Non-veg catering
Non-Veg Catering in Chennai
Dum biryani from copper handis, Chettinad chicken, mutton chukka, fish fry and seafood — cooked on site with cut-to-order meat and a separate veg line for guests who need one.
How we work
Meat is bought the morning of the event, not the night before.
Non-veg catering fails on procurement long before it fails on cooking. We buy chicken and mutton on the morning of the function from the same suppliers we have used for years, cut to the size the dish needs, and it goes into the pot within hours — never frozen overnight, never held over to a second event.
Biryani is cooked on site in copper handis with the dum sealed, not reheated from a central kitchen. For 500-plus guests we run staggered handis so the last guest gets rice from a vessel opened minutes earlier rather than one that has been sitting since noon.
Vegetarian guests are never an afterthought. Veg dishes are cooked in dedicated vessels, plated at a physically separate counter with their own serving spoons, and staffed independently.
Minimums & logistics
50
Minimum guests
3,000
Maximum served
Same morning
Meat sourced
Always
Separate veg line
Sample menu
Non-veg menus by style
Choose a biryani base and add a regional section. Portion sizes and gravy-to-meat ratios are agreed in writing before the event.
Ambur style biryani
Seeraga samba rice
- · Ambur chicken biryani
- · Ambur mutton biryani
- · Dhalcha and brinjal pachadi
- · Onion raita and boiled egg
- · Served from sealed copper handis
Chettinad table
Pepper-forward
- · Chettinad chicken kuzhambu
- · Mutton chukka varuval
- · Nathai / kola urundai on request
- · Kari dosai and idiyappam
- · Pepper rasam and paruppu
Seafood section
Coastal
- · Vanjaram fish fry (tawa)
- · Meen kuzhambu with mango
- · Prawn thokku
- · Crab masala on request
- · Fried anchovy and appalam
Starters counter
Live grill / fryer
- · Chicken 65 and pepper chicken
- · Tandoori chicken and seekh kebab
- · Fish tikka and prawn koliwada
- · Egg podimas
- · Mint chutney and onion rings
North Indian non-veg
Buffet
- · Butter chicken and mutton rogan josh
- · Chicken hyderabadi dum biryani
- · Naan, roti, laccha paratha
- · Jeera rice and dal makhani
- · Salad and dessert
Parallel veg line
Separate vessels & staff
- · Veg biryani and ghee rice
- · Paneer butter masala and veg kurma
- · Sambar, rasam, two poriyals
- · Curd rice and pickle
- · Same starters in veg — paneer, gobi, mushroom
From our events
Photographs from real services
Case study
1,200 guests, biryani served hot to the last plate
Reception · Chennai · 2024
A 1,200-guest reception with a two-hour dinner window. The family's previous experience was that the biryani went cold and dry by the second hour, so the last guests effectively ate reheated rice.
We cooked in eight staggered handis, opening a new one every fifteen minutes rather than all at the start, and kept the accompaniment counters — dhalcha, raita, boiled egg — permanently stocked so the biryani line itself never slowed.
Outcome — The last handi was opened at 22:10 and served straight to the final hundred guests. Nothing was reheated across the whole service.
Service areas
Non-veg catering coverage
We cook non-veg on site wherever the venue permits a cooking bay. Where it does not, food travels in sealed hot cases with temperature checks at dispatch and arrival, and biryani handis are opened only at the venue.
Frequently asked
Non-veg catering — your questions
Do you cook biryani at the venue or bring it prepared?
We cook at the venue in copper handis whenever a cooking bay is permitted, and stagger the handis so late guests get freshly opened rice.
How is vegetarian food kept separate?
Veg dishes are cooked in dedicated vegetarian vessels, served at a separate counter with their own spoons, and handled by a separate section of the service team.
Where do you source your meat?
From long-standing Chennai suppliers, bought the morning of the event and cut to the requirement of each dish. We do not carry meat over between events.
Can you do halal or specific slaughter requirements?
Yes, on request at the time of booking so we can source accordingly.
What is the minimum guest count for non-veg catering?
50 guests, though biryani-only orders for smaller home functions can be discussed.
Kalyana Kadhai
Read the story behind the food
The Biryani Map — How Biryani Travelled Across India
From Persian pilaf to Ambur, Dindigul, Hyderabad and Kolkata — how one pot of rice and meat became a dozen regional dialects.
Read the story →Ambur Biryani — The Seeraga Samba Wedding Favourite
Why Ambur weddings insist on short-grain seeraga samba, soaked red-chilli paste and a thinner, brighter gravy.
Read the story →Tell us the biryani count and the veg count
Send the guest split, venue and timing — we'll quote per head with the gravy-to-meat ratio written into the menu.
Call 73388 44034 · anandakumar@joycaterer.com · FSSAI Lic. 22426478000561