RAWALPINDI: As Muharram approaches and preparations for communal food distributions on Ashura begin, catering services in Rawalpindi have raised the prices of traditional large-scale cooked meals, known as “degs.” The price hikes range from Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 per order, with caterers now requiring customers to pay half the cost in advance when placing orders.
Popular dishes have seen significant price increases. A chicken haleem deg is now priced at Rs10,000, beef haleem at Rs11,400, and mutton haleem at Rs33,000. Other items such as chickpea pulao, chicken pulao, and mutton pulao have also seen substantial increases, with prices ranging from Rs10,400 to Rs35,000. Biryani, both mixed and chicken, is priced at Rs20,000, while mutton biryani costs Rs33,000.
In addition, other dishes like chicken qorma and mutton qorma are priced at Rs16,000 and Rs29,600, respectively. A set of 100 small clay pots of kheer now costs Rs17,500, while sweet rice (zarda) is selling for Rs9,000, and a set of 100 naan packets is priced at Rs3,000.
Faisal Mufti, Secretary of the Catering Food Association Rawalpindi, explained that the price surge is due to the recent budget, which has raised the costs of food ingredients like pulses, rice, spices, meat, poultry, and fuel. He noted that despite the rising prices, demand remains high, with orders being cut off from the 6th of Muharram, and new requests being fulfilled only after Ashura.
