Mark your calendar. Marshal your spices. Dust off your Dutch oven or plug in your Instant Pot. Tuesday, Oct. 20, will be the first-ever World Butter Chicken Day. Butter chicken is the dish known in Hindi as murgh makhani. The rich, creamy, aromatic, gently spiced…
No one knows how many Indian restaurants exist worldwide; reportedly there are more than 5,000 in the United States alone. The exact number depends on how you define “Indian” and “restaurant.” And most of them – from a little mom-and-pop shop on the corner to…
What does gold have to do with food? Well, I am writing about the black dal – yes humble black urad whole lentil whose avatar, the makhani dal, was invented by none other than Kundan Lal Gujral, the founder of the Moti Mahal chain. He…
There are three kinds of people in this world. Those who love Butter Chicken, those who think Butter Chicken is overrated and those who have never tasted Butter Chicken. Of all of these, I feel deep sorrow for the third kind. It is a loss of…
The non-vegetarians across the country can’t thank the inventor of the Butter Chicken enough, for bestowing upon mankind the ever-so creamy and sumptuous delight. The vegetarians on the other hand, echo similar sentiments about Dal Makkhani. Now for those who are a fan of both…
Delhi, 1948. In the first year after independence from the British Raj, this ancient city is reeling. Hundreds of thousands of families who fled bloody religious strife are on the move — Indian Muslims to Muslim-dominated Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs to Hindu-dominated India. Countless emigres…
ONLY a handful of chefs in all the history of gastronomy might be credited with inventing a cuisine, or even a dish. One of them is alive and well in Delhi. He is Kundan Lal Gujral, the founder of Moti Mahal – one of India’s…