This Bur Dubai eatery sells 35,000 samosas a day during Ramadan
The narrow cobbled streets of Bur Dubai souq become crowded with residents and tourists who rush to taste freshly fried snacks from restaurants as iftar time approaches. Hamad Khalfan Al Dalil operates as one of the restaurants in this area.
The restaurant sells about 35,000 pre-made samosas each day of Ramadan to customers from all seven emirates of the UAE which includes entrepreneurs and members of both the royal family and celebrity circles. Since its establishment in 1968 before the United Arab Emirates unified this shop has achieved iconic status.
Zuhair reported that this year their biggest single order came from Al Ain with a request for 9,000 samosas. The most distant order in our records originated from the UAE-Saudi border which involved a delivery journey exceeding 800 kilometres for our team. The trust people show in our food makes us very appreciative.
Eight samosas varieties are available at the shop such as chicken, potato, keema, and Oman chips while vegetable and cheese samosas rank as the top favorites. Zuhair attributes the popularity of their samosas to the fact that their original recipe has stayed the same since they were first introduced.
He explained that Emirati people make up most of their customer base. They possess highly sensitive taste buds enabling them to notice the smallest modifications. The unchanged recipe remains because it aligns with customer preferences.
He noted that numerous customers visit the store because they feel nostalgic. Many customers first came to our shop while they were very young with their fathers or grandfathers. These customers keep coming back because the flavor brings childhood memories to mind.
Baputty Haji from Kerala reached Dubai in 1968 by boat from Bombay. During his regular visits to Bur Dubai Souq he met Hamad Khalfan Al Dalil who was a local Emirati man who accompanied his mother to sell market goods and they became friends.
As soon as my grandfather opened his restaurant, Hamad would visit regularly to drink tea for hours while socializing with the customers who stopped by. Their profound friendship developed into a business partnership.
The formation of the UAE in 1971 required restaurants to obtain permits for food service. My grandfather named the shop after Hamad for his kindness once Hamad obtained a licence for it.
Mustafa who has worked at the restaurant since 1982 describes how the Emirati entrepreneur always viewed both the shop and its employees as family members. He remembered how Hamad invited everyone to his home for breakfast during Eid celebrations. We could always call him during any issue and he would arrive at the shop within an hour to resolve the problem. He was a gem of a person."
Following Hamad’s death his daughter and son-in-law became the new sponsors of the shop. At present Baputty’s son Sameer along with his grandson Zuhair runs the daily operations of the eatery. Sameer explained that samosas joined the food menu during a later stage.
During a period of low sales an employee recommended frying samosas to attract customers. “We started out just frying four samosas. The popularity of the samosas led us to increase their stock on a daily basis. We could never have predicted that our samosas would become our signature dish.
Labour intensive process
The process of making ready-to-cook samosas starts roughly 1.5 months prior to Ramadan. Zuhair explained that their two ghost kitchens operate with staff working in shifts to prepare samosas with different fillings. Our production reaches approximately 10,000 samosas each day. Before Ramadan begins most of these samosas have been purchased.
The restaurant built its popularity over decades thanks to word of mouth and maintained its success because of its dedicated patrons. The business grew and adapted to new trends throughout its history.
The store started offering pre-made samosas following 2010. The opening of the metro caused a significant decline in our walk-in customer numbers according to him. We launched ready-to-cook samosas to sustain our business operations and they became an immediate success.
"In 2018, we started our delivery services. The business managed to survive during the pandemic period through its efforts. The Covid-19 period left the neighboring shop without customers which resulted in it staying empty. The acquisition allowed us to expand operations to meet rising demand.
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