Iconic Restaurants in Delhi: Moti Mahal-The Legacy Lives on

As a Foodie, I love trying out new cuisines and the variety that the changing landscape of food has to offer. But sometimes, there’s also a comfort in revisiting places which used to be my favorites when I first moved to Delhi decades ago. While many of them have slowly faded away with the changing times, some of them may have weathered a bit, but nevertheless through the strength of their cuisine continue to feature among the most iconic restaurants in Delhi.

Tandoori Cuisine in today’s time has achieved a near cult status which is not just limited to India but also across many countries around the world with an especially large following in the the UK and the US. Popular dishes such as Tandoori chicken, Butter chicken, Chicken tikka, Tandoori fish, Boti kabab and Dal Makahni along with nan, variety of Indian Breads and Green Chutney are a regular feature of Indian Restaurants around the world. Many Westerners feel these dishes are synonymous with Indian food. However, about 60 years ago, they were virtually unknown in and outside India. 

It was the efforts of one man which revolutionized the taste of Indian cooking. His efforts brought tandoori cooking to the National and International scenario, and elevated MOTI MAHAL (meaning palace of pearls) to not only one of the most iconic restaurants in Delhi but also put it on the International Gourmet Map. This person was Kundan Lal Gujral

1947: A NEW DAWN

Three friends, namely, Kundan Lal Jaggi ,Kundan Lal Gujral and Thakur Dass started Moti Mahal in 1947. They were refugees from Peshawar and together they recreated the magic of Peshawari food. The location was just right – at a junction where old Delhi meets New Delhi in Daryaganj. Kundan Lal Gujral believed and put to practice his six P`s for success- Product quality, Price , Promotion, Place , Personalized service and most important People (customers). 

Moti Mahal Delux Management Services Pvt. Ltd. , CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons : Picture Credit

Jaggi recruited people he knew from Peshawar and soon the restaurant took shape. The three close friends divided the work. Jaggi was the hands on man, Gujral looked after public relations and Thakur Dass did all the shopping for provisions and raw material.. Gujral was the face customers saw when they entered Moti Mahal: dressed in Pathan suit, a red rose adorning his jacket, large moustaches and a lambswool cap on his head, he welcomed customers with a traditional low bow. This added a special charm to the Moti Mahal experience. It wouldn’t be long before Moti Mahal would go on to feature among the most iconic restaurants in Delhi.

A REVOLUTION IN TASTE

Very few chefs in the world can lay claim to have invented a cuisine or even a Dish.

Much of Moti Mahal’s becoming a Legacy in itself  is attributed to the fact that Kundan Lal Gujral introduced Tandoori cooking to Delhi and to the rest of the World.  Tandoori Chicken  was cooked in a clay oven creating a unique flavor in a combination of smoke and drippings  from the birds. Tandoori pomphret was a delight for fish lovers. The Burra kebab was a succulent novelty enjoyed by all.

Tandoori chicken laccha piyaz1 Bharat Mirchandani from Mumbai, India , CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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Another Dish Butter Chicken i.e. Tandoori Chicken in a delicious sauce of butter, cream and tomatoes invented in Moti Mahal has won accolades in many parts of the world. The humble Urad ka dal was elevated to Dal Makhani another extremely popular dish in India and abroad. Chicken Pakora and Gatti Pulao were also started here. Delhi customers were also introduced to the taste of Naans and other breads.

On enquiry, we were told that their Iconic Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani are marinated for 36 hours before preparation but that was about all they would give away of their secret recipe.

Famous personalities who graced Moti Mahal 

Moti Mahal features among the most iconic restaurants in Delhi not just for its legacy creating food but it’s incredible patronage. The “Red Carpet” of Moti Mahal featured the   “Who’s Who” of not only India but the world. 

Moti Mahal enjoyed the patronage of Major World leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, John F Kennedy, Maulana Azad, Shah of Iran and Richard Nixon to name a few. Other notable  figures such as US president Richard Nixon, Jackeline Kennedy, Canadian primer mister Trudeau, King of Nepal, Soviet leaders Alexie Kosygin, Nikolai Bulganin & Zulfikar Bhutto also ate the Tandoori Cuisine.

Image Credit: https://motimahal.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/motimahal-100-year-legacy-min-1024×436.png by https://motimahal.in/about-us/

Moti Mahal had their share of loyalists.  Indira Gandhi was so impressed with the food here that she got the food from Moti Mahal served at the Simla Summit .Khrushchev loved the food so much that he would get handpicked dishes on the menu flown to Moscow for his official receptions and banquets. Nehru got the catering done from Moti Mahal for guests at Teen Murty Bhavan. Later he got a Tandoor set up there to serve rotis and Nans to the guests. Such was the fame of the restaurant

Scientists like Homi Bhaba, actors such as Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor  and Amitabh Bachan and even Oberoi of the Oberoi hotels have all enjoyed food at this iconic restaurant. The list is endless.

Maulana Azad , the first education minister of India perhaps gave Moti Mahal the biggest compliment of all. He once mentioned to the Shah of Iran:

In more recent times, Moti Mahal was visited by none other than renowned master chef Gordon Ramsay, who even went behind the counter in the kitchen of this ancient restaurant.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH MOTI MAHAL

I have been going to Moti Mahal since 1980 during my student days. We used to go with my sister’s family and sometimes with friends – a group of ten to twelve people. As we entered the restaurant, we were entranced by the smell of Tandoori cooking . We preferred to sit outside and there would be Qawwali singing – an added attraction to the superb food. The atmosphere was charming, old world and romantic with the waiters in their Peshwari dress and turbans added to the picture

Then Delhi itself changed….So many restaurants came up in South Delhi including Moti Mahal Deluxe- a restaurant set up by Kundal Lal’s grandson. Gradually, our visits to the Original Moti Mahal became fewer. Sometimes when our friends from western countries visited we would go there for dinner.

However last Sunday we decided to relieve old times and visit Moti Mahal again.

I must say that I was surprised that even after so many years, and the changing preferences of customers, Moti Mahal’s standards are just the same as before. The Malai Chicken Tikka I ordered melted in our mouths, the Mutton Burra is the best that I have ever had and the Butter Chicken remains unique in itself is something to die for. The Nans, Rotis and  Parathas were delicious too.

I was disappointed to know that the Qawwali has been stopped since demonetization and outdoor seating is still closed. But the management assured us, that in time, they would open the same soon.

We were a bit sad to see few people eating lunch at the restaurant, Covid has hit the industry hard, the new generation appreciates “Hip and Happening places”.  Daryaganj is not such a great address anymore. But if you are a foodie/gourmet like me and want an authentic superlative Mughlai food and an old world ambience to go with it, the MOTI MAHAL is the place to go to and it remains, for me, among the most iconic restaurants in Delhi.

THE LEGACY CONTINUES

In 1992, Mr. Vinod Chadha took over the reins of Moti Mahal as the new owner. It’s worth mentioning that despite the change in ownership, there seems to be no compromise made to the quality of the food on offer. He has also been promoting Tandoori food all over the world.

In the last few years, Moti Mahal has garnered it’s own share of accolades from Newspapers and Popular Travel & Lifestyle Websites. 

Over the years, many restaurants/ entities have mushroomed using the Moti Mahal names i.e. Moti Mahal Delux, Moti Mahal India, Moti Mahal Hospitality and many others. However, as the owners fervently maintain, they do not have any branches. The real deal is the one at Daryaganj.

An illustrious past may be difficult to live up to, particularly, in these times when eating preferences have gone through a sea change. All it takes is a sampling of the famous recommended cuisines which would leave one in no doubt, that the legacy of Moti Mahal  lives on. Even after all these years,  the restaurant still has its share of loyalists including a large share of foreign clients mostly from Japan, Korea and the US.

A FEW RECOMMENDED EATS

While the list of recommended eats is fairly exhaustive, we are putting down a few suggestions

Mutton Burra Kebab, Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Tangri, Dal Makhani, Bhuna Gosht, Chicken Kalmi, Chicken Malai Tikka, Kesari Fish, Lacha Parantha, Kulfi……. Phew….. Thats quite a Mouthful!!!

Do you think you have had Better Butter Chicken and Mutton Burra than what they make here? Do you know of other Restaurants which have a unique history? 

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