KUALA LUMPUR: It’s 7.00am and Hina Ayaz is crouched in the middle of her kitchen in an attempt to light up the portable stove.
Her friend, Saima Khan removes an entire bucket of marinated chicken from the refrigerator.
“We stayed up till 2am to ensure the chicken meat was thoroughly washed and marinated. Then we prepped the vegetables. We had barely time to sleep as we had to wake up by 5am to soak the rice,” Hina tells FMT.
The ladies move quickly, working on a deadline. Saima keeps a watchful eye on the bubbling oil as Hina deftly places the chicken into a large stainless-steel pot.
Within seconds, the entire apartment is filled with the heady aroma of homemade spices and cooking meat.
By 9am, the two women, with the help of human rights activist, Mahi Ramakrishnan are scooping generous portions of flavourful chicken dum biryani and vegetable biryani into boxes with tiny red logos bearing the name Biryani Wallahs.
“This is Biryani Wallah’s very first round of orders,” says Mahi, who explains that since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced, she has been swamped with humanitarian work that included delivering food supplies, sanitary napkins, face masks and hand sanitisers to refugees and migrant workers as well as to Malaysians in need of assistance.
She realised soon enough that while there were good intentions behind all the humanitarian work, procuring the necessary funds to purchase these essentials was an uphill battle.
She explains that despite donations from generous members of the public and from corporations, funds were often short and she found herself dipping into her own savings as well.
“You end up putting in a lot of money, which was what I did. I realised it was not possible to just continue giving even though I understood that donations at that point were extremely crucial.”
But things changed one fateful day when she met Pakistanis Saima and Hina during a lunch at their house and was blown away by how delicious their home cooked food was.
“So, I thought, why not I partner up with these women, especially since they are incredible chefs! This not only gives them a livelihood but an opportunity for me to include more women in the future,” says Mahi.
Originally from Lahore, Hina came to Malaysia as a refugee in 2012 looking for work so she could provide a better life and education for her three children.
Her friend Saima meanwhile hails from Karachi and came to Malaysia in 2013 with the same intention.
“Before Biryani Wallahs, we were doing stonework and sewing scarfs but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we lost our jobs. We then turned to making frozen samosas, chicken paratha rolls and pilau and sold these at Masjid Jamek,” Hina says.
“Mahi gave us the motivation to start the Biryani Wallahs business,” says a beaming Saima, adding that Mahi’s confidence in them gave them a sense of empowerment.
Despite being refugees and raising three kids on their own, Saima and Mahi have never once conceded defeat.
“We have no intention to sit at home and expect donations to fall into our laps, we want to work for a living,” says Hina.
On the Biryani Wallahs’s menu is Chicken Dum Biryani with Mango Chutney at RM17.50 as well as Vegetable Biryani with Mango Chutney at RM15.
And if you thought the vegetable biryani was not enticing enough, consider this – it comes with a mouth-watering mix of cauliflowers, peas, long beans, paneer and cashew nuts cooked in their secret biryani masala mix.
“For now, we are able to deliver to all locations except Shah Alam and Klang. I hope to include more women in the future and have another kitchen in Klang because we have received many requests from these two areas but it’s incredibly expensive to deliver to them from where we are,” Mahi says.
The Biryani Wallahs are also planning to expand their menu by adding other mouth-watering delights like fish biryani, prawn biryani and mutton biryani.
Hina makes a cup of her famous Pakistani tea, a recipe inherited from her grandmother. “You can’t possibly leave my house without trying a cup of my tea,” she tells FMT, as she places a small saucepan on the stove.
It’s hot, soothing and sweet, no doubt very similar to the very bright future of the Biryani Wallahs.
To place an order, you can contact the Biryani Wallahs at 012 37394919 and for more information, visit their Facebook page here.