India, Feb. 21 -- Biryani is comfort food in India - a dish people argue about, swear by, and keep coming back to. But unlike the QSR sector, where a handful of players dominate nationally, the Rs.30K Cr biryani market continues to challenge businesses seeking pan-India scale. Despite its mass appeal, the category lacks a single defining national brand, remaining a patchwork of fragmented local players.

In 2017, Lokesh Krishnan launched Potful to challenge that constraint, betting that India's favourite comfort food could be standardised for a modern audience without losing its traditional soul. The playbook was simple: avoid bulk-cooked batches. Each order is cooked fresh in an individual claypot and prepared traditionally without cutti...