Indian-born British restaurateur and owner of London’s Darjeeling Express restaurant – Asma Khan – is well-known for backing social causes as much as she is known for whipping her magic wand in the kitchen. In her latest efforts to offer community service, the chef who was in Dhaka, decided to pay a visit to the local vegetable market or kacha bajaar to gather some produce in order to cook for a colony of children belonging to daily wage cleaners and sweepers. Sharing that she planned on using a variety of vegetables like okra, two varieties of aubergine, baby bitter gourd, pumpkin, a local vegetable known as kakar, yam and chillies.
Asma expressed her excitement about having the opportunity to cook with the produce, which was sourced from nearby fields, for a charitable cause. Explaining that since the aubergines were sourced from small-holding farmers, they appeared to look different from one another. Among the impressive display were also ingredients like tomatoes, bananas – raw and ripe, pineapples, breadfruit and bottle gourd. As netizens applauded her for her efforts in giving back to communities, the restaurateur described herself as being ‘very privileged’ to cook for children for whom that would’ve been the only meal for the day.
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Captioning the video, Asma shared that, “Getting the ingredients together to cook in Dhaka. In partnership with @thrive.feed.educate.grow I will be cooking for children of families of an area which is referred to as the colony of sweepers, the daily wagers who clean the drains and streets of Dhaka. With monsoon rain in full flow- life for these children living in the flooded narrow streets is more challenging than other seasons. It is a joy and privilege to work with such a diverse range of local produce.”