Monish Gujral - Moti Mahal Cook Book: On the Butter chicken Trail

For that, I have to wait till he visits Mumbai. Then it is friendship and food, a double whammy, as we sit talking and eating late into the night. I am always amazed at how he adds to the number of Moti Mahals each time we meet. I cannot remember how many they were at last count. But today there are 72 across India, and by 2009 there will be 110, after which he intends taking the brand abroad to Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, South East Asia. It is a good idea; and God bless, because the number of imitation Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants like the Moti Mahals there are around the world, claiming to serve the asli butter chicken and maa ki dal, is really not funny.

But that, I am afraid, is the cross Monish has to bear for his familys simplicity in business and its large heartedness. His grandfather Kundan Lal Gujral, a handsome man from Peshawar known as much for his dhaba food as for his Pathani suits, handlebar moustache, fondness for good whisky and a closeness to Indira Gandhi, is responsible for this state of affairs. He made Moti Mahal famous all over Delhi, but neglected to register the brand as his familys proprietary trademark. As a result, there are more Moti Mahals today between Delhi and Vancouver than the late Kundal Lal would care to know. Happily, Monish stepped in at the right time and registered the brand. Having reclaimed the title that was rightfully the familys, he has made Moti Mahal into the brand it is today, and is proudly taking it forward.

Kundan Lals post-Partition dhaba had become a 400-seat restaurant in Daryaganj by 1948, with regulars like Pandit Jawaharlal publicly extolling the virtues of the restaurateurs signature dishhis tandoori chicken. Maulana Azad is reputed to have said that just as they visited Agra and did not leave without seeing the Taj Mahal, nobody should come to Delhi and go away without having at least one meal at Moti Mahal. But, really, the restaurant was not the elite, fine dining eatery then that it is today. It was more a mom-and-pop shop. That was when Monish stepped into the picture in 1983. The story goes that he had just passed out of junior college and accepted a summer job in a five star hotel bookshop.

Kundan Lal imperiously asked his grandson, How much are they paying you? Monish replied, Rs. 600. The old man magnanimously offered, Come and work in my kitchen and I will pay you Rs. 700. That, I think, was the moment Moti Mahals fortunes changed. For Monish took up the offer.

And he trained under Kundan Lal who was an outstanding cook. But Monish simultaneously studied commerce, he did hotel management, and when his father and Kundan Lals only son passed away early at 49, Monish stepped into his shoes. Winds of change swept through Moti Mahal then, Monish standardized the food, he created mother recipes that are common to all 72 Moti Mahal restaurants, he set up a corporate office at Gurgaon, and a big school of master chefs to train juniors and accompany them to new restaurants in the chain where they hold hands in the kitchen until the new Moti Mahal, too, finds its feet. In Delhi, Moti Mahal is a social hotspot. Everybody dines here, from Nehrus great granddaughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to visiting heads of state, film stars, politicians who disagree violently in Parliament, celebrity sportsmen, multinational CEOs, Indian captains of industry The restaurant business in India is an exciting challenge and Monish Gujral, who is intrigued by the romance of adventure, has picked up this gauntlet. In taking Moti Mahal across India, he recognized the potential of setting up shop in the spanking new granite, chrome and glass shopping malls everywhere.

Restaurants make malls attractive destinations and malls assure restaurants the footfalls they need to stay in business, he reasoned. And he has grown in time; he is a jet-setting businessman, a popular food writer, a man-about-town, a gourmet who cooks at home for the wife and children. But, I am happy to say he has kept Moti Mahals food the same. Kundan Lals signature dishes remain; some additions were made, but people blindly come and order the butter chicken, maa ki dal and roti. It is difficult to tell them to try anything different, Monish said. I know, every time we meet he tries to interest me with a different order.

I yield because he is my friend. And also because I have had in his absence, the week before, the butter chicken, maa ki dal and roti! Mark Manuel Editor, Bombay Times