The Largest Free Kitchen in the World
May 13, 2021 4:44 AM Subscribe
The Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India, feeds 100,000 Sikh worshipers and visitors for free every day - and up to 200,000 on holy days. Here's how.
Here's another kitchen in Delhi that's feeding 50,000-60,000 visitors a day.
Their equipment is a bit more modern but holy crap, look at the scale of what they're doing.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:58 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Their equipment is a bit more modern but holy crap, look at the scale of what they're doing.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:58 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
The food looks pretty tasty for something cooked in such huge batches. I can't imagine peeling so many onions.
posted by Bee'sWing at 7:02 AM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 7:02 AM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm always fascinated by huge cooking efforts and this video was great.
I once saw the hush puppy recipe for an air show in Arkansas and it called for 4.5 pounds of ground black pepper.
And there's a great museum in eastern Washington that covers that region's contribution to the Manhattan Project. They've got a display that talks about what an undertaking it was to feed all of the workers and eventually families in the camps as they were racing to build the bomb. I can't remember the exact details but it was something like 50 or 100 cattle per day, a hundred thousand cups of coffee per day, tens of thousands of eggs, etc. It just boggles the mind!
posted by msbrauer at 7:29 AM on May 13, 2021
I once saw the hush puppy recipe for an air show in Arkansas and it called for 4.5 pounds of ground black pepper.
And there's a great museum in eastern Washington that covers that region's contribution to the Manhattan Project. They've got a display that talks about what an undertaking it was to feed all of the workers and eventually families in the camps as they were racing to build the bomb. I can't remember the exact details but it was something like 50 or 100 cattle per day, a hundred thousand cups of coffee per day, tens of thousands of eggs, etc. It just boggles the mind!
posted by msbrauer at 7:29 AM on May 13, 2021
Duuuuuuude Sikh temples are fucking awesome anywhere you go, not just in Amritsar (which is basically the Sikh version of Mecca/Jerusalem/Vatican/Bodh Gaya/what-have-you).
Back when I lived in South East Asia and used to travel a lot in the region, I sometimes found myself without access to vegetarian food (by my definition of it). Lots of places in east Asia and SE Asia consider seafood to be vegetarian, even in Buddhist temples! In Thailand and environs *everything* has fish sauce or shrimp paste in it. Anyway, one time I was caught that way in a smallish northern Malaysian town and I had the brainwave of asking a cabbie if there was a Gurdwara around. There was. And I ate like a queen that afternoon!
Right now during the pandemic lots of gurdwaras were forced to shutter up, but my local Sikh community has continued to offer meal deliveries to anyone who wants them. You just have to email them and they arrange for someone to drop meals off at your door. I keep meaning to volunteer with them... They do amazing work.
posted by MiraK at 7:37 AM on May 13, 2021 [30 favorites]
Back when I lived in South East Asia and used to travel a lot in the region, I sometimes found myself without access to vegetarian food (by my definition of it). Lots of places in east Asia and SE Asia consider seafood to be vegetarian, even in Buddhist temples! In Thailand and environs *everything* has fish sauce or shrimp paste in it. Anyway, one time I was caught that way in a smallish northern Malaysian town and I had the brainwave of asking a cabbie if there was a Gurdwara around. There was. And I ate like a queen that afternoon!
Right now during the pandemic lots of gurdwaras were forced to shutter up, but my local Sikh community has continued to offer meal deliveries to anyone who wants them. You just have to email them and they arrange for someone to drop meals off at your door. I keep meaning to volunteer with them... They do amazing work.
posted by MiraK at 7:37 AM on May 13, 2021 [30 favorites]
This is incredible, especially given the basic equipment and supplies they have. I was particularly struck by the volunteers so carefully peeling the garlic! Being in such close proximity to others, cooking, eating talking and all with one goal in mind must do wonders for mental health. So different than portioning out industry made food and delivering it to people's doors, where they sit day after day often alone and disabled, or with a disabled family member. When I went to school in Germany the Mensa was such a change from my experience in the US of eating alone or in small groups, often only having time or access to fast food. At the University Mensa hundreds of students joined together for lunch that was cheap, nutritious and tasty, something like schnitzel or roasted meat, potatoes salad and a cookie. We would talk and talk and then head back to school. I miss that so much!
posted by waving at 7:40 AM on May 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by waving at 7:40 AM on May 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
This was great to watch, thank you for posting it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:02 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:02 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Look at the size of those pots! What a beautiful practice.
posted by latkes at 8:44 AM on May 13, 2021
posted by latkes at 8:44 AM on May 13, 2021
Wow. What an astounding operation.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:11 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 9:11 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Look at the size of those pots!
I love that they're large (and stationary) enough to have their own dedicated plumbing!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:14 AM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
I love that they're large (and stationary) enough to have their own dedicated plumbing!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:14 AM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Just amazing...
posted by Windopaene at 9:59 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 9:59 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Not just free food (all done by volunteers), but also oxygen langars -- cylinder refills and free beds with oxygen for COVID19 patients. (Langar is the term for the free kitchen in a gurudwara.)
posted by phliar at 10:08 AM on May 13, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by phliar at 10:08 AM on May 13, 2021 [7 favorites]
Look at the size of those pots!
Sooooo, what if we took, like, some regular cooking pots but made them large enough for a couple people to take a bath in. Then we can cook 100 kilos of lentils at a time!
You're...you're...you're crazy!
Yeah I'm crazy...crazy like a fox.
posted by medusa at 10:54 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Sooooo, what if we took, like, some regular cooking pots but made them large enough for a couple people to take a bath in. Then we can cook 100 kilos of lentils at a time!
You're...you're...you're crazy!
Yeah I'm crazy...crazy like a fox.
posted by medusa at 10:54 AM on May 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Even Sikh temples in the US, from New York to Silicon Valley are feeding a lot of people.
posted by eye of newt at 12:46 PM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by eye of newt at 12:46 PM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
The kitchen costs more than 4mil to run a year. They feed 100k meals every day of the year. By my math they are providing big tasty meals for ~11 cents per meal. That's honestly amazing.
I hadn't a clue such a thing exists. How utterly amazing. Some days it feels like everyone is despicable but there is in fact goodness and humanity to be found.
posted by chasles at 12:56 PM on May 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
I hadn't a clue such a thing exists. How utterly amazing. Some days it feels like everyone is despicable but there is in fact goodness and humanity to be found.
posted by chasles at 12:56 PM on May 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
This is mind-blowing. I kept waiting on the cost, and 4 million actually sounds incredibly cheap for the scale of it. A few billionaires--hell, mere millionaires--could find that in their couch cushions. A reminder of how "third world" countries have Figured It Out, as opposed to those of us in the West; can you imagine how this would completely and totally not work in the U.S.?
posted by zardoz at 1:43 PM on May 13, 2021
posted by zardoz at 1:43 PM on May 13, 2021
can you imagine how this would completely and totally not work in the U.S.?
There are 39 Sikh gurdwaras in the US - all of which serve free food to anyone, prepared by volunteers.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:53 PM on May 13, 2021 [12 favorites]
There are 39 Sikh gurdwaras in the US - all of which serve free food to anyone, prepared by volunteers.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:53 PM on May 13, 2021 [12 favorites]
zardoz, It's a completely impressive operation, but I'm pretty sure the meals take 11 cents each plus a *lot* of volunteer work.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 2:25 PM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 2:25 PM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Nancy- yes, that's exactly the kind of thing I mean. In the U.S. you just won't find such a massive community effort like that.
posted by zardoz at 3:20 PM on May 13, 2021
posted by zardoz at 3:20 PM on May 13, 2021
I believe the Hare Krishna movement feeds people for free in the US as well.
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:06 PM on May 13, 2021
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:06 PM on May 13, 2021
I believe the Hare Krishna movement feeds people for free in the US as well.
When I was a teenager we'd eat there sometimes. They had a sliding scale -- free if you arrived early for lots of proselytizing, increasing charges for sitting through less of it.
The video is amazing. The scale of everything, and on top of that how they are both running a constant kitchen and staying on top of cleaning and maintenance. I would love to see that in person. (And the food looked seriously tasty.)
posted by Dip Flash at 5:56 PM on May 13, 2021
When I was a teenager we'd eat there sometimes. They had a sliding scale -- free if you arrived early for lots of proselytizing, increasing charges for sitting through less of it.
The video is amazing. The scale of everything, and on top of that how they are both running a constant kitchen and staying on top of cleaning and maintenance. I would love to see that in person. (And the food looked seriously tasty.)
posted by Dip Flash at 5:56 PM on May 13, 2021
Wahe Guru ji ka Khalsa, wahe Guru ji ke fateh! Wonderful post!
posted by Oyéah at 7:19 PM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 7:19 PM on May 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
What I love is that the food looks very good -- or at least as if it's intended to be; I can't say from here, of course. I have a special place in my heart for the giant pan of sauteing onions. The idea that a free kitchen should make food that is abundant, good, and without condition is, sadly, not a Western one.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:27 PM on May 13, 2021
posted by Countess Elena at 7:27 PM on May 13, 2021
When things were backed up at the start of Brexit, thousands of drivers were left stuck in their trucks. The Sikhs in Kent were on it.
Nobody goes hungry if they can help it, and I really love that.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:21 PM on May 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Nobody goes hungry if they can help it, and I really love that.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:21 PM on May 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Sikhism seems to be a religion that does things rather than talks about doing them.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 10:15 AM on May 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 10:15 AM on May 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
Regarding whether this is possible in America and whether the food is good, the most delicious pakora I've ever eaten were at langar at the Hayward, California Gurdwara. We went there that day because one of my favorite musicians, Dya Singh, was visiting from Australia and he and his group performed. Everyone was so warmly welcoming, it's still one of my favorite memories.
posted by Lexica at 3:37 PM on May 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Lexica at 3:37 PM on May 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I can't wait to visit a gurdwara locally, to give thanks to the Sikh community - because a few years ago, they inadvertently saved my life with their free food.
See, they also give free food away at local festivals, like the annual Vaisakhi Harvest Festival. A couple of years ago, I was wandering around a suburb of Seattle, and came across this festival. Not wanting to intrude, I asked what was going on - and the Sikhs said "Vaisakhi! Come with us! Have some food!" So, not wanting to turn down their hospitality, I stuffed myself on some great vegetarian food.
However, some of it, like the pakoras and samosas, were greasy - and on the way home on the bus? Had my first gall bladder attack. Normally, I ate a pretty low fat diet, which didn't bother my gall bladder at all, so I had no idea how bad off it was.
After it didn't resolve over the weekend, I stumbled to the local urgent care center, and they found my poor gallbladder - overfull with gall rocks, badly inflamed, and, to quote the doctor, "very angry". A month later it was happily removed, and now I feel a lot better. But without that fried food? I don't know if I would have detected a problem with it until it got a lot worse off - and that would have been much harder to both treat, and recover from.
As a consequence? I am forever grateful to the Sikh community and their langar.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:17 PM on May 14, 2021 [6 favorites]
See, they also give free food away at local festivals, like the annual Vaisakhi Harvest Festival. A couple of years ago, I was wandering around a suburb of Seattle, and came across this festival. Not wanting to intrude, I asked what was going on - and the Sikhs said "Vaisakhi! Come with us! Have some food!" So, not wanting to turn down their hospitality, I stuffed myself on some great vegetarian food.
However, some of it, like the pakoras and samosas, were greasy - and on the way home on the bus? Had my first gall bladder attack. Normally, I ate a pretty low fat diet, which didn't bother my gall bladder at all, so I had no idea how bad off it was.
After it didn't resolve over the weekend, I stumbled to the local urgent care center, and they found my poor gallbladder - overfull with gall rocks, badly inflamed, and, to quote the doctor, "very angry". A month later it was happily removed, and now I feel a lot better. But without that fried food? I don't know if I would have detected a problem with it until it got a lot worse off - and that would have been much harder to both treat, and recover from.
As a consequence? I am forever grateful to the Sikh community and their langar.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:17 PM on May 14, 2021 [6 favorites]
What I love is that the food looks very good -- or at least as if it's intended to be; I can't say from here, of course.
I suspect that they only know how to make great food.
There are lots of gurdwaras near me and they all seem to be like this, if not quite at this scale.
posted by plonkee at 2:37 AM on May 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I suspect that they only know how to make great food.
There are lots of gurdwaras near me and they all seem to be like this, if not quite at this scale.
posted by plonkee at 2:37 AM on May 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
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One of the episodes visited the Golden Temple and yeah, wow.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:59 AM on May 13, 2021 [11 favorites]