Shahi Dum Biryani

We set up Shahi Dum Biryani over on Pipulla Road in the Singh Nagar part of Vijayawada. The address is 77-1-5, and we are right beside the Cross Road Bar and Restaurant. It’s a busy little corner of the world. Most of our day is spent around the big pots of biryani. It takes a lot of time to get the rice and meat right, so we start early before the sun is even fully up. Singh Nagar has a lot of people moving through it, and we get a mix of workers and families coming in. The shop isn't anything fancy to look at. We have some basic seating and a counter where people pay. It gets pretty humid here in Vijayawada, so the kitchen feels even hotter than it actually is. We just drink plenty of water and keep going. My brother helps me with the deliveries sometimes when we have a lot of orders to send out. We don’t do much advertising; people just see the sign when they are heading to the bar next door or walking down Pipulla Road. Sometimes we run out of food earlier than expected, and we just have to tell people to come back tomorrow. It’s a straightforward way to make a living. We don't have a big corporate office or anything like that. It’s just us, the stove, and the customers who walk through the door looking for a meal and a place to sit for a bit.