Billing for your dhaba or restaurant in Himachal Pradesh
Momos by the half plate, tea by the glass and the bus that leaves at the horn, all on one bill on your phone.
The bus halt, the momo steamer and the menu that came up on the lorry
One batch of momos, four prices
The steamer is never empty. A customer wants a half plate of steamed momos, the next a full plate fried, and a third wants siddu with ghee beside them. Each has its own price, and the cook calls the order across to a cashier who is also pouring tea. By the evening the count of plates and the cash in the drawer are two different stories, and nobody can say which plate was given away or which was never billed.
The bus that stops, and leaves at the horn
On a hill road a bus halts at your dhaba for a short while, and every passenger is hungry and in a hurry. They stand in a line, ask the price of each thing, and order together. The driver sounds the horn, half of them have not been billed, and the next bus is already coming round the bend. The cold makes it worse, because nobody wants to stand outside while the kitchen finds a pencil.
The menu is what came up on the lorry
Paneer, flour and fresh vegetables come up the hill road every few days. When the lorry is late, the board by the door still promises dishes the kitchen cannot make, and customers order what you then have to refuse. Some leave with a long face, some argue, and the cook finds out what is short only when he reaches for it.
Kangra's tea, the Mandi highways and Shimla's bazaars, as a dhaba hears of them
Hill dhabas hear about the places their customers come from, and these are some of the facts they talk about.
- Kangra's economy is mostly farming, with tea a vital crop around Palampur and Baijnath. Bir Billing is a growing hub for ecotourism and aero sports.
- Mandi town sits where National Highways 20, 21 and 70 meet, and the whole district depends on it for trade and commerce.
- In Shimla the shopping areas are The Mall, Lower Bazaar for daily items, Tibetan Bazaar for imported electronics and fancy items, and Lakkar Bazaar for wooden crafts.
Four ways to sell one batch of momos, the morning siddu and a paneer count
Steamed against fried: which momo the steamer is set for
Sell steamed momos and fried momos as two items, each with its own rate. The evening count says how many plates of each went. You set the steamer, or the pan, for the next evening from what sold and not from the last full house, and the cook stops starting both.
The morning siddu, set from yesterday's count
Siddu is made in the morning and sells until noon. Add it as an item by the piece, and look at today's sales through the day. By the time the last batch comes off, you can see how many went by eleven, and tomorrow's batch is set from that, not from hope.
Paneer and flour counted as goods, so the board is true
Keep the paneer, the flour and the vegetables as stock, and send the order to your supplier the day the warning shows. The board by the door then lists what the kitchen really holds, and a customer is never promised a dish that is not in the pot.
What a hill dhaba keeps on the phone, from the first tea to the last plate
UPI payments
The passenger scans, pays and has the bill on his WhatsApp as he steps up into the bus.
Daily reports
Each day's sales open all day, so the siddu count at eleven decides the next batch, and a bus-halt day sits beside a quiet cold Tuesday.
Low stock warnings
A warning when the paneer tub is nearly empty. The dish that takes the most paneer comes off the board first, so what stays on the board is a dish that can still be made.
Orders to suppliers
The paneer and flour ordered the day the warning shows, and each lot noted when it comes up the hill.
What dhaba and restaurant owners in Himachal ask
The siddu is gone by eleven. How much ghee should I keep for the next batch?
Keep the ghee as stock and take it off by the spoon on each siddu bill. The batch that finished by eleven used so many spoons. Read that number and keep that much ghee for the next batch.
Tea sells all day, a glass at a time, and nobody waits for a bill. Do I have to bill every glass?
Make tea an item sold by the glass and tap it as each round goes out. You do not need a separate bill for every glass. By closing time the report shows how many glasses went, beside the momos and the siddu.
A passenger from the bus asks for momos when only siddu is left. What do I say?
Tell him what the count says is still in the kitchen, and bill what he picks as he picks it. A hungry man with a bus that leaves at the horn is given something he can eat now, not a dish that is off the board.
Momos, dhaba rates and the Dharamshala table
Dharamshala's food is a mix of Tibetan, Himachali and North Indian cuisines, and Tibetan momos, steamed or fried, are a must-try there. A menu in such a town puts momos on the same board as dal and rice.
Kangra's Deputy Commissioner fixed dhaba meal rates under a 1977 profiteering order: a full vegetarian meal Rs 80, dal fry Rs 60 a plate, stuffed paratha Rs 20. Rates like these are what a dhaba's board and its bills have to agree on.