Calcutta, Sept. 7: It’s the biggest boom in biryani the city has witnessed. Guesstimates put it at roughly a lakh plates sold from organised restaurants, and another 40,000 to 50,000 plates sold off the streets every day. From restaurants across the city to the humble roadside stalls, biryani has caught up with rolls and kebabs as the city’s favourite fast food.

“Certainly, there has been a huge spurt in demand. One can see a Mughlai restaurant on every street these days,” says Mohammed Irfan, who runs the century-old Royal Indian Hotel, on Rabindra Sarani. His grandfather, Mehboob Ali, who set up the restaurant in 1905, was among the pioneers who popularised biryani in town.

The market does reflect a huge increase in demand and consumption. “Though our main restaurant, more than three decades old, is on the Park Street-Mullickbazar crossing, we have opened four branches in the past three years, including one each at Salt Lake and on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass,” said Mohammed Shawkat Ali, proprietor, Shiraz. “There was a big demand and our clients are happy now that we have outlets in their neighbourhood,” he adds.

It is a similar story for the Rahmania chain, with several outlets in the city, Salt Lake and Lake Town.

Competition is hotting up, too. “Earlier, we were the only shop in this part of Park Circus. Now, with a peak in demand, new outlets are coming up,” says Saif Ahmed of Zeeshan.

Biryani moved from Lucknow to Calcutta when Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dislodged by the British in 1856. As Shah’s cooks moved with him, so did the biryani. Then it entered common households, where the meat was replaced with potato.

But a century-and-a-half later, the common man can afford the meat and the potato in his biryani — at Rs 15 for half a plate. That’s the rate at most roadside stalls across the city.

Young man Souvik Sarkar — who has no links with Lucknow — has cashed in on the boom and runs successful “street-corner outlets” — Anima Biryani — in the Prince Anwar Shah Road area. A decade ago, he would probably have sold rolls. Sarkar has three biryani stalls in the area, selling 900 half-plates (half-plates are more popular than full) every day.

Office-goers, schoolteachers, rickshaw-pullers — everyone takes a helping of his chicken or mutton biryani, both prepared in the same handi, topped with slices of onion, a twist of lime, a green chilli and a dash of salt.

“It’s not the real thing, but it sells. If people want tomato sauce with their biryani, I’ll serve that, too, some day,” he grins.