Good Food Travels Fast

Chef Ranveer Brar Plates Up His Ramzan Memories, Garnished With Nostalgia

- Humaira Ansari

At TAG-GourmArt Kitchen, celebrity chef and food show host Ranveer Brar’s swanky restaurant, the food is modern vegetarian; the decor part vintage, part pop-culture; and the vibe uppity. The single-storey structure is nestled in Mumbai’s repurposed Kamala Mills. To reach the restaurant, one must first navigate through an art gallery. When I reach at 4 p.m., Brar is behind the kitchen counter. When he exits, we discuss his favourite Ramzan foods over a gulab jamun cheesecake. Interestingly though, the dishes that come up seem like total misfits in the avant-garde setting we are. There’s a slim chance that Marilyn Monroe, sprawled on a canvas across our table, would approve of fatty haleem in Hyderabad, greasy kachoris in old Delhi, or Lucknow’s tala gosht. “But this is exactly the kind of Ramzan food I have grown up eating and exploring,” says Brar.

For the next two hours, the chef animatedly encapsulates the different Ramzan celebrations he has experienced across Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. From sehri (the pre-dawn meal) and iftar (the evening meal with which a fast is broken) to midnight food walks, he’s done it all.

LUCKNOW

“In the city of nawabs, the spirit of Ramzan is felt more in people’s homes than the streets. And that’s what makes Ramzan unique here. Also, Lucknowis love a wholesome sehri... fried beef, brinjal pakodis, rose petal-infused chai.”