Conversations with Madhavi Tandon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madhavi Tandon. 

Hi Madhavi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Maia Foods is a small cottage food business in Denver, USA. 

I started by making ghee from organic butter in pretty glass jars and giving them as gifts to friends who loved cooking Indian food. Soon they wanted more and offered to buy for their friends and families. This was the launch of Maia Foods as a small home-based business. In the first year of Maia Foods, I set up a small table at farmers and holiday markets and the response was encouraging. Selling at these markets allowed me to interact directly with customers and explain the process of making ghee, its healing properties, and its ancient origins. These interactions were very informative for me and I could slowly add more products based on customer interest. 

Often during my travels and interactions, people tell me that although they love eating Indian food, they are intimidated by Indian cuisine. I think that some of the reasons are the vast range of spices that Indian cooking requires and also the multi-step techniques required in creating each dish. Additionally, the masala (spice) blends vary from region to region and even from kitchen to kitchen, even though the basic techniques are pretty much the same. A single dish may require soaking, pressure-cooking, tempering, simmering, and garnishing, which can be tedious if you are not planning ahead. I started thinking about ways to simplify Indian dishes and identify building blocks of Indian meals. Our product range then went on to include meal kits and spice blends that can be used to prepare meals like dal and rice or khichadi and ghee. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I love to think through problems and find multiple solutions to them by nature. Working for over two decades in teaching and administration in various countries, I have learned to look at challenges as an area of growth for myself, an opportunity to reorganize or reevaluate priorities and relationships. I carry the same training into my business and enjoy every single aspect of it, from driving all around the city to buy the materials, making the products, planning the branding, to setting up a table at events. One thing I would like to do in the future is to spend more time on Maia Foods than I currently am able to. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I inhabit the two very different worlds of academia and entrepreneurship. By day, I teach at a local university in a teacher education program. And in the evenings and weekends, I run a small business called Maia Foods (pronounced Ma-Ya). Our range of products includes ghee, meal kits, masalas, and biscottis. I love to post vegetarian and vegan recipes on social media and on my food website at maiafoods.com. More than money, this journey has brought me immense learning and allowed me to connect with a community of small business owners, women entrepreneurs, and chefs. 

Maia Food Products are available at three locations in Colorado:
https://rubysmarketdenver.com/
https://thecoopat1st.com/
https://boultersfarmersmarkets.com/ 

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Maia Foods and its products have been handcrafted lovingly for anyone who enjoys Indian food, likes to try new cuisines, or likes to do some cooking on their own. The most important characteristic of Maia Foods is that our range of products is vegetarian, handmade, and essentially Indian in taste and philosophy. This means that each product has its roots in traditional and complementary Indian ingredients. For example, the Maia Chai Spice Mix is a blend of spices that not only enhances the flavor of your chai but also has several health benefits that help with digestion. Our Turmeric Ghee is the base ingredient for golden milk and at Maia, we add spices like nutmeg and saffron that are traditionally used for enhancing sleep. 

I enjoy researching various ingredients and their properties and learning about how they have been used in various dishes for centuries. I think of this work as an endeavor to decolonize food and diets, which means, going back to the way our grandparents and great grandparents used to eat. Decolonizing Indian food for me also means, sharing food history and tracing origins of ingredients and dishes to the times before the British colonized the country and denigrated native ways of cooking and farming. This research allows me to share not only decolonized Indian food through my blog but also advocate for healthy meals, for example, sharing recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients instead of using highly processed ones that are filled with corn syrup and preservatives.

Contact Info:

• Email: maiafoodsllc@gmail.com
• Website: www.maiafoods.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maia_foods/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maiafoods