Aahaara is a new caterer in Dehiwala that specializes in biriyani sawans and kidus. They offer thumping quantities of biriyani and other rice delights as well as individual lunch packets, all generous and tasty.
The Sawan
For biriyani catering, Pot Biriyani and Galle Caterers have been top dogs for a while. They’ve earned that position for a reason, but to be honest I’ve been looking for something different for a while now, and that’s where Aahaara comes in. They offer chicken, beef and mutton biriyani sawans (Rs. 2750 for the former and Rs. 4000 for the latter). The best part though is unlike most caterers, these guys do individual portions as well.
Their beef biriyani sawan (Rs. 2750) was what tried, and we were quite impressed. It comes with a full roast chicken, green pea and cashew curry, Malay pickle, Maldive fish sambol and the customary wattalapam. At Rs. 2750, these guys are actually a bit cheaper than Galle Caterers and the portion size is also pretty damn huge. We’d say enough for around 8-10 people. To be honest, when they delivered this portion we were actually overwhelmed. It’s a sizable amount of food.
The rice was fragrant and flavoursome with a good amount tender beef chunks. This one comes very well mixed so that you get a bit of everything in each mouthful. The chicken was cooked well and tasted good, with it actually being a roast chicken as opposed to the fried chicken you come across with some other places. Another thing we appreciated was the rice comes with 6 boiled eggs (more than most caterers) and a substantial amount of cashews. The entire sawan with all the sides works very well and is definitely worth the money.
We’re not quite sure how they did it, but they actually managed to fit all of that stuff into their individual portions as well. So kudos to that. They’re serving lunch on a daily basis, Rs. 180 per pack plus delivery.
The wattalapam , for us, was a bit too sweet. If you’ve got a sweet tooth you’ll probably like it.
The Kidu
Aahaara is also one of the few places that offer Kidu (Rs. 1500). It’s basically rice cooked in ghee and spice leaves that comes wrapped in a funky basket woven out of coconut leaves, which comes with chicken or beef curry, dhal curry, potato curry, mango curry and kaliya (brinjal and ash plantain). This one is perfect for those of you who aren’t huge fans of biriyani or if you’re just looking for a change.
The ghee rice was light and fluffly with all the curries marrying well together for a different type of rice and curry experience than what we’re generally used to. Don’t let the coconut leave basket fool you though, there’s a behemoth portion of rice in this one as well.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a change from the norm in terms of biriyani caterers or just something other than biriyani, Aahaara is one of the new places that you should consider trying out. Their food tastes good and they’re one of the most affordable places out there.
