Sep 11, 2020
The celebrity chef Ranveer Brar recently launched a programme with the National Association of Street Vendors of India to help and assist street food sellers get back to business post lockdown.
Brar has spanned many milestones as a celebrity chef both on TV and social media, but the recent addition to his multi-proficiency stars on the shoulders was hitting the 1-millionth-follower count on Instagram. To mark the occasion, he launched a new project this week, in association with the National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi) to help street-food sellers across the country and safely restart their businesses in a post-pandemic period.
Brar says he plans to celebrate each such landmark by taking up a new cause—one that involves giving back to society.
Speaking to the media, Brar spoke about the latest #MakingMillionCount initiative, “I got to focus more closely on content posted on social media during the covid-19 pandemic, especially the lockdown,” Brar says. “I have been wondering what kind of content works on these platforms and why. Is there a reason why certain types of posts were getting more traction during the lockdown?”
Keeping an eye on social media and keeping himself updated, has also helped Brar get a better sense of people’s eating habits, which opens up fresh insights into larger trends and cultural realities.
“I felt people were genuinely missing street food during the lockdown than restaurant food,” Brar said. Many users, he noticed, were looking for recipes for their favourite street foods so that they could make those at home. And, as with almost any popular cuisine, the love for street food is not merely about the food itself—rather, it ties people to their neighbourhood vendors, the didis and bhaiyas with whom they have forged bonds over the years.
“It was thus that I started wondering what I could do for street-food sellers, who don’t have deep coffers to sustain themselves during these lean months,” Brar informed. “They are sitting at home, or have gone back to their villages, during the pandemic, without work and livelihoods.” So he decided to work with Nasvi to help them out.
Nasvi’s role
To help by giving monetary aids, would have been quite easy, but Brar decided to go a step further. He decided to conduct online training workshops for street-food vendors to show them the best practices of preparing food safely during a pandemic.
The concept was not only to provide these vendors with the equipment they need such as masks, gloves, sanitizers, hygiene kits that would help them to restart their businesses, but also educate them with skillset to run their ventures smoothly, easily, healthily and safely.
Arbind Singh, national coordinator of the organization opined in a release, “Nasvi is a livelihood advocacy organization that works with more than 1,000,000 street vendors through street vendor organizations and leaders”. Nasvi has a tie-up with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Hence, on successful completion of the training modules organized by Brar, participants would be certified by FSSAI, giving an added boost to their businesses.
Brar, a Lucknow boy, has a long connection with the street food culture the city is famous for. “When you are young, you crave street food. It is only much later that you learn to appreciate home cooking,” he says. “Street food is close to my heart for the legacies, charm and stories associated with it.”
A self-described “believer in conversations”, Brar says conversations are even more powerful than the product itself—only stories can keep traditions alive. He has no qualms about the appropriation of street food into fine dining—as long as it is done thoughtfully. “In the end, the storytelling is more important than what comes on the plate,” he reiterates.
Brar has some favourites like he prefers Varanasi for its chaats and kachoris, Lucknow for the kebabs and a host of non-vegetarian dishes, Hyderabad for its shehri food (eaten during Ramazan), and Old Delhi for its iftari specialties as ever.