How Many Kilos of Biryani or Pulao for Your Guests? A Kg Guide with Real Prices

16 September 2026

The question reaches our WhatsApp every single day, in some version of the same words: "Bhai, 25 log hain — kitne kilo mangwayein?" Order too little and the host spends the evening watching the degh instead of the guests. Order too much and the fridge is full of pulao until Wednesday.

Our food menu now sells rice and curries by the kilo — any weight from 1 kg, not fixed deghs — so here is the exact arithmetic we use in our own kitchen, with real prices, so you can work out your order in two minutes.

The one rule: 3 to 4 servings per kg of rice

A kilo of biryani or pulao feeds roughly 3 to 4 people. Closer to 3 when rice is the only dish and the guests are hearty eaters; closer to 4 when there's a curry, naan and salad on the table too. It's the same rule we gave in our tikka biryani post, and it holds for pulao just the same.

Count children as guests. They eat less each, but they come in numbers — and somebody's chachu always arrives late and hungry.

How much curry to put next to the rice

When a qorma, karahi or kunna sits beside the rice, people take a little less rice and some curry with naan. Our working ratio: curry at about a third to a half of the rice weight. Rich, meaty dishes like kunna and mutton qorma sit at the lower end, because helpings are smaller; a chicken karahi that everyone mops up with naan sits at the higher end.

The table

10 guests: 3 kg rice + 1 to 1.5 kg curry
20 guests: 5 to 6 kg rice + 2 to 3 kg curry
30 guests: 8 kg rice + 3 to 4 kg curry
50 guests: 13 kg rice + 5 to 6 kg curry
80 guests: 20 kg rice + 8 to 10 kg curry

Rice only, no curry? Use 3 servings per kg instead — 20 guests becomes 7 kg. And whatever the table says, round up by one kilo. Nobody in the history of Pakistan has complained about leftover biryani.

What it costs: three real orders

Every price below is from the Rice & Curries list on the menu page, per kg:

A family dinner for 10: 3 kg Chicken Pulao (Rs. 6,000) + 1 kg Chicken Karahi (Rs. 1,800) = Rs. 7,800, about Rs. 780 a head.
A milad or aqeeqa for 20: 5 kg Feast Tikka Biryani (Rs. 10,000) + 2 kg Chicken Degi Qorma (Rs. 3,200) = Rs. 13,200, about Rs. 660 a head. Our aqeeqa and milad guide covers the rest of the day.
A proper dawat for 50: 7 kg Chicken Pulao (Rs. 14,000) + 6 kg Feast Tikka Biryani (Rs. 12,000) + 3 kg Chinioti Beef Kunna (Rs. 13,500) + 3 kg Chicken Karahi (Rs. 5,400) = Rs. 44,900, about Rs. 900 a head.

For the rest of the list: Channa Pulao is the lightest on the pocket at Rs. 1,200 per kg, Vegetable Pulao Rs. 1,500, Beef Pilaf Rs. 3,000, and mutton biryani or mutton pulao Rs. 4,200. On the curry side, Chicken Degi Qorma starts at Rs. 1,600 and the top of the list is Chinioti Beef Kunna at Rs. 4,500, cooked by our chef from Chiniot. Khoya Matanjan at Rs. 1,500 per kg takes care of dessert.

Kilos or a deal?

Ordering by the kilo gives you exactly the dishes and quantities you want. What it doesn't cover is the rest of the table. If you'd rather not think about naan, raita and salad at all, a package is simpler — the full comparison is in our dawat planning guide:

The dawat packages for 12 to 15 guests run Rs. 15,000 to 25,000, with raita, salad, roti/naan and mineral water included.
The degh deals on the event menu start at Rs. 40,000 for 30 to 35 guests, with the accompaniments in the price.

A simple test: if naan is already coming from the tandoor down your street and you only need the main dishes, kilos win. If you want one number that covers everything, take a deal.

The minimum depends on your area

In the neighbourhoods around our kitchen — Soan Garden, PWD, DR Colony PWD, Bahria Town Phases 1–6 and 7–8, DHA, Korang Town, Jinnah Garden, Pakistan Town, Gulberg Greens and Airport Housing Society — you can order from 1 kg per dish. Everywhere else in Islamabad and Rawalpindi the minimum is 3 kg per dish, so that the longer drive still makes sense for a hot delivery. The menu page asks for your area and sets the minimum for you.

Several dishes, one message

On the menu page, press Order on your first dish and choose Add more dishes. Tick everything else you want — rice, curries, even BBQ like chapli kebab by the kg or a full or half sajji — set each quantity, and press Send order. You get one WhatsApp message with every line and the total already worked out, and we confirm the delivery time from there.

Three mistakes hosts make

Counting from the invite list. Count who confirmed, add the maybes you know will turn up anyway, then use the table.
Five curries and not enough rice. Variety feels generous, but rice is what fills the plates. Two dishes in the right quantity beat five that run out.
Ordering on the day for 30-plus guests. Smaller weights can often be cooked the same day if you message before noon; for big orders, book a day ahead so your degh is cooked fresh for you, not squeezed in.

Questions hosts ask

Is the minimum per dish or for the whole order? Per dish. Outside our nearby areas, each rice or curry you add starts at 3 kg.

Do you send raita and naan with a kilo order? Raita, yes — say the word and we pack it per kg or per person. Tell us if you need naan too. The per-kg prices on the menu are for the dish itself.

Can I pick it up instead? Yes. The kitchen is on Street No. 1, Block D, Soan Garden Markaz, opposite Palace Bakery, open 11 am to 11 pm.

Do you deliver to Rawalpindi? Yes, Islamabad and Rawalpindi both — with the 3 kg per dish minimum outside our nearby areas.

The short version

Three to four servings per kg of rice, curry at a third to a half of that, and round up one kilo. Pick your dishes on the menu and send them in one message — or WhatsApp 0315 9093990 with your guest count and the occasion, and we'll do the maths for you.