Kundan Lal Gujral

Kundan Lal Gujral(c.1902 - 1997)was an Indianchefandrestaurateurbased inNew Delhi. He invented severalIndian disheswhich have since become popular worldwide, includingButter chicken,Paneer makhani,Tandoori chickenandDal makhani.He was the founder of the restaurant chainMoti Mahal Delux.
Kundan Lal Gujral was born around 1902 to Diwan Chand Gujral and Maya Devi inChakwal District, in thePunjab ProvinceofBritish India(now inPunjab, Pakistan) into aPunjabi HinduKhatrifamily.His only brother Chunni Lal died at the age of 18 due topneumonia. His father was a cloth merchant. Kundan Lal Gujral completed hismatriculationinChakwal. Inc.1920he started working at a small eatery called Moti Mahal, owned by Mokha Singh Lamba inPeshawar,North-West Frontier Province,British India. He married Ram Prakash Devi with whom he had a child, Nand Lal Gujral on 26 November 1935.
In 1947, during thepartition of Indiahe migrated with his family toIndiaand settled inDelhi. He then went on to start an eatery by the name of Moti Mahal inDaryaganj,Old Delhi.
Kundan Lal Gujral is known for the famousculinaryinventions such as tandoori chicken, murgh makhani and dal makhani.
Gujral started as a chef in a small restaurant owned by Mokha Singh Lamba in Gora Bazaar,Peshawar,British India.He experimented by skewering yogurt marinated pieces of chicken and sticking them into thetandoor(which was previously used only for Breads). This experiment led to the famous dish tandoori chicken.Tandoori chicken is another popular dish inIndian restaurantsaround the world.
To avoid wastage of the leftover or unsold tandoori tikkas (marinated pieces of chicken cooked in a tandoor) due to the lack ofrefrigerationfacilities at that time, Gujral addedtomato gravywith butter to the tandoori tikkas to soften the chicken so that he could sell them the next day. This culinary accident led to the famous dish.Today, murgh makhani, or butter chicken, is the most popularcurryinIndian restaurantsaround the world.
Gujral is also known for inventing dal makhani which is a mildly spicedpulsescurry made with the combination of tangy tomatoes, butter, and rich cream. This combination of mixed spices and dairy products is known as famous dal makhani.
After having fledPakistan, Kundan Lal Gujral settled in Delhi and opened a smalldhaba(roadside eatery) to introduce Delhiites to the tandoori chicken.He bought a small space inDaryaganjand set up Moti Mahal.The place quickly proved popular and within a year Kundan Lal Jaggi & Gujral bought the adjoining area, turning his eatery into a 400-seat restaurant. Dignitaries like formerIndian Prime Ministers,Jawaharlal NehruandIndira Gandhi,formerIndian PresidentDr. Zakir Hussain, actorsRaj KapoorandNargis Dutt, and Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachevare among the famous patrons.
He served his iconic dishes here. Later in 1970's Kundan Lal son, Nand Lal Gujral expanded Moti Mahal inSouth Delhito establishMoti Mahal Deluxchain of restaurants. Currently, Kundan Lal Gujral's grandson,Monish Gujralhas instituted Moti Mahal Delux Management Services in 2003 by expanding the business intofranchisesacross India. Today, it has grown from a small restaurant inOld Delhito a modern eating chain with more than 150 franchises in India and worldwide.