Billing for your dairy and milk shop in Delhi
Milk for the flat, paneer cut to weight and the summer's lassi are all counted from the same stock.
From a flat's milk, packet by packet, to the paneer block counted down to the last cube
The Sunday guests' second packet is a second bill under the same name
When the flat on the fourth floor takes two packets for guests, you make a second bill on its page that day. The page shows one packet on the other days and two on the Sunday, so the boy who climbed up with the extra packet is not asked, a month later, whether he really did.
The canteen's order for tomorrow arrives before the block is cut
Put the paneer and the khoya on the shop's own online shop. The canteen near the metro station sends tomorrow's kilos from its phone, and the order is on yours as a list when you open. You cut the block to that list first, and the flats' cubes after.
The sweet shop in the lane takes khoya by the kilo through the festive weeks and pays after Diwali
Open a page in the sweet shop's name and bill each day's khoya under it, in kilos, with the day. The page grows through the festive weeks, and when the sweet shop comes to pay after Diwali the whole season is one list that both of you read.
Tools for a counter where milk is delivered upstairs and paneer is cut to order
Credit book (khata)
A page for the tea stall at the metro exit that takes milk by the can each morning, a bill for each morning and the week's total kept for Saturday.
Bills on your phone
Paneer cubes from the offcut tray, a quarter kilo from the block and a glass of lassi: three lines, three rates, one bill.
Daily reports
Litres of milk against kilos of paneer and khoya sold on each day of last year's weeks before Diwali, opened before this year's order, so you see whether the sweet shops' khoya is moving ahead of the paneer for the flats.
Orders to suppliers
The order for paneer and khoya sent to the supplier, and the day each lot arrived written beside it, so when a lot is doubtful the page says which day it came.
Why a Delhi dairy's milk round changes daily, the paneer block shrinks by cuts and the lassi takes the curd
A packet today, none tomorrow, two on Sunday
The milk round in a Delhi colony is never the same two days running. A family wants a packet today, nothing tomorrow because it is out of town, and two on Sunday for guests. The boy who delivers up four floors remembers it, or does not. The monthly account is a diary of strokes per flat, and when a family says it was away on the ninth, nobody can show it was not billed.
The paneer that goes out in kilos to the office canteen and in cubes to the flats
A canteen near the metro station takes paneer in kilos for its lunch rush, and the flats in the lane take a few cubes for the evening. Both come from the same block. The canteen's kilos are written, the cubes are not, and at night the block on the board is lighter than the notebook says.
The lassi queue in the hot weeks, with sums made in the head
In the hot months the lassi glass is bought standing, with a queue behind it. A person wants a glass, a tub of curd and a packet of milk in one minute, and the sums are made in the head while the line grows. The counter is slowest on the days it is busiest, and the day's glasses are only guessed at night. The customer who waits too long walks on to the next shop.
Questions Delhi dairy owners ask about the milk boy, the paneer block and the lassi glass
A flat takes toned milk on weekdays and full-cream on Sundays. Can both sit on one page?
Yes. Toned and full-cream milk are two items, each with its own rate and its own unit. The weekday bills and the Sunday bill go on the same page, and each line says which milk it was.
A flat was away on the ninth and says it should not pay for that day. How do I show it?
Open the flat's page. Each packet is a dated line, and the ninth has none. Send the page on WhatsApp.
A sweet shop near the lane takes my khoya and paneer and asks for a GST bill. Can I make one?
Yes. Make the bill in the sweet shop's name with the khoya and the paneer in kilos, and the GST is worked out on it. Send it on WhatsApp to the shop.
The paneer I cut leaves small offcut cubes. Can I sell those at a different rate?
Yes. Weigh the offcut tray in kilos when the cutting is done and sell it to the flats in the lane at its own rate. The block's kilos then never drift, because nobody bills the cubes at the block's rate.
What Delhi's food-safety officers found in the festive weeks
Ahead of the September 2026 festive season, Delhi's Food Safety Department destroyed unclaimed khoya, dhaap and butter lying in unhygienic conditions at Khoya Mandi, Mori Gate and other markets. A dairy that keeps what came in and what was sold in its count sees what is lying unsold, and does not forget it at the back.
Delhi officials expect demand for sweets, dairy products and other festive foods to rise in the festive season, and asked food businesses to sell only safe, compliant products. A dairy's busiest weeks are these, and the daily report shows which of its products went in each.
At Janakpuri Mandi, four of 28 samples tested positive for detergent, so officials destroyed about 150 kg of paneer and 10 kg of khoya. A shop that buys paneer from a supplier notes each lot when it arrives, and the day each lot came is then on the page beside the sale.