhi

Following the partition of British India, the two chefs moved to Delhi, where in 1947 they opened a restaurant with Thakur Dass in Daryaganj. It was also called Moti Mahal. This first restaurant eventually closed down, but was reopened by the Gujrals as Moti Mahal Deluxe in 2003. It is now a thriving franchise. 

Kundan Lal Jaggi’s family also opened their restaurant, Daryaganj, in Delhi, with restaurateur Amit Bagga. 

Kundan Lal Jaggi’s grandson claims that his grandfather created butter chicken in the old Moti Mahal in Delhi when an unexpected party of diners arrived one night. His father whipped up the butter chicken sauce and simmered leftover tandoori chicken in it to serve the hungry guests. The dish became an instant hit.

On the other hand, Kundan Lal Gujral’s grandson asserts that his grandfather invented the dish much earlier in Peshawar, to solve the problem of leftover tandoori chicken that was drying up and going to waste. He freshened up the dish by creating the now-famous tomato, butter, and cream sauce. Since both chefs have passed away, one can only guess who created the dish, how, and where. 

Other stories of the origin of butter chicken

According to some food writers, the dish might have been invented and served first in Peshawar. The Peshawar Moti Mahal restaurant was located in a British garrison area commonly known as Gora Bazaar (White man’s Bazaar). 

The dish could have been created to appeal to the British. The mild and sweet gravy with a silky texture is made with copious amounts of butter, not ghee or clarified butter, which strongly points to this possibility. Furthermore, in Peshawar, locals prepared chicken dishes only on special occasions, while for the British, it was part of everyday food. The two chefs working in Peshawar might very well have come up with the dish for their British guests. 

On the other hand, it is also true that the dish didn’t remain in Peshawar and isn’t widely popular in Pakistan. Furthermore, when Moti Mahal was first established in Delhi by Gujral and Jaggi, they didn’t start off serving butter chicken. It was only later that the dish appeared on their menu. 

So, both likelihoods exist, and it would be difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion given these facts.

The Hungarian Connection? 

Yet another twist in the story of butter chicken is allegedly revealed in a letter by Erzsébet Szabó, a Hungarian woman, to her sister Ilona from Peshawar. In this letter, she writes that while in Peshawar with her husband János Szabó (who had travelled there during 1923 to buy Karakul or Persian lamb fur, much in demand among the European elite), she met with a young chef, Kundan Lal Gujral, at a restaurant in Peshawar. 

During this meeting, at which Erzsébet, passionate about cooking, and Gujral, a young, innovative, and ambitious chef, exchanged ideas. The very same evening, a large party of guests expected at the restaurant cancelled their reservation. Loads of tandoori chicken remained. It would be a terrible waste if it dried out and had to be thrown away. 

Erzsébet writes that she explained to the chef that in Hungary, leftover meat is often warmed up in creamy sauces. They set to work in the kitchen and together with Gujral, she prepared a sauce inspired by Hungarian chicken paprikash, a national dish cooked in heavy cream and sour cream, with large quantities of Hungarian ground red paprika, sometimes with the addition of tomatoes. The fusion of Indian spices such as cumin, coriander, and fenugreek with butter, cream, and tomato puree created a dish with a unique texture and flavor. 

According to Erzsébet, the dish was an experimental one for Moti Mahal, and was offered to a select few patrons and the Szabós. It was met with approval and delight. If we consider this story in the picture, it seems that butter chicken drew inspiration from Hungarian cuisine!

Butter chicken in court 

Currently there is a lawsuit, yet to be decided in a Delhi court, where the plaintiffs from Gujral family are claiming that the Daryaganj restaurant cannot advertise that they are the inventors of butter chicken and dal makhani (another dish created in the old Moti Mahal prepared with lentils and kidney beans in a cream and tomato sauce), because it was Gujral and not Jaggi who invented these dishes. 

Regardless of the court decision, the people who visit the two restaurants and order their favorite dish are the real winners. The dish appeared on the menu of the old Moti Mahal, won over the hearts of Delhi’s residents, and triumphed. The tandoori flavor, combined with the tangy, sweet, smooth sauce, was something new and different. 

The dish gained massive popularity among public figures, international celebrities, and locals. It was favored by famous personalities such as India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Jackie Kennedy. Uniquely, it became a luxurious indulgence and a global comfort food.

Moving to the global menu

Butter chicken has now gone beyond the Indian borders and reached far corners of the globe. Immigrant Indian communities around the world brought their favorite recipes, including butter chicken, of course. With Indian restaurants opening everywhere, the dish quickly became a global favorite. It is consumed in roadside eateries and in exclusive fine-dining settings with equal delight.

The elements that make it such a well-loved dish are: the silky and creamy sauce, the warm aroma of spices, ginger, garlic, green chilies, and dried fenugreek balanced with subtle sweet notes, the succulent and smoky chicken, and the options of eating it with rice or leavened and unleavened flatbreads—especially naan. 

The dish has a wide appeal because of its delightful harmonization of flavors and textures.  

If you love this dish and want to make it at home, Layla Atik shares a simplified, quick recipe for a home-cooked version.

Concluding words…

The origin of butter chicken may remain mysterious, but the dish brings together its ingredients in no uncertain terms; it delights us with its satisfying flavor and mouthfeel. Keep Kaiser’s ready-to-eat, all-natural butter chicken in your freezer. If you want to entertain unexpected and hungry guests, or treat yourself to a delicacy, or you need the warmth of comfort food after a busy day, butter chicken will be within easy reach!