High On Bar Be Cues

Economic Times:

Delhi’s Daryaganj stands where once the darya or the river Yamuna, the lifeline of the city, flowed. A bustling commercial district with a zillion transactions or more a day, is also breathing life to Moti Mahal. Unlike the Internet-chosen First Wonder, Moti Mahal is an eatery, literally meaning the pearl palace. A pearl among connoisseurs of true blue north western frontier province cuisine, it prides itself as the inventor of the tandoori chicken. The dish may be a butt of jokes as the state bird of Punjab, but it is here where the chick got chic. Today, Moti Mahal’s butter and tandoori chicken are as much a rage in London as in Delhi. Set up in 1920 by Kundan Lal Gujral, the legacy of the hash-brown barbecue poultry lives on through his grandson Monish Gujral, who is taking forward the brand in its all-new franchise avatar and customising it with geographical precision.

After graduating in hotel management from Delhi’s Pusa Institute, Monish Gujral took charge as managing director of the modern-day Moti Mahal Deluxe. “We first got our human resources ready by getting chartered accountants, lawyers, marketing and IT professionals on board and training them to draw up a formula to make our way through the franchisee model,” says Gujral.

Getting the right franchisee who lived up to the standards of the original Moti Mahal was also a challenge, especially when it came to taste. Read more.