Home / Mumbai / Mumbai News / Article /
‘Mumbai waalon ko ghar ka swaad milna chahiye’
Updated On: 16 July, 2023 07:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Christalle Fernandes
From ferrying lunch from home kitchens to offices, the Mumbai Dabbawala Association dives into a crowded home chef ring to offer tiffins fashioned by women self-help groups. Because, ‘to evolve is to survive’
Listen to this article :
Ritesh Andre, one of the fourth-generation dabbawalas spearheading the new food delivery service, with the women of Shri Mahila Bachat Gath, one of the first self-help groups the Mumbai Dabbawala’s Association has tied up with to cook meals. Pics/Anurag Ahire
We have a 130-year-old history, but it is important to change with time,” Ritesh Andre says. Andre is fourth-generation dabbawala and someone who has spearheaded Dabbawala’s Kitchen—centralised kitchens across the city that serve hot, fresh, home-cooked food for lunch every day. These kitchens are a collaboration with women’s self-help groups, which Andre says will help empower women. “Mumbai is changing—both the husband and wife work now. We aim to solve the problem of getting a dabba with our new programme, where we employ women’s self-help groups to cook fresh ghar ka khana, which our dabbawalas will then deliver.”
The food delivery service started on a trial basis on Tuesday and already saw about 100 to 200 orders pouring in, Andre says. The challenge while executing the programme was deciding how to source natural, home-cooked food that would be healthy and tasty at the same time. “When you cook in bulk, the food is often tasteless,” he explains. “Or else, using too many spices or oil makes it taste like restaurant food. We wanted to give our customers that ghar ki feeling—as if they’re consuming maa ke haath ka khana. That was when we realised that there are a lot of women’s self-help groups in Mumbai, who are already cooking and serving meals.”
Trending Stories
Latest Photos
Latest Videos
Latest Web Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
Mid-Day Fast
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT