Maiyam-past food

17/07/2025

🌿 Free Webinar Alert! 🌿
🍲 How to Deconstruct Recipes – in Traditional and Modern View
👨‍🍳 with Mr. Vijhay Ganesh, Founder & Chef, Maiyam Past Food

🗓️ Date: Saturday, 26th July 2025
🕚 Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM (IST)

🔗 Register Now: link in bio
(Limited seats – Mandatory registration)

Explore traditional recipes using Ayurveda, culture, and modern nutrition.

25/08/2022

01/07/2022

Food will be provided along with full access to the test kitchen & ingredients.

Temporary stay is available until the intern finds a suitable accommodation around Auroville or Pondicherry.

The first week of the internship include a complete knowledge sharing from who has studied the Dravidian food culture from the local healers and grandmothers.

Post which, we can improve our understanding from there on & create experiences and projects based on our findings.

We can split the earnings from our projects depending on the quantity and quality of skills and labour added.

#⁣perspectivecook

07/05/2022

PAAN GELATO! IT'S VEGAN, IT'S REFINED SUGAR-FREE, AND IT'S NATURALLY SWEET!!!

During my ( )first-ever popup at , .culinary made a sweet drink of sugar cane and coconut. That simple idea that has evolved into this authentic gelato perfectly fits the restrictions that I set for my recipe development. The result is a stimulative experience that satiates your cravings for gelato, guilt-free.

Available only during Maiyam's curated dinners.

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13/04/2022

This private lunch quenched my thirst for serving an identity of Dravidian regional food when one of the guests mentioned that all of her senses activated after the meal. It is the best compliment I have received yet. I have always wanted to serve -a sensory experience that extends our capacity to feel and at this dinner, I have nailed it.

Now that a balanced foundation (a constant) is ready that can provide taste, wellness, and satisfaction, I am interested in replacing each course with a meant equivalent or more complex preparations of vegetables (variations) to have a broad corpus of the menu for the coming days of
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27/01/2022

The Maiyam Experience by

Food is not just about eating but the relationship we construct and co-create around it, from the people who grew, cooked to the ones with whom we shared it.

Shanti wanted to host a special evening for her family & lifelong friends after a significant gap. She wanted to provide a rare experience to her guests that spoke her ethos. Lucky for me, she is a patron of Maiyam's approach to food which is in a way of affirming that we are part of the natural world. She admired that we approach food with social responsibilities such as human labor, fertility of the soil, health of the life around it, and a celebration of native ingredients. To her satisfaction and mine, the guests were moved by the fulfilling experience which was (in their words) far greater than expected at a typical dinner party. They left the table with heightened pleasure as the food & friendship shared became a pleasant memory.

This 5-course meal curated by is based on the fundamentals of traditional food practices aligned to our current lifestyle. The progression of flavors is designed to provide more energy than it takes to digest the meal. Food became the penultimate conversation at the table post the final course as the food served was inspired to discuss lost flavors, food politics, and industrial means of destruction of native ingredients. A notable guest among them is Seth Cook who is a qualified researcher of sustainable food practices in India and China.

If you too want to host your friends and family for a cultural food experience of South India on your selected occasions, kindly write to us. If provided with basic help, I can create similar experiences anywhere in India.

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05/08/2021

When there were a few leftovers from making the recipe from the previous post, I desired to make a dessert out of it. I knew there was a neandram banana in the house along with ample coconut & jaggery.

Before I give you the recipe, I should mention that both Poongar and Mappilaisamba are always consumed as par-boiled staples. Par-boiling rice was originally practiced to extend the shelf life of rice. Soon, someone realized the significance of the nutrition from the bran penetrating to the edible parts of rice. That is perhaps the reason why they are always parboiled. On the contrary, Navara rice is always consumed raw for better nutrition. It is only a matter of time when these subjects are studied deeply to present us with an in-depth understanding of such ideas to make way for more innovations.

Here is the recipe.

- Steam ripe Neandram banana for 10 min.
- Heat jaggery and while it boils, add grated coconut, shut the heat and mix well.
- Poongar (or any other) rice lump, read the previous post for the recipe.
- Add all together and mix very well.
- Toast white sesame and garnish before serving.

29/07/2021

continues to surprise me. I have had many encounters with poongar rice from various sources but this is by far the most fragrant one I have ever touched yet. The fragrance however diminishes after cooking and its presence is felt like a mild aftertaste only.

All medicinal rice is best to be had in the simplest forms, such as kaji or in any fermented form. The benefits of this rice are widespread but for those who don't know, this is called women's rice as it rebalances the hormones for a new mother or a mother-to-be. Don't worry gentlemen, we too get the mutual benefits such as iron, slow release of sugars, and immunity booster. The darker the rice, the better these qualities. However, semi-polished rice is a good transition to whole rice, by helping you consume it more regularly.

If Mapplaisamba rice is gifted to grooms for virility (obviously the bride reaps its benefits with pleasure), why not gift the bride with Poongar after pregnancy?

Although both Poongar and Mappillaisamba are revered for their medicinal quality, a study has not been done yet to prove the same.

Back to the recipe.
- Soak a cup of rice for 8 hours, drain and grind it well with adequate water.
- Add 7 times more water and boil it for a good 10-15 min.
- Add crushed pepper and salt at the end.
- Cool the Koozh (porridge) and add buttermilk to it.
- Mix well and season it with any good tadka.
- Serve with shallots and any crisps.

A hearty breakfast is ready.

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09/07/2021

Cooking a vigge with its own moisture is the mantra at Maiyam. During this lockdown, I have tried to oven roast various veggies but the most memorable one is this plantain. The aroma it releases is sweet and smooth. Less addition is required to amplify the profile. The ripeness of the plaintain too determines the flavour and taste and in my experience the almost ripe one brings out a complex notes and sweetness that is just enough to gasp for more.

While you cook your everyday meal, you can just leave this in the oven and let it do it's magic with little attention while the rest is being prepared in stove.

Traditionally, roasting plaintan and brinjal is said to remove the elements that leaves us gassy. Hence it is a win-win-win all the way...

Please do try it at home and share how you like your plantain to be seasoned.

03/07/2021

A ceremonial welcome to the newest member of my test kitchen. You must forgive me for posting about the final step of seasoning a cast iron pan and not the preludes. These photo-inspiring color combinations are to be blamed.

However, making an omelet on a pan has been the quick fix to a sticky pan. If the dosai sticks to the skillet then break an egg, cook and scrape it to the crows or your lovely pets if any, and carry on with the dosai. No need to stress. I keep a few industrial eggs handy for this purpose and the free-range country chicken eggs for a weekly boost of brain essential nutrition.

More about country eggs and it's benefits to brain in future post.

15/04/2021

Our experience of working with i headed by has been one of the fondest memory. Maiyam was conceived from the idea that a corporate system cannot provide the design necessary for clean food. However, their system is extremely efficient that our method of working seamlessly adapted to the culture of The Park.

The sourcing team was a delight to work with who knew what a chef wants and found solutions before bringing it to my notice. The marketing team of did a thorough job of understanding the plate of Maiyam and working with it to come up with words and color combinations that made us feel at home. , was in charge of serving the team and ambiance, his attention to detail and careful ex*****on ensured a fine experience.

The Kitchen was just pure magic. who headed the kitchen is unassuming about his work. He understood that we are a passionate young team with a different kind of experience from the Kitchens. His wise and calculated moves nudged us in a subtle way to extract the most out of his efficient kitchen. He had a lively team, we become comfortable working together in a few moments, we shared banters, and was in a good mood while cooking, which is of supreme importance.

Overall, it was a delightful debut to a fine dining experience in a proper hotel. Thank you once again to the whole team for such a satisfying experience.