Kundan Lal Jaggi

Kundan Lal Jaggi (1924 - 2018) was a famous Indian restaurateur.

He was born and raised in a Punjabi Hindu family in Peshawar, British India; and married to Swarna Jaggi. He worked at a small eatery called Moti Mahal, owned by a man named Mokha Singh Lamba. In 1947, during partition of India, he fled from Peshawar to Delhi with his family as a refugee trying his luck.

However, 1947 brought the tragedy of partition, forcing among others, Kundan Lal Jaggi flee to India. Uncertainty faced him, as he had neither the money nor the resources to start afresh in life. He dropped off at Delhi to try his luck. Roaming the streets, he chanced upon an abandoned Thara in Daryaganj, which was considered a then newer part of Old Delhi. Some inner voice told him that this was the spot, which would not only rehabilitate him but also, who knows, the Delhi wallas would see merit in his Tandoori chicken. After curating 94 years of his life amongst the walls of milestones and inventing deliciousness for this world, the great man – Kundan Lal Jaggi, bid farewell to all of us in March, 2018.

Daryaganj : Restaurateur

He met two of his old colleagues from the restaurant, at a Liquor store in Delhi. They talked & then decided to revive Moti Mahal in Delhi. Kundan Lal Jaggi and partners recruited some more people, they knew from Peshawar & soon, the Moti Mahal Restaurant actively swayed the town. The journey of Kundan Lal Jaggi & his partners was a series of happy coincidences. 'Luck by chance' could be the tagline for some of their biggest gastronomic inventions. "Dilli mein Restaurant ka koi riwaaz nahi tha" (Translation: There was no culture of eating out in Delhi), said Kundan Lal Jaggi, during an interview. Kundan Lal Jaggi, a refugee from Peshawar, taught Delhi how to eat out in style. Kundan Lal Jaggi was the inventor of Butter Chicken & Dal Makhani, which are now the staple at every Indian Restaurant around the world.

Daryaganj: NOW

Kundan Lal Jaggi’s grandson – Raghav Jaggi, belongs with every bit of the restaurant and his grandfather’s soul & life’s milestones. To pay his respect towards the global revolutionizing culinary experience with the signature inventions, Raghav Jaggi has been curating the masterpiece of this tribute – a restaurant by the name of Daryaganj at Worldmark 1 – Aerocity & Connaught Place, New Delhi.

Kundan Lal Jaggi has won several awards for his contribution to the culinary industry one of his recent award was the "Culinary Legendary Award" at the IFCA’s (Indian Federation of Culinary Association) 7th International Chef’s Conference.