Before we all got so laissez-faire about dropping a lazy twenner on coffee and eggs, we were a lot more tuned in to the genuine cheap eat – the group booking for dinner where decor was negligible but you all got away with a BYO bottle and a fine night out and still had money for the tram ride home.

Becoming so accustomed to the price points of the zeitgeist is one of the things that makes Mother's Biryani such a slam-the-brakes-on find. This spacious new Indian restaurant on the Caulfield South patch of Glenhuntly Road not only has a pretty fit-out, with soft lighting, a burgundy feature wall and a long bench scattered with butterfly-print cushions, it's also outrageously affordable. Feast up a storm and your cut of the bill will only have the slightest dalliance with double digits.

It's the first restaurant for Aziz Somani, who started out as a kitchen-hand when he moved here from India, and then went on to work in corporate event catering before the itch to open something of his own got too strong.

It was during this time he met Sunli Katekar, a chef from Hyderabad, who had years of experience in his home country before hitting the pans for the last 11 years in Melbourne, cooking at Chilli India in Dandenong, Nawa Palace in Carnegie and branches of Dosa Hut.

Mother's Biryani has a menu neatly divided into entrees, curries, Hyderabadi biryani, cricket bat-sized dosas and a small Indo-Chinese section, with plenty of vegetarian and vegan options within each. 

Start with some street snacks like lentil samosas or the aloo tikka chaat, one of those lovely, homely, potato-filled pastries – here it's served broken open under a generous pile of yoghurt, diced tomato, tamarind sauce, crunchy noodles and coriander – or the classic chicken tikka kebab, which arrives tandoori-bright and succulent with a boisterously audible sizzle.

Curries span all the way from a vegan vindaloo with a homemade vindaloo paste through to goat rogan josh, tiger prawns cooked in chilli sauce, Goan fish and nine different chicken versions, from palak to mango. 

Try the glossy aloo baigun masala, a warming stew of cauliflower and potato, perfumed with cumin and just the right amount of heat (which can be adjusted to taste if you're not down with too much fire – the waitress will ask you how you like it). Grab a side of lemon rice, peppered with mustard seeds, to go with it.

Then there's the traditional Hyderabadi biryani, their eponymous signature dish available with chicken, goat, lamb or a vegan version. Slow-cooked for 90 minutes, a lush suite of Indian spices infusing the meat and rice, it's perfect soul food for these winter nights.

Mother's Biryani has only been open a few weeks but word has obviously got out, with a steady stream of locals stopping in for dinner after work and bike-helmeted couriers collecting orders for pick-up. If the inside of your fridge is a vision of bleak dysfunction, it's OK. Mother's here.