Inheritance of gain
Restaurateur Monish Gujral takes ANINDITA CHATTOPADHYAY through his tandoori chicken trail.
Taking forward the legacy Monish Gujral says his biggest challenge is to keep the flag of the Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail flying high.
Restaurateurs and chefs, who inherit family recipes, are often known to guard their kitchen secrets zealously to further their culinary legacy. But Monish Gujral, the proud inheritor of Delhi's Moti Mahal restaurant, decided to do otherwise. He wrote two books, "Moti Mahal's Tandoori Trail" (2004) and the recent "Moti Mahal On the Butter Chicken Trail" – brought out by Penguin – to share with masses the recipes of his legendary kitchen. Yes, the same kitchen that has given the world tandoori and butter chicken; one in whose praise Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had reportedly said, "Going to Delhi and not eating at Moti Mahal is like going to Agra and not visiting Taj Mahal."
If the first book recorded the story of his granddad Kundan Lal, a man who set out on a culinary adventure in Peshawar to please his master who wanted to eat something light and non-greasy and eventually put India on the global map by inventing tandoori chicken (before that tandoor was used only to bake breads like naan and roti), the second book is about Monish's success story and how butter chicken has internationalised the Indian taste.
"The books are my way of giving loyalty bonus to guests who have patronised Moti Mahal for so long. In fact, the second book happened because readers complained that the first did not have the butter chicken recipe," smiles Monish. Isn't he worried about giving away the recipes when food business is all about competition? "No, eating at Moti Mahal is not about food but about enjoying an experience. It is not easy to take that away," comes a matter-of-fact reply. He should know. After all, he sells over 1,00,000 butter chickens a year and proudly announces that recession has not hit his business.
Childhood fascination
Monish's story is one of childhood fascination turning into passion. As a young boy who often accompanied his granddad to Hyderabad House (Moti Mahal usually handled the catering there) to collect autographs of film stars ("I was a Rajesh Khanna fan then") and foreign dignitaries, he was fascinated by the glamorous side of food business. Then when his grandfather introduced him to the art of cooking, it became a passion. Today, he can cook every single dish on his menu and using the same basic tandoori chicken masala has invented new delectables like tandoori salmon and tandoori lobster among others to suit the new-gen palate.
The salad days
Recounting how he started out, Monish says, "After the class XII board exams, I got a summer job in Oxford Bookstore. Dadaji asked me 'what would they pay you.' 'Rs.600,' I said. 'I will pay you Rs.700, come and work in my kitchen,' he said. He made me go through rigorous kitchen training, but I learnt that food has power – to inspire, delight, attract and impress."
Those who know Monish will tell you that this soft-spoken, well-mannered, gentle guy is an astute businessman. Kundan Lal may have made Moti Mahal popular in Delhi, but he never thought of registering it as his family's brand. The story goes that Kundan Lal fled Peshawar during Partition with his family and stayed in a refugee camp initially, all the while thinking of setting up a dhaba to tantalise the palate of Dilliwallahs with his tandoori chicken. He finally bought an open space, barely a few square metres, in a street corner in Darya Ganj facing the outward move of the crowd from the Old City. Thus the Capital's Moti Mahal was born. Its popularity soared so much that within a year Kundan Lal bought the adjoining area and the dhaba became a 400-seater restaurant. He made dining at Moti Mahal a singular experience by introducing live qawwali music and a see-through tandoor kitchen. Not to forget his warm approach of welcoming every guest personally. Soon Moti Mahal became a social hotspot where Delhi's glitterati hobnobbed over tandoori delicacies. But what he in his simplicity ignored was the spawning of Moti Mahals. When Monish took charge, armed with a degree from the Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, he "first branded Moti Mahal by rechristening it as Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail, created a core team of master chefs and standardised quality" before appointing franchisees to branch out when the retail boom happened. Result? He inherited one restaurant and now owns 72 outlets.
Monish admits his biggest challenge is to keep the flag of this historic brand flying high. And his greatest ambition? "To take Moti Mahal's tandoori trail, which started in 1920 in Peshawar and reached Delhi in 1947, to far corners of the globe. We will soon open Moti Mahal in the Middle East. Talks with a master franchisee are on. Singapore and Hong Kong are also on the cards. London may be a year down the line," he signs off as I concentrate on the recipes – a sure shot way to win hearts of family and friends.
Motimahal Delux Tandoori Trail...
India's most famous restaurant and fore runner of tandoori cuisine – Moti Mahal established in 1920, now gets a new look. Monish Gujral, the MD of the chain calls the new Avtaar Moti Mahal as Moti Mahal Delux Tandoori Trail. This is a tribute to his grand Father the founder of Moti Mahal and the inventor of "Tandoori Chicken" and "Butter Chicken". According to Mr. Monish Gujral, Managing Director "Our new restaurant is not only different in outlook but also in terms of menu presentation and style of service. This restaurant is named 'Motimahal Delux Tandoori Trail' as it signifies the Moti Mahal's Culinary-trail from Peshawar to Delhi. Infact, Moti Mahal was the first Indian restaurant to introduce Tandoori and Mughlai cuisine to the world.
The new restaurant 'Motimahal Delux Tandoori Trail' retraces the glorious past by creating a photo gallery which was released in 2004 by Famous Indian artist and sculptor Sh. Satish Gujral, placed at the entrance featuring some of Motimahal's patrons pictures like Pt. Jawaharlal Lal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Former President Dr. Zakir Hussain, Field Marshal Manikshaw, Raj Kapur, Nargis, Jackalyn Kennedy, amongst others.
Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail is one of the few restaurants which has its official cook book published by Roli books released by minister for Law and Justice, Industry and on 18th April 2004. The book contains famous Moti Mahal recipes, some of the rare photos in B&W of the famous people who visited the restaurant. This book is authored by Monish Gujral with a foreword by Ms.Uma Vasudeva. Moti Mahal also boasts off, of having its own music. The first volume of Music Album called the Moti Mahal Qwalli Trail, produced by T-Serires was released by Hon`ble minister for tourism Smt. Renuka Choudhuri in 2004.
"Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail" restaurants offer a complete tandoori cuisine with traditional Indian food and choices of mouth watering dishes such as their signature butter chicken, dal makhani, their savory gift to the world - the tandoori chicken, wraps, M4 meals (Moti Mahal Makhani Meals) besides the traditional menu like butter chicken, dal makhani and tandoori delicacies with an equal choice for our vegetarian guests.
Being situated at the corporate hubs, the restaurant has introduced special menu combos such as wraps, 7 1/2 minute menus (catering to fast moving corporate crowd) and kebab platters at affordable prices.
The Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail, now has outlets in
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Restaurateur Monish Gujral takes ANINDITA CHATTOPADHYAY through his tandoori chicken trail.
Taking forward the legacy Monish Gujral says his biggest challenge is to keep the flag of the Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail flying high.
If the first book recorded the story of his granddad Kundan Lal, a man who set out on a culinary adventure in Peshawar to please his master who wanted to eat something light and non-greasy and eventually put India on the global map by inventing tandoori chicken (before that tandoor was used only to bake breads like naan and roti), the second book is about Monish's success story and how butter chicken has internationalised the Indian taste.
"The books are my way of giving loyalty bonus to guests who have patronised Moti Mahal for so long. In fact, the second book happened because readers complained that the first did not have the butter chicken recipe," smiles Monish. Isn't he worried about giving away the recipes when food business is all about competition? "No, eating at Moti Mahal is not about food but about enjoying an experience. It is not easy to take that away," comes a matter-of-fact reply. He should know. After all, he sells over 1,00,000 butter chickens a year and proudly announces that recession has not hit his business.
Childhood fascination
Monish's story is one of childhood fascination turning into passion. As a young boy who often accompanied his granddad to Hyderabad House (Moti Mahal usually handled the catering there) to collect autographs of film stars ("I was a Rajesh Khanna fan then") and foreign dignitaries, he was fascinated by the glamorous side of food business. Then when his grandfather introduced him to the art of cooking, it became a passion. Today, he can cook every single dish on his menu and using the same basic tandoori chicken masala has invented new delectables like tandoori salmon and tandoori lobster among others to suit the new-gen palate.
The salad days
Recounting how he started out, Monish says, "After the class XII board exams, I got a summer job in Oxford Bookstore. Dadaji asked me 'what would they pay you.' 'Rs.600,' I said. 'I will pay you Rs.700, come and work in my kitchen,' he said. He made me go through rigorous kitchen training, but I learnt that food has power – to inspire, delight, attract and impress."
Those who know Monish will tell you that this soft-spoken, well-mannered, gentle guy is an astute businessman. Kundan Lal may have made Moti Mahal popular in Delhi, but he never thought of registering it as his family's brand. The story goes that Kundan Lal fled Peshawar during Partition with his family and stayed in a refugee camp initially, all the while thinking of setting up a dhaba to tantalise the palate of Dilliwallahs with his tandoori chicken. He finally bought an open space, barely a few square metres, in a street corner in Darya Ganj facing the outward move of the crowd from the Old City. Thus the Capital's Moti Mahal was born. Its popularity soared so much that within a year Kundan Lal bought the adjoining area and the dhaba became a 400-seater restaurant. He made dining at Moti Mahal a singular experience by introducing live qawwali music and a see-through tandoor kitchen. Not to forget his warm approach of welcoming every guest personally. Soon Moti Mahal became a social hotspot where Delhi's glitterati hobnobbed over tandoori delicacies. But what he in his simplicity ignored was the spawning of Moti Mahals. When Monish took charge, armed with a degree from the Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, he "first branded Moti Mahal by rechristening it as Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail, created a core team of master chefs and standardised quality" before appointing franchisees to branch out when the retail boom happened. Result? He inherited one restaurant and now owns 72 outlets.
Monish admits his biggest challenge is to keep the flag of this historic brand flying high. And his greatest ambition? "To take Moti Mahal's tandoori trail, which started in 1920 in Peshawar and reached Delhi in 1947, to far corners of the globe. We will soon open Moti Mahal in the Middle East. Talks with a master franchisee are on. Singapore and Hong Kong are also on the cards. London may be a year down the line," he signs off as I concentrate on the recipes – a sure shot way to win hearts of family and friends.
Motimahal Delux Tandoori Trail...
India's most famous restaurant and fore runner of tandoori cuisine – Moti Mahal established in 1920, now gets a new look. Monish Gujral, the MD of the chain calls the new Avtaar Moti Mahal as Moti Mahal Delux Tandoori Trail. This is a tribute to his grand Father the founder of Moti Mahal and the inventor of "Tandoori Chicken" and "Butter Chicken". According to Mr. Monish Gujral, Managing Director "Our new restaurant is not only different in outlook but also in terms of menu presentation and style of service. This restaurant is named 'Motimahal Delux Tandoori Trail' as it signifies the Moti Mahal's Culinary-trail from Peshawar to Delhi. Infact, Moti Mahal was the first Indian restaurant to introduce Tandoori and Mughlai cuisine to the world. The new restaurant 'Motimahal Delux Tandoori Trail' retraces the glorious past by creating a photo gallery which was released in 2004 by Famous Indian artist and sculptor Sh. Satish Gujral, placed at the entrance featuring some of Motimahal's patrons pictures like Pt. Jawaharlal Lal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Former President Dr. Zakir Hussain, Field Marshal Manikshaw, Raj Kapur, Nargis, Jackalyn Kennedy, amongst others.
Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail is one of the few restaurants which has its official cook book published by Roli books released by minister for Law and Justice, Industry and on 18th April 2004. The book contains famous Moti Mahal recipes, some of the rare photos in B&W of the famous people who visited the restaurant. This book is authored by Monish Gujral with a foreword by Ms.Uma Vasudeva. Moti Mahal also boasts off, of having its own music. The first volume of Music Album called the Moti Mahal Qwalli Trail, produced by T-Serires was released by Hon`ble minister for tourism Smt. Renuka Choudhuri in 2004.
"Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail" restaurants offer a complete tandoori cuisine with traditional Indian food and choices of mouth watering dishes such as their signature butter chicken, dal makhani, their savory gift to the world - the tandoori chicken, wraps, M4 meals (Moti Mahal Makhani Meals) besides the traditional menu like butter chicken, dal makhani and tandoori delicacies with an equal choice for our vegetarian guests.
Being situated at the corporate hubs, the restaurant has introduced special menu combos such as wraps, 7 1/2 minute menus (catering to fast moving corporate crowd) and kebab platters at affordable prices.
The Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail, now has outlets in
- DLF (DT-City Centre Mall & Cyber Green)
- Faridabad (Destination Point)
- Shipra Mall (Indirapuram)
- Pacific Mall (Ghaziabad)
- CR2 Mall (Nariman Point)
- InOrbit Mall (Malad)
- Ansal Mall (Ludhiana)
- PATNA
- KANPUR
- LUCKNOW
- INDORE
- AGRA
- AND THE TRAIL GOES ON...
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