Uttar Pradesh: Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar all set to get behind bars, cook up a storm
Posted on May 15, 2022
LUCKNOW: A prison cell is the last place to expect culinary delights. Perhaps in a bid to change that perception, celebrity chef Ranveer Singh Brar has been roped in to provide tips to spice up the meals being served to inmates in jails across Uttar Pradesh.
The move has been initiated by the prison department and National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBD) which is the premier wing of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Director general of prisons, Anand Kumar, said that the Lucknow-born chef will coach prisoners to try new recipes for their meals.
“The chef will explain to them how to make multiple healthy recipes from the existing food on the platter and called it a historic initiative to make the prisoners of UP self-reliant,” he said. The officer said that the whole schedule of the chef has been decided in coordination with the NIESBD and Ranveer will start operations on Monday in Model Lucknow Jail and Nari Bandi Niketan. Not just cooking, its packaging will also be taught to them as a part of entrepreneurship development, Kumar said. In the first phase skills of cooking, weaving, embroidery will be taught in Lucknow Model Jail and Nari Bandi Niketan and later after it is successful, the model will be replicated in other prisons of the state.
Will train in confectionery too
Jailor of Lucknow Model Jail, CP Tripathi, told TOI that Ranveer Singh Brar will visit the prison on Monday. “As per the directions, we have already formed four batches of 25 people each who will be interacting with the chef and honing their cooking skills,” said the officer. The officer also said that the top chef will also train the prisoners to be able to cook a wider variety of confectionery items from the bakery, which has been started of late on the prison campus.
The objective is to not only add some cookies, biscuits to it, but also teach the prisoners how to package them so that it can also be sold out in the open market. “We are currently selling a 100 gram bun which costs just Rs 5 and it can be obtained from the jail headquarters,” he said. Tripathi also said that designers from National Institute Design (NID) have also been roped in to teach skills of weaving, stitching and embroidery to prisoners.