DARYAGANJ
By the Inventors of Butter Chicken & Dal Makhani is one restaurant, which continues to be loved by its patrons. Beauty & The Best in conversation with Co-founder Amit Bagga to know more about Daryaganj and Food Industry Post Covid.
Let us know about your brand Daryaganj?
Daryaganj is a North Indian cuisine restaurant brand which is a tribute to Late Mr. Kundan Lal Jaggi, the inventor of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani by his grandson Raghav Jaggi and Amit Bagga. This brand celebrates the legacy of Tandoori cuisine. The culinary legacy goes back decades to the era of Indian Independence, when Kundan Lal Jaggi, a refugee from Peshawar of Undivided India came to Delhi with nothing but the skills of Tandoori cuisine. Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani are arguably the most popular dishes in any north Indian restaurant.
Daryaganj showcases the history of Tandoori cuisine and its evolution, serving all dishes invented by Kundan Lal Jaggi. With valuable inputs from Kundan Lal Jaggi and his family, his secret recipes of that era are being re-created. It is a celebration of robust Indian flavours from the northwest frontier, brought to life using fresh local produce.
Which are the best five best dishes in Daryaganj?
We have a few signature secret recipes of 1947 dishes such as Butter Chicken, Dal Makhani, Chicken Pakora, Tandoori Chicken and Lockdown Haldi Chicken.
What are your major accomplishments so far?
Our major accomplishment is all the love and loyalty we have won from our patrons. Their encouragement is our biggest achievement. In less than one year we have opened four outlets of Daryaganj, which shows people faith in us. They have loved our food and have accepted the trend of going back to classics.
What’s the difference between Butter chicken 1947 and Butter chicken 2020 – 1947 butter chicken is made with the Original Recipe and consisting of chunky tomatoes as during those years there were no mixers or grinders. Whereas Butter chicken of2020 is also made with tomatoes which are well pureed to make a smooth velvety gravy, Dairy cream and boneless chicken tikka are added to this curry.
What are the changes in the industry Post COVID Pandemic?
First and Foremost, change is 50% seating capacity. Restaurants have very well adapted to the culture of social distancing as the business had to restart, and now it’s become part of the SOPS of a restaurant. The biggest challenge is the lesser capacity of seats. Because of that, we can’t hire all our employees back to keep it viable to operate the Restaurant. We divide our slots to spread out the flow of customers at peak timings. We have completely changed the way we work and we are extremely particular about all the safety measures.
What are the new things you are doing? Anything special for the festive season?
We are launching a new concept of delivery, where we are trying to recreate the Restaurant’s experience at the guest’s home. It will be a first of its kind concept in India. We are also working on our Mithai Segment and are hopeful of launching it soon.
For dine-in customers, we have specially made Baileys Kulfi at Daryaganj. Bailey’s Kulfi is one of the dedicated experiments in-house at Daryaganj. It is a fusion of a traditional dessert but experimented with a modern twist.
Plans for 2021?
We are planning our expansion in June 2021, and we plan to expand nationwide and internationally as well.