Head cook Balbir Singh stirs an enormous ladle through a potato and soybean stew, simmering with ghee and coriander in a giant cook pot. A machine that every hour makes 5,000 chapati — thin, unleavened bread — whirs long before the sun rises and after it sets.
Singh, 44, lights the flames at 3 a.m. so that 35,000 lunches are ready for pickup by 9 a.m.“If we serve at this time, God will give us more. It’s a give and take system,” Singh said.
Bangla Sahib is the largest of New Delhi’s 10 gurdwaras, whose kitchens together form a vital part of the city’s strategy to feed the poor during the pandemic.
