Moti Mahal Delux

History

'Moti Mahal Delux' was founded by a man called 'Kundan Lal Gujral' in Delhi in 1947. Gujral, the founder of the restaurant, worked at a small eatery called Moti Mahal, owned by a man named 'Mokha Singh' in Peshawar, British India, from 1920's to 1947. Moti Mahal was the first to dig up a tandoor right in the middle of the eatery and since then Peshawar was introduced to the culinary art of tandoori chicken by them. This was a success and soon there was in demand for Tandoori at social gatherings and wedding feasts where they would use an improvised tandoor.

After the partition of India in 1947, Gujral, a Punjabi Hindu, fled to Delhi with his family. In Delhi, Gujral bought a thara(booth) in Daryaganj area, then considered a newer part of Old Delhi. Gujral then started Moti Mahal, Daryaganj with two partners, Thakur Das Mago and Kundan Lal Jaggi Moti Mahal further went on to invent butter chicken and dal makhani. This brought about a revolution in taste and a place on the International Gourmet Map.

Thus was born the Moti Mahal Restaurant, which contributed significantly to putting India on the food map of the world. Indian leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Zakir Hussain among various foreign dignitaries like Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. have visited Moti Mahal to sample Kundan’s innovations – its tandoori delicacies on various occasions. And M. Maulana Azad, the great Muslim leader, reportedly told the Shah of Iran that while in India he must make two visits - to the Taj Mahal and Moti Mahal. Later in 1970`s Kundan Lal’s son Mr Nand Lal 'Bila' Gujral, upon the exit of Thakur Das Mago from the partnership, expanded Moti Mahal Delux in south Delhi to establish Moti Mahal Delux Chain of Restaurants.

However, Gujral's grandsons Monish and Ashim Gujral have significantly expanded the chain in the last decade via the franchisee model.