The city’s appetite for biryani transcends the nature of the celebration or the nature outside.

That fondness doubles on Eid, suggested conversations with restaurant owners, diners and a tour of some of the eateries.

Aminia Restaurants, with 11 outlets in the city, sold over 5,000 plates on Monday. On a usual Sunday, the number is less than 3,000.

Shiraz Golden Restaurant in Mallickbazar sold around 2,000 plates on Monday. On a usual Sunday, it sells around 800 on average.

The Oudh 1590 chain, with 13 outlets, reported a jump of “more than 35 per cent” in biryani orders on Monday.

Sanjha Chulha sold more than twice as much biryani on Monday as it does on a usual Sunday.

Around 1.30pm, a battery of online delivery partners were waiting to collect their parcels from the Park Circus outlet of Arsalan.

“The number of orders depends on the weather. If it is very hot, the number dips. But not today. Even in this hot and sweaty weather, I have delivered around 25 orders. Almost all of them were biryani,” said Shamim Ahmed.

The day temperature was just under 34 degrees Celsius on Monday, but coupled with the humidity, the weather was taxing.

“For lunch, a significant share of the volume sold was delivered to homes. The number of diners picked up at dinner,” said Kabir Azhar, director of Aminia.

Shiladitya Chaudhuri, co-owner of Oudh, echoed him. “For lunch, many chose to order biryani at home. The Awadhi handi biryani and classic Kolkata-style biryani were the most popular choices,” he said.

Ishtiaque Ahmad of Shiraz Golden said “most biryani orders were followed by a bowl of firni”.

Sukrit Mukherjee, a sales manager for a private insurance company, went to the Hatibagan outlet of Aminia for lunch with his wife, sister, brother-in-law and niece.

“A biryani lunch on Eid is customary for me and my wife. My sister, who lives in Guwahati, is here now. So, we thought of eating out together,” said Mukherjee, who lives nearby.

In every nook and corner of the city, pop-up joints were ready with giant pots of biryani. The aroma of meat and rice soaked in ghee wafted through the neighbourhoods.

Rabi Sardar, a plumber in Behala, was busy from morning to evening, working at two apartments, one after another, at a gated community on Biren Roy Road West near Chowrasta.

On his way home, he picked up three plates of chicken biryani from a local eatery. “We will have a family dinner while watching something on TV,” said Sardar, who lives with his wife and nine-year-old son.

Late on Monday, Asif Ahmed of Sanjha Chulha was struggling to cope with pending orders. “There are many bulk orders, for 15-20 people,” he said.

Food lore has it that biryani came to Kolkata with Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Awadh, who arrived in the city in 1856. Down the years, it has become a symbol of the melting pot that Calcutta is.

The great-great-granddaughter of the nawab, Manzilat Fatima, runs a rooftop restaurant near Ruby hospital. It is popular for biryanis and kebabs.

On Monday, the restaurant was closed. Fatima cooked Lucknow-style biryani at her central Calcutta home for family and friends. It did not have potatoes.

“The demand for biryani on Eid is only matched by the demand during Durga Puja. For me, that speaks volumes of the nature of this city,” said Fatima.

Biryani was also a part of Eid charity. After the Eid namaz, Zeeshan Majeed, a social worker, distributed biryani among the kids at a shelter home in Behala and residents of an old-age home in Garia.