Business Remedies | Rajshree Upadhyaya | The story of Daryaganj traces its roots back to the turbulent days of Partition, when Delhi became the new home for countless refugees from across the border. Among them was Kundan Lal Jaggi, a man who would unknowingly shape the future of Indian cuisine. It was in his Delhi kitchen, while working with limited ingredients late one evening, that he created what would later become a global classic. With leftover tandoori chicken, tomatoes, butter, and a handful of spices, he simmered a dish that came to be known as butter chicken. Alongside it, he perfected a slow-cooked black lentil recipe that transformed into dal makhani, another timeless staple. These creations were not just meals; they were symbols of resilience and reinvention in a city rebuilding itself.
Decades later, that legacy found new life when Jaggi’s grandson, Raghav Jaggi, teamed up with hospitality entrepreneur Amit Bagga to create a restaurant that would retell this story to a new generation. In 2019, they launched the first Daryaganj outlet, subtitled “By the Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani,” grounding their brand in heritage while presenting it with a polished, contemporary dining experience. The menu remained anchored in the classics, but the positioning was deliberate: they were not simply another North Indian restaurant, they were custodians of a culinary legacy born out of Partition and perfected in Delhi. The ambience, service, and storytelling all revolved around this connection to the past, turning every meal into a reminder of a history that was both personal and cultural.
The challenge, however, was that theirs was not the only version of this story. Another Delhi institution, Moti Mahal, claimed that its founder, Kundan Lal Gujral, had invented butter chicken back in Peshawar before Partition and brought it to Delhi in 1947. This sparked one of the most heated culinary debates in India-who really invented butter chicken? Daryaganj’s narrative credited Jaggi as the man behind the dish in Delhi, while Moti Mahal’s legacy insisted otherwise. The dispute eventually escalated into a legal battle over trademarks and legacy rights, with both sides presenting photographs, documents, and testimonies to prove their claim. For diners, it became part of the intrigue, but for Daryaganj, it was also an opportunity to sharpen its brand identity by owning its side of the story with conviction.
If legacy gave Daryaganj its foundation, Shark Tank India gave it a stage. When the founders appeared in Season 2, they carried not just plates of food but decades of family history. They sought ninety lakh rupees for half a percent equity, valuing their young chain at an ambitious one hundred and eighty crores. The sharks debated, questioned, and tasted, and it was Aman Gupta of boAt who decided to invest, offering ninety lakh for one percent. The episode became one of the most talked-about pitches of the season, not only because of the valuation but because of the way Daryaganj blended storytelling, food, and business strategy into a pitch that captured national attention.
The effect of their television appearance was immediate. Customer curiosity surged, media coverage multiplied, and expansion plans accelerated. Within months, Daryaganj was opening new outlets across Delhi-NCR and Punjab, catering to both families seeking nostalgia and young diners drawn by the buzz. By late 2024, the brand had reached close to fifteen outlets and had begun eyeing international opportunities. In early 2025, it took its first step abroad with a restaurant in Bangkok, positioning itself not just as a North Indian brand but as a global ambassador of Delhi’s most famous dishes.
Through all of this, the brand has stayed true to its formula of combining food with storytelling. Each restaurant is designed to evoke a sense of tradition, each dish is presented with pride in its origins, and every new location is marketed as an extension of a legacy. The legal dispute with Moti Mahal still lingers, surfacing in headlines every now and then, but Daryaganj’s growth suggests that the question of origin, while important, is not the only ingredient in success. What matters equally is the ability to translate history into a contemporary dining experience that resonates with people today.
In many ways, Daryaganj represents the essence of Indian entrepreneurship: a story born of displacement, carried through generations, reshaped for modern markets, and amplified by the power of media. Whether or not the courts ultimately credit Jaggi or Gujral as the true inventor of butter chicken, Daryaganj has already carved its own place in India’s dining landscape. It has been shown that food is never just about taste-it is about memory, identity, and the narratives that make us believe in what’s on the plate.
