It is one of India’s best-loved dishes. But butter chicken is just as contentious as it is delicious – with two Indian restaurant chains locked in a legal battle over claims to its origins.

Owners of Moti Mahal, a famed Delhi restaurant, have filed a lawsuit against rival chain Daryaganj, accusing it of falsely claiming to have invented the dish as well as dal makhani, a popular lentil dish that is also laden with butter and cream.

Moti Mahal, which has counted late US president Richard Nixon and India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru among its guests, claims its founder – Kundan Lal Gujral – created butter chicken before the partition of India and Pakistan.

It claims the dish – made with tandoor-cooked chicken pieces mixed in a tomato gravy with dollops of cream and butter – was invented in the 1930s when the restaurant first opened in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) before it moved to Delhi.

Daryaganj, which was established in 2019 – claims a member of its founding family – Kundan Lal Jaggi – partnered with Moti Mahal’s Gujral to open the Delhi restaurant in 1947, and the dish was invented there.

It claims that gives it the right to also lay claim to the creation of the dish.

The Gujral family is seeking $240,000 (£188,000) in damages, also alleging that Daryaganj has copied the layout of Moti Mahal’s website and “the look and feel” of its restaurants.

“You cannot take away somebody’s legacy,” said Monish Gujral, managing director at Moti Mahal.

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.

“It’s an offbeat, unique case. You really don’t know who created the first dish of butter chicken. The court will be hard pressed and will need to rely on circumstantial evidence,” said Ameet Datta, an intellectual property lawyer at India’s Saikrishna & Associates.

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Testimonies of people who can link the brand to the dish they consumed decades ago could be critical, he added.

The case was first heard by the Delhi High Court last week and the next hearing is set to take place in May.

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