‘Amma ki kasam’: Customer note for Hyderabadi biryani goes viral

Hyderabad: A Hyderabadi will never compromise on biryani, especially those living miles away, who crave a taste of homemade food. A customer note, almost a plea, attached with one such order has gone viral.

The note in Dakhni, insisting the kitchen get their Hyderabadi biryani right, down to the double masala and the memory of Charminar. The note alongside an order for a single tray of Hyderabad chicken dum biryani reads like an emotional plea rather than cooking instructions for the chef.

The Dakhni note pleaded the kitchen not to send pulao in the name of biryani with double masala and double gosht, which takes one back to Charminar with every bite. “Double masala. Double gosht hona. Khaye toh Charminar ki yaad aajana.”

Invoking “Amma ki kasam” (mother’s oath), the note further pleaded for a freshly prepared biryani rather than a stale precooked order. Further, the note warned, half jokingly, that if the taste fell short, they would demand a refund the next day. The note ended with a line about the kitchen keeping portion sizes accurate, since customers, it said, were Bhukkads (voracious eaters/foodies).

The order was placed in Canada, where the tray was priced at CAD 64.99, bringing the total to CAD 68.24 after tax.

The note, a mix of humour, homesickness, and a demand for culinary perfection, is making the rounds on social media and reflects how far people away from home will go to find a small taste of nostalgia.

Is CAD 64.99 too much for a Hyderabadi biryani?

At Canada’s average restaurant prices, a family-size tray of Hyderabadi biryani in the CAD 60-70 range is roughly in line with what other Indian restaurants in Canada and the US charge for tray or family-pack biryani orders, several of which list similar-sized boneless chicken biryani trays in the CAD 25-70 bracket depending on portion size.

Converted to rupees, the CAD 64.99 works out to roughly Rs 4,370, several times what the same tray would cost in Hyderabad, but broadly consistent with the price gap that applies to most Indian restaurant meals sold abroad, once rent, import costs and Canadian dining prices are factored in.

Whether the biryani lived up to the note’s demands is not known.