Who invented butter chicken? Indian judge to rule on dispute over global favorite

A freshly prepared butter chicken dish is placed on a table inside the Moti Mahal Delux restaurant in New Delhi, India, on January 23, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 25 January 2024
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Who invented butter chicken? Indian judge to rule on dispute over global favorite

  • Moti Mahal, a famous Delhi-based restaurant, has accused rival of falsely claiming it invented butter chicken
  • Lawsuit has become hot topic in India and has triggered debates on social media platforms across India 

NEW DELHI: Butter chicken — one of India’s best-known dishes globally — is delicious and apparently also contentious, with two Indian restaurant chains doing battle in court over claims to its origins.

The lawsuit — which has become a hot topic in India — was brought by the family behind Moti Mahal, a famed Delhi restaurant brand that has counted late US President Richard Nixon and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru among its guests.

It claims restaurant founder, Kundan Lal Gujral, created the curry in the 1930s when the restaurant first opened in Peshawar before it moved to Delhi. In a 2,752-page court filing it has sued rival chain Daryaganj, accusing it of falsely claiming to have invented the dish as well as dal makhani, a popular lentil dish that is also laden with butter and cream.

The Gujral family is seeking $240,000 in damages, also alleging that Daryaganj has copied the layout of Moti Mahal’s website and “the look and feel” of its restaurants.

“You cannot take away somebody’s legacy ... The dish was invented when our grandfather was in Pakistan,” said Monish Gujral, managing director at Moti Mahal.

Daryaganj — which was established relatively recently in 2019 — counters that its late family member, Kundan Lal Jaggi, had partnered with Gujral to open the Delhi restaurant in 1947, and the dish was invented there. That gives it the right to also lay claim to the creation of the dish, it argues.

Daryaganj shared with Reuters a faded, hand-written partnership document registered in 1949 to back its argument.

The dispute has captured the nation’s attention with Indian TV broadcasters running segments on the history of the dish and debate raging on social media.

“It’s an offbeat, unique case. You really don’t know who created the first dish of butter chicken. The court will be hard pressed and will need to rely on circumstantial evidence,” said Ameet Datta, an intellectual property lawyer at India’s Saikrishna & Associates.

Testimonies of people who can link the brand to the dish they consumed decades ago could be critical proof, Datta added.

Made with tandoor-cooked chicken pieces mixed in a tomato gravy with dollops of cream and butter, the dish was ranked 43rd in a list of the world’s “best dishes” by TasteAtlas as rated by nearly 400,000 users. It was the second-ranked Indian food after butter garlic naan bread. The two are often paired together.

The case was first heard by the Delhi High Court last week and the next hearing is scheduled for May.
 


Tens of thousands demonstrate in Nepal seeking restoration of ousted monarchy

Updated 5 sec ago
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Tens of thousands demonstrate in Nepal seeking restoration of ousted monarchy

KATHMANDU: Tens of thousands of protesters demanding the abolished monarchy be restored and the former king be made the head of state of the Himalayan nation demonstrated in Nepal Thursday.
The protesters, waving flags and chanting slogans, demanded the return of the king and the restoration of Hinduism as a state religion as they marched through the main circle in the capital, Kathmandu.
Just a few hundred meters (feet) from the pro-monarchy protesters, their opponents, who are supporters of the Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, had gathered at the exhibition grounds to celebrate Republic Day.
There was fear that these two groups could likely clash and create trouble in the city. Hundreds of riot police kept the two groups apart and authorities had given them permission on different times to take out their rallies.
Nepal abolished the monarchy and turned the nation into a republic in 2008, bringing in a president as the head of the state.
“Bring king back to the throne and save the country. We love our king more than our lives,” the estimated 20,000 protesters chanted with a few playing traditional drums and musical instruments.
“We are going to continue our protests until the centuries-old monarchy is brought back and the country turned in to a Hindu stage for the interest of the country,” said Dil Nath Giri, a supporter of the former king at the rally.
The pro-monarchy supporters had announced they were restarting their protests from Thursday.
In their last big protest on March 28, two people including a television cameraman, were killed when protesters attacked buildings and set them on fire while police fired bullets and tear gas on the protesters. Several protesters arrested on that day are still in jail.
There has been growing demand in recent months for Gyanendra Shah to be reinstated as king and Hinduism to be brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.
Massive street protests in 2006 forced Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.
Gyanendra, who left the Royal Palace to live as commoner, has not commented on the calls for the return of monarchy. Despite growing support, the former king has little chance of immediately returning to power.

Russia slams Israeli attacks on Gaza as ‘collective punishment’ of civilians

Updated 1 min 14 sec ago
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Russia slams Israeli attacks on Gaza as ‘collective punishment’ of civilians

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday slammed Israeli attacks on Gaza as “collective punishment of the civilian population,” in some of Moscow’s strongest criticism of Israel as it steps up its offensive.
Lavrov said “measures taken by Israel” in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas “constitute collective punishment of the civilian population,” calling what was happening in Gaza “incomprehensible and indescribable.”


Marcos orders all CEOs of Philippine government-owned corporations to quit

Updated 54 min 8 sec ago
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Marcos orders all CEOs of Philippine government-owned corporations to quit

  • Last week, Marcos requested all his Cabinet secretaries to render their resignations
  • Reshuffle follows his allies’ recent failure to secure majority of contested Senate seats

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered all ranking executives of government-owned and controlled corporations to resign, days after asking his Cabinet members to step down.

All appointed chairpersons, CEOs, directors, trustees, and members of governing boards of government-owned and controlled corporations were asked to “immediately submit their respective courtesy resignations to the President through the Office of the Executive Secretary,” according to a notice from the Governance Commission for GOCCs, which was released on Wednesday.

The move follows Marcos’ request last week for his government members to render their resignations as he attempted to address the public’s dissatisfaction over his administration’s performance.

Most of his Cabinet secretaries have either immediately submitted their resignations or expressed their readiness to do so.

“This process is part of a rigorous and ongoing evaluation of government performance not only at the Cabinet level but across the entire bureaucracy,” Lucas Bersamin, executive secretary of the Philippines — the head and highest-ranking official of the Office of the President — told reporters on Thursday.

“The people expect results, and the president has no patience for underperformance. In line with this, the president has also instructed the heads of government-owned and controlled corporations to submit their courtesy resignations. He has further indicated that senior officials will likewise be included in the continuing review.”

Marcos’ decision to reshuffle the Cabinet and leadership of state-owned corporations follows his allies’ failure to secure a majority of contested Senate seats in the May 12 midterm elections, raising questions about his weakened mandate for the remaining three years of his term, which ends in 2028.

The son of the late Philippine dictator who was overthrown in 1986, Marcos won the presidency by a landslide in 2022 after campaigning on a message of national unity and presenting himself as a candidate of change.

Public support for the 67-year-old leader has, however, dropped sharply this year, with Pulse Asia surveys showing his approval rating falling to 25 percent in March, from 42 percent in February.

The survey showed that a majority of Filipinos disapproved of the Marcos administration’s handling of the most pressing issues, including controlling inflation and combating corruption, with disapproval rates at 79 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

The bureaucrats and executives affected by the president’s decision will continue in their roles unless and until the Office of the President issues further directives or formally acts on their resignations.

“All these people who offered their courtesy resignations are expected to continue performing their functions, discharging their duties until their replacements have been appointed,” Bersamin said.

“And that is expected of all public servants; no one abandons because that is part of the obligation of a public servant.”


Erdogan urges Russia, Ukraine not to ‘shut the door’ on talks

Updated 56 min 30 sec ago
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Erdogan urges Russia, Ukraine not to ‘shut the door’ on talks

  • Russia said Wednesday it wanted new talks with Ukraine in Istanbul next Monday to present its plan for a peace settlement
  • But Kyiv said it needed to see the proposal in advance for the meeting to yield results

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Russia and Ukraine not to “shut the door” to dialogue ahead of an anticipated meeting between officials from both sides in Istanbul on Monday.

“We are in contact with Russia and Ukraine....We are telling them not to shut the door as long as it remains open,” the Turkish presidency on Thursday quoted him as saying.

Russia said Wednesday it wanted new talks with Ukraine in Istanbul next Monday to present its plan for a peace settlement, but Kyiv said it needed to see the proposal in advance for the meeting to yield results.

“During the course of each of our meetings, we have reminded our interlocuters that they should not pass up this opportunity,” Erdogan said, adding that: “extinguishing this huge fire in our region ... is a humanitarian duty.”

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, was expected to travel to Kyiv on Thursday ahead of a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have accelerated in recent months, but Moscow has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire and shown no signs of scaling back its demands.

The two sides previously met in Istanbul on May 16, their first direct talks in over three years. That encounter failed to yield a breakthrough.


Harvard to hold graduation in shadow of Trump ‘retribution’

Updated 29 May 2025
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Harvard to hold graduation in shadow of Trump ‘retribution’

  • Thursday’s commencement comes as Donald Trump piles unprecedented pressure on Harvard
  • Students wearing black academic gowns tour through Cambridge with photo-taking family members

CAMBRIDGE, United States: Harvard is due to hold its annual graduation ceremony Thursday as a federal judge considers the legality of punitive measures taken against the university by President Donald Trump that threaten to overshadow festivities.

Thursday’s commencement comes as Trump piles unprecedented pressure on Harvard, seeking to ban it from having foreign students, shredding its contracts with the federal government, slashing its multibillion-dollar grants and challenging its tax-free status.

Harvard is challenging all of the measures in court.

The Ivy League institution has continually drawn Trump’s ire while publicly rejecting his administration’s repeated demands to give up control of recruitment, curricula and research choices. The government claims Harvard tolerates antisemitism and liberal bias.

“Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper,” Trump said Wednesday.

Harvard president Alan Garber, who told National Public Radio on Tuesday that “sometimes they don’t like what we represent,” may speak to address the ceremony.

Garber has acknowledged that Harvard does have issues with antisemitism, and has struggled to ensure that a variety of viewpoints can be safely heard on campus.

“What is perplexing is the measures that they have taken to address these (issues) don’t even hit the same people that they believe are causing the problems,” Garber told NPR.

Basketball star and human rights campaigner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar addressed the class of 2025 for Class Day on Wednesday.

“When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard to give up their academic freedom and destroy free speech, Dr. Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures,” he said, comparing Garber to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

Madeleine Riskin-Kutz, a Franco-American classics and linguistics student at Harvard, said some students were planning individual acts of protest against the Trump policies.

“The atmosphere (is) that just continuing on joyfully with the processions and the fanfare is in itself an act of resistance,” the 22-year-old said.

Garber has led the fight-back in US academia after Trump targeted several prestigious universities including Columbia which made sweeping concessions to the administration in an effort to restore $400 million of withdrawn federal grants.

A federal judge in Boston will on Thursday hear arguments over Trump’s effort to exclude Harvard from the main system for sponsoring and hosting foreign students.

Judge Allison Burroughs quickly paused the policy which would have ended Harvard’s ability to bring students from abroad who currently make up 27 percent of its student body.

Harvard has since been flooded with inquiries from foreign students seeking to transfer to other institutions, Maureen Martin, director of immigration services, said Wednesday.

“Many international students and scholars are reporting significant emotional distress that is affecting their mental health and making it difficult to focus on their studies,” Martin wrote in a court filing.

Retired immigration judge Patricia Sheppard protested outside Harvard Yard on Wednesday, sporting a black judicial robe and brandishing a sign reading “for the rule of law.”

“We have to look at why some of these actions have been filed, and it does not seem to me seemly that a president would engage in certain actions as retribution,” she told AFP.

Ahead of the graduation ceremony, members of the Harvard band sporting distinctive crimson blazers and brandishing their instruments filed through the narrow streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts – home to the elite school, America’s oldest university.

A huge stage had been erected and hundreds of chairs laid out in a grassy precinct that was closed off to the public for the occasion.

Students wearing black academic gowns also toured through Cambridge with photo-taking family members, AFP correspondents saw.