Delivery Diaries: If Singapore is like a plate of Hainanese curry rice, what’s India’s dish?

Food delivery operations have benefited from eating occasions throughout the day.

Writers and economists tend to love food as a metaphor to convey their perspectives. Thomas Friedman’s Golden Arches Theory, which dubiously suggested that no two countries that have had McDonald's have gone to war—thankfully, the Ukraine-Russia conflict has conclusively silenced this popular but suspect proposition—The Economist magazine’s Big Mac Index has been a credible indicator for purchasing power parity comparisons, Dr Shashi Tharoor described India’s cultural diversity as akin to a thali of distinct dishes, and more recently, Dr Raghuram Rajan gave us the dosa-comics, where he conveyed the relationship between inflation and purchasing power in rather digestible terms. More recently, Mr Lawrence Wong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, described his nation "like a plate of Hainanese curry rice"—a blend of various cultures.

What’s India’s most-ordered dish?

All these examples flashed across my mind as I pored over the remarkable data insights that our annual ‘How India Swiggy'd’ report provided. Considering that Biryani has emerged as the most ordered dish in India for the ninth consecutive year, it may not be out of place to call our report the annual Biryani report. Or is Biryani a metaphor for India—where so many ingredients come together to make a delectable meal, much like how the wonderful diversity of the nation creates a beautiful ensemble?

An astounding 83 million Biryanis were ordered on Swiggy in 2024! What makes the dish so incredibly popular—is it the profusion of myriad tastes of vegetables, spices, rice, and ghee, or the convenience of eating it, or is it something else? Perhaps there is no single conclusive answer, but I doubt there is any other dish with such bewildering varieties even within India. Our restaurant menus indicate that, beyond the well-known Hyderabadi, Calcutta, and Lucknow biryanis, there are also Donne, Bohri, Mangalore, Sindhi, Delhi, Dindigul, and Thalassery biryanis—each incredibly popular!

Industry reports indicate that the organised Biryani industry in India alone is worth Rs 3000 crores annually. So, while there are the legendary names like Paradise, Paragon, Meghana, and Dindigul Thalappakatti, there is a surfeit of remarkable new-age brands such as Behrouz Biryani, Biryani by Kilo, Biryani Blues, and Biryani Central, which have developed successful business models, largely buoyed by deliveries. As a food business CEO, I often get asked why, despite its rich culinary heritage, India hasn't been able to produce a global food chain akin to McDonald's, Starbucks, or Pizza Hut. My immediate reaction is that Indian food is too special to be standardised. However, I firmly believe that we will soon have an international success story, and it is likely to come from the Biryani world. The quality of entrepreneurs involved, the dish’s high average order value, and its almost pervasive popularity across palates give me hope.

Other Popular Items

Talking about popularity, South Indian breakfast items—dosa in particular—lead the way. Last year, India Swiggy’d 23 million dosas! Of these, around 8.5 million were ordered during breakfast. Idlis weren’t too far behind, with almost 8 million idlis consumed for breakfast.

But the popularity of South Indian fare for breakfast shouldn’t come as a surprise. It is said that when the great Nakul Anand—one of the greatest hoteliers of our times—took charge of ITC Hotels, he made it very clear that his main customer was the busy corporate executive, who left the hotel in the morning after breakfast and returned late in the evening, looking forward to a peaceful night’s sleep. So, while the peaceful sleep experience was ensured through soundproofing rooms, providing varieties of pillows and linen, the breakfast experience was elevated by ensuring that the best chefs were on duty, especially at the dosa and idli counters.

The Swiggy report reaffirms that the most popular dishes—whether in lauded Indian five-star hotel restaurants or through food delivery services—are the same. In fact, customers lovingly write to us, telling us that food delivery services have enabled them to enjoy fabled foods from cult restaurants like MTR, Veena Stores, Brahmin's, CTR, and Rameswaram, without the inconvenience of waiting in long queues. With a restaurant pedigree like that, it’s hardly a surprise that Bengaluru leads the way in breakfast orders. Anecdotally, I have also observed that, among the major cities of India, Bengaluru wakes up the earliest. The roads, markets, and streets are abuzz as early as 7:00 AM!

Craving for Something Sweet?

We also looked at the numbers for Bolt—one of our newest services, which has garnered a very positive response from consumers. Most orders either comprise breakfast or post-dinner desserts. While breakfast urgency in the morning rush is understandable, the popularity of ice creams can be attributed to a sudden sweet tooth yearning after a savoury meal. Among desserts, the Choco Lava Cake is phenomenally popular, with more than 3.6 million overall orders. This Indianised version of what is essentially the molten chocolate cake, invented in France, is yet another instance of global food finding popularity in India, albeit in a form altered to appeal to the Indian palate.

In one of my earlier columns, I had described how food delivery operations have benefited from eating occasions throughout the day. This is affirmed by the data as well. But while there are breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, early evening, and late-night ordering occasions, the dinner peak remains the most prominent. It is a fact that, despite modern-day nutritionists often unfairly censuring evening eating, dinners remain India’s main meal. It is the time when families come together, when parents, children, and grandparents gather at the table, when friends, flatmates, and couples converge to discuss the day and regale each other over food. In that sense, dinner remains the most prominent symbol of India’s commensality, and if food delivery services can add conviviality to this experience—be it by providing “bahar ki sabzi, to go with ghar ki daal roti,” or that delectable meetha after a satisfying ghar ka khaana—we are extremely happy to play a small part in this joy and togetherness.