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5 min
07/11/2025
Your nani’s paneer butter masala recipe? Turns out she probably got it from a restaurant. The biggest myth when it comes to paneer butter masala is the ‘fact’ that it’s an authentic North Indian recipe. But, it’s not! This rich, creamy comfort food has restaurant DNA running through its veins, and the real origin story involves one of Delhi's legendary restaurants and some seriously clever menu engineering during Partition.
A North Indian dish through and through, paneer butter masala, just like most of its paneer counterparts in other cuisines, isn’t as authentic as you might reckon. The biggest irony about paneer is that Afghan and Persian rulers introduced the dairy product in the 16th century. It did not take long for India to adopt paneer and treat it like their own. As paneer popped up in different parts of the country, its indelible mark was perhaps seen most in North India as a master piece: paneer butter masala was born in the 1950s via Punjabi cooks, out of sheer necessity.
The story might be a derivative, but it starts with butter chicken. As history goes, its story begins in 1947, at the iconic Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi, co-founded by Kundan Lal Jaggi, Kundan Lal Gujral, and Thakur Das Magu. One evening, just as the restaurant was winding down, a group of late-night guests arrived hungry. The kitchen was almost bare, with only a few portions of leftover tandoori chicken, which was founded by Kundan Lal Gujral in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). A Bengali guest suggested tossing the chicken into a simple gravy so everyone could eat. Inspired, Kundan Lal Jaggi whipped up a sauce using butter, tomatoes, and spices, and the result was so good, the guests polished off every bite. This was butter chicken.
Jaggi’s accidental recipe became butter chicken, and soon after, chefs began using the same makhani gravy to create a vegetarian version by swapping in cubes of soft paneer. So, in essence, paneer butter masala is paneer makhani, which followed suit right after butter chicken. Chicken pakora, dal makhani and tandoor chicken were popularised by Jaggi’s restaurant, with vegetarian options popping up soon after. But as per records go, the exact date and when paneer butter masala came to be is still a mystery. It’s one of those dishes created out of experimentation, but, was off the record.
Monish Gujral, grandson of Kundan Lal Gujral, had a thing or two to say on his grandfather’s culinary legacy to the Washington Post: “My grandfather invented both (tandoori chicken and butter chicken). In fact, I often think that it is hard to imagine Indian food today without my grandfather’s inventions.” He went on to reiterate that all of the dishes invented by his grandfather were out of necessity, be it butter chicken, dal makhani or tandoori chicken. Gujral proudly shared that his grandfather’s invention in Moti Mahal has crossed seas and cemented its spot in Indian restaurants all over, all rooted in the experimental recipe from New Delhi.
Narrations from food historians point to the same fact, and Kurush F. Dalal, archaeologist and culinary anthropologist, told the Indian Express that the dish’s origins is rooted in a practical solution: “The dish was invented to solve the serious problem of food wastage and then just before serving it, he (Jaggi) did a very French thing of mounting it with butter and a little cream. It becomes so popular”. Another food historian, Pushpesh Pant, told NPR, challenging the origin of the butter chicken: “Who invented the butter chicken? None of them did. Butter chicken was probably made at several places at the same time, where leftover chicken would not sell”.
Paneer butter masala hits different because it's engineered comfort food that never gets old. It takes the butter chicken recipe and creates magic when tomatoes combine with the creamy and buttery gravy, where paneer pieces are dropped. The best part about it, like the chicken, the paneer cubes soak up flavour while retaining their shape. This helps the spice blend stand out with its impeccable warmth and aroma without overpowering the richness of the gravy. Naan, jeera rice, tandoori roti, any of these go well with the good, old paneer butter masala.
That being said and done, paneer butter masala didn’t just appear out of thin air. It was a delicious remix born in Delhi’s bustling post-partition kitchen, where innovation met necessity. Taking inspiration from butter chicken, it carved its path as a rich, comforting, vegetarian superstar. Today, it’s not just food, it’s a cultural icon that everyone loves, being made at home and in high-end restaurants worldwide. Its story is proof that when flavour, ingenuity, and accessibility combine, the result is a dish that becomes timeless, loved across generations and borders.
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