The rich and fulfilling butter chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Indian cuisine.
The story of butter chicken is connected to the beginning of two other popular Indian dishes, namely tandoori chicken and dal makhani.
Origin
Kundan lal Gujral, an Indian chef and the inventor of butter chicken worked at Mukhey Da Dhaba, a food joint in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). Around the 1920s, the owners of the dhaba sold it to Gujral. Following this, he changed the name of the food joint to Moti Mahal.
Gujral, also the inventor of tandoori chicken, wanted to find a way to make use of the tandoori chicken pieces that were drying up when left unsold in his restaurant. In order to make the chicken moist and palatable, he tossed them in tomato puree, butter, fresh cream and spices such as coriander, fenugreek, cloves and cardamom. This was the birth of butter chicken.
When the 1947 Partition took place, Gujral flew to Delhi with his family.
He established his hotel Moti Mahal in Delhi and his tasty inventions led to the rise of popularity of his restaurant. After butter chicken, he also went on to create the famous dal makhani.
International appeal
Gradually, Gujral opened a chain of restaurants acroos India and several other countries such as New Zealand, Tanzania and Oman. Several popular names such as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and star chef Gordon Ramsay have visited Gujral’s restaurant to taste the butter chicken. Over the years, many other eateries and restaurants have also developed their own versions of the butter chicken. The dish is now a quintessential part of North Indian cuisine.
Evolution
The butter chicken prepared in Peshawar has evolved into several other dishes such as chicken lababdar and murgh makhanwallah.
Some food experts suggest that the recipe of chicken tikka masala is also inspired by butter chicken.
Quirky adaptations
There are several interesting adaptations of butter chicken today, namely butter chicken tacos, pizzas, rolls, burgers, biryani, lasagna, dumplings and even kurtoskalacs (a Hungarian spit cake).
Picture Credit : Google