TRANSCRIPT
It's a perennial favourite of Indian cuisine around the world.
Newsreader: "Butter chicken pot pie, butter chicken pizza, butter chicken sandwich - it's everywhere."
Now the creamy delicacy known, even on the sub-continent as butter chicken, has become the subject of television news reports across India.
Newsreader : "Who invented Butter Chicken?"
Monish Gujral, manager of Delhi restaurant chain Moti Mahal, claims his grandfather, and restaurant founder, was behind the culinary masterpiece.
"We will not allow anybody to take away our legacy. We will not allow anyone to infringe on our brand or our taglines. We will not allow anyone to associate their brands and create public confusion which we call unfair competition.”
He's suing rival chain Daryaganj for $360,000 in damages in the Delhi High Court, accusing it of falsely laying claim to the dish.
It's a charge Daryaganj co-founder and CEO Amit Bagga denies, saying his late family member Kundan Lal Jaggi also deserves credit.
"Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani are the dishes which were invented in a restaurant called Moti Mahal and this Moti Mahal restaurant was founded by three partners and Mr. Kundan Lal Jaggi, he was one of the co-founders of that restaurant. And that is why, we have used this name."
In Sydney's Lttle India, passions are just as intense.
Owner of Ginger restaurant in Harris Park Vandana Setia says the dish is as popular in India as it is in Australia.
"One of the most selling dishes in our restaurant, people love it, and people order it from mild spices to hot. There are kids who love the milder version, there are people who just say we just want the original butter chicken normal spice, and there will be people who say, oh no, we need a kick, can you make it very hot for us."
But she is keen to dispel a common misconception it originated outside of India.
She's always been told that Butter Chicken was created by the Moti Mehal restaurant as a sweeter version of tandoori chicken, diced in gravy, for a tourist in a hurry.
"He had to catch a flight, he went to this hotel, he said any mild gravy will be fine for me, and tandoori chicken is very popular in India, and I think definitely it originated in India. I can't think of any other place to be honest."
She says the ideal accompaniments for Butter Chicken are a garlic naan, basmati rice, and a mango lassi.
The key ingredient, is of course, butter.
"When you cook your chicken into the tandoori oven, when you take it out, it's been said that you should brush some butter onto it to make it more juicy, to give that shine to the chicken. With the butter you get that shine, you get that taste of the butter chicken."
A taste that everyone can agree is delicious.
