Maia is rightfully a tribute to mothers and grandmothers. The restaurant located at Bellandur in Bengaluru offers women a platform to share their recipes handed down over generations and even showcase their culinary skills.
“Around 60 per cent of the dishes in our menu are sourced from mothers and grandmothers from across the world,” says Sejal Shah, the brain behind the unique initiative. Ishan Shah, the co-founder of Maia is a hardcore foodie and born storyteller. “There is a story behind each dish on our menu,” says Ishan. Sejal then recalls her meeting with a frail, stooped woman from Uttar Pradesh. “I could see tears in her eyes when she shared the recipe. It really stirred me,” says Sejal who describes the initiative as a movement to empower women.
Maia offers lip-smacking farali patties stuffed with coconut and peanuts, a snack made during fasting. Sejal inherited this recipe from her mother and grandmother. “My grandmother would make it with raw banana. My mom tweaked the recipe a bit, replacing bananas with potato. It's a lovely recipe which is close to my heart,” says Sejal. Another snack that makes her nostalgic is the aromatic kabab—veg kabab made with green peas, chick peas, sandalwood and edible camphor. “The recipe was passed down through generations,'' she says. Sejal claims she never uses any food additives or artificial flavours. ''I dont want to add soda to make my puri fluffy. We don't use pre-mixes for our breads either. You cannot make the whole world happy,'' she says.
Maia is a haven for people who are sick and tired of restaurant food. Sejal painstakingly prepares all the masalas by herself. “I prepare the masalas at home and get them here. I make the typical Gujarati chai masala, garam masala which is used in most of our curries and starters and the bisi bele bath and puliyogare masalas. We have never bought paav bhaaji masala from outside; we use the home made masala only,” says Sejal.
Boundaries are blurred in the culinary world. Sejal who was born and brought up in Gujarat can even make the idli gunpowder. “It was one of my aunts who taught me how to make it. She was in the South for 30 years,” adds Sejal who spends long hours at Maia overseeing the preparation of food. There is a wide array of herbs, plants and fruit trees in its backyard. “We grow a lot of trees including nutmeg, allspice and clove and herbs like coriander, thyme and rosemary. We also have fruit trees like mulberry, strawberry and jack,” says Ishan.
Sejal and Ishan have plans to set up a store at Maia where women entrepreneurs can sell their products. ''It could be anything from pickles and jams to masalas,'' says Ishan.