Seva on Sundays
Read these five, in this order.
A letter every Sunday from the langar kitchen: the roti, the pots, the allotment and the notes I write on the night bus.
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- letters5in order
- reading time21 minin all
- thenSunevery Sunday
- readers1,800
Stirring the Pot for the First Time
How I ended up in the kitchen, and what I was afraid of.
5minutes5 min
What First-Timers Ask Me
The questions you may have before a first visit, answered plainly.
5minutes5 minSitting Down Together in Rows
Why everyone sits on the floor together, and what that is like.
4minutes4 min
The Dal Pots at Six in the Morning
The early start that makes a langar possible.
4minutes4 min
Where the Coriander Grows
Where the herbs for the dal come from.
3minutes3 min
Newsletter
Notes from Langar
Notes Written on the Night Bus
What I scribbled on the last bus home after the busiest langar I can remember.
Nov 6, 2026 · 4 min readRead: Notes Written on the Night BusRolling Roti for Four Hundred
Long steel tables, flour to the elbows and how a line of hands keeps the pace.
Oct 30, 2026 · 5 min readRead: Rolling Roti for Four HundredThe Dal Pots at Six in the Morning
Why the dal goes on before the sun is up, and who stands guard over the pots.
Oct 23, 2026 · 4 min readRead: The Dal Pots at Six in the MorningSitting Down Together in Rows
Why we all eat on the floor in a line, and what it feels like the first time.
Oct 16, 2026 · 4 min readRead: Sitting Down Together in RowsWhere the Coriander Grows
A walk round the allotment that gives the kitchen its herbs and spinach.
Oct 9, 2026 · 3 min readRead: Where the Coriander GrowsWalking to the Gurdwara in the Drizzle
The wet terraced streets of Leicester at dawn, and the walk I make every Saturday.
Oct 2, 2026 · 3 min readRead: Walking to the Gurdwara in the Drizzle
About
Hello, I’m Harjot
I live in Leicester and I have helped in the langar at my gurdwara every weekend since I was sixteen. Langar is the free community kitchen: a hot vegetarian meal for anyone who walks in, served to everyone sitting side by side on the floor, whoever they are.
On a Saturday I roll roti on the long steel tables, or keep an eye on the big dal pots, or wash up, whatever the sevadars (the volunteers) need that day. I write my notes on the night bus home while the smell of the kitchen is still on my clothes, and on Sunday they go out as a letter.
Over the years I have learned how much dal feeds a hundred people and how to make a rota that does not fall apart in a week. Those sheets, templates and recipe packs are what I share and sell here, for anyone who cooks or organises for a crowd.
I am not a granthi or a teacher, and I do not speak for anyone else’s gurdwara. I am a volunteer who likes to write things down, and the letter is one young person’s notes from the kitchen.
Digital downloads
Downloads
Download as soon as you pay. Yours to keep.
- PDF · 4 pages$8
Cooking for 100 Quantities Sheet
How much dal, rice, flour and oil to cook for a hundred, worked out for the pots we really use.
- PDF · 6 pages$10
Cooking for 400 Quantities Sheet
The same sheet scaled up for a big day, with the pot sizes and the timings.
- Printable · 3 pages$7
Volunteer Rota Template
A one-page weekly rota for the tables, the pots and the sinks, to fill in and pin up.
- PDF · 28 pages$14
Dal and Roti for a Crowd Recipe Pack
My dal, my roti and the sabzi that goes with them, written for large pots and long tables.
Newsletter
Seva on Sundays
A letter every Sunday from the langar kitchen: the roti, the pots, the allotment and the notes I write on the night bus.