Best of the Maldives: Dedicated Diet Menus – Amilla

Amilla - diet menus

The dining life of a special diet scanning the menus for codes like “V” for “Vegetarian” (or it is “Vegan”?). I was at a restaurant and they had a leaf icon for “vegan” and a carrot icon for “vegetarian” (go figure). Then there is all of the interrogating the server for the options. Amilla Maldives has eliminated this confusion by providing special menus printed with all the options for “Your Way” of eating, including:

  • Gluten Free
  • Dairy Free
  • Low Carb / Keto / Paleo
  • Vegan / Vegetarian

Best of the Maldives: Vegan Popup – W Maldives

W Maldives - vegan popup

With its cultural culinary connections to the Indian subcontinent, it has never been difficult to find plenty of great vegetarian food, but veganism is growing in popularity and the removal of dairy ingredients (milk, eggs) considerably narrows one food options further. At least for a period, vegans (and “vegan curious”) at W Maldives can sample cow/chicken-friendly fare

  • “W Maldives has launched a vegan pop-up menu by celebrity Chef Priyanka Naik that will be available for its guests till October 2023. The initiative in collaboration with Chef Priyanka, a prominent champion of sustainable cooking, will boost the resort’s culinary offerings. The Go W-egan menu was introduced on the occasion of World Vegan Day, a day that invites global communities to embark on conscious gastronomical journeys.”

Best of the Maldives: Ethical Meat – Amilla

Amilla - ethical meat

Many people are reducing their consumption of meat for a variety of reasons, but one of the most prominent is their concern over the ethics of the meat production on both the animals and the planet. While some have completely eliminated meat from their diet, for others going completely cold turkey (or cow?) is a bit too challenging. As a part of their ethos to help guests take step to great sustainability, Amilla is offering a range of ethical meats on its menus:

  • BEEF – Cape Grim Beef from Tasmania “is proud collective of beef farmers throughout Tasmania, King and Flinders Islands, [who] have a commitment to ethical practices and are audited by a third-party. They nurture the finest quality cattle, without harming the pristine environment.” As an extra bonus to the quality they are only grass fed, and the cows don’t have to walk distances for their grass (because it rains so much) resulting in a distinctive level of fat marbling. Finally, the air in the location is the cleanest in the world.
  • PORK – Dingley Dell Bacon from Suffolk, UK whose operation is built around a “philosophy of animal welfare, taste and sustainability.” Also, Dingley Dell have planted 33.2 hectares of their farm in wild flowers so the bees have food.
  • POULTRY – I’ve already written about Amilla’s luxury poultry accommodation for its chickens, “Cluckingham Palace”.
  • CONDIMENTS – Amilla uses bananas and coconut sugar from the island to make the ketchup as well as a island produced BBQ. The homemade versions not only reduce the food-miles, but also avoid the the caramel colour (gluten) and refined sugar of the commercial versions.

Best of the Maldives: Vegetarian/Vegan Eatery – Joali Being

Joali Being - vegetarian eatery

It’s never difficult to find a veggie option in the Maldives with its shared culinary heritage with the Indian subcontinent and the general popularity of well-being options among the destination’s guests. But the newly opened Joali Being has a set a new bar for a spectacular vegetarian eatery, Plantae:

  • “Travellers can choose to eat at Flow, the resort’s open-plan interactive dining space which has three kitchens including Plantae, a fully vegetarian and vegan eatery,”

For vegetarians used to having a few “V” options at the bottom of the menu, Joali elevates meat-free dining to a sort of culinary cathedral.

Best of the Maldives: Jain Vegetarian – Kurumba

Kurumba - Jain vegetarian cabbage with capsicum

Happy Paryusana!

Paryusana is the “most important Jain festival”. It is a feast after 10 days of fasting. Mind you the ‘Jain vegetarians’ aren’t exactly gorging themselves in food in the normal times so I imagine that Paryusana must be particularly enthusiastic for them.

‘Jain’ vegetarians follow a very strict regimen based on their philosophy of “ahimsa” literally translated as “non-injuring”. The notion of ‘karma’ is central with their belief that every act by which a person directly or indirectly supports killing or injury is seen as act of violence (‘himsa’). As a result, even root vegetables (eg. potato, onion, garlic) are excluded because the ‘uprooting’ of them is seen as a violent act. The food they do include is referred to in Sanskrit as ‘sattvic’ food which means that it is “based on the qualities of goodness, lightness and happiness.”

A very common question on TripAdvisor Forum is the availability of vegetarian food. Not just from the surging growth in guests from India and the sub-continent, but also around the world where vegetarianism continues to grow in popularity as a part of a healthy and eco-friendly lifestyle.

With vegetarian dishes being quite prominent in the region, a vegetarian always has a broad range of choices at the Maldives resorts. But Kurumba went a step further to create a special range of Jain vegetarian dishes. The Jain menu was implemented by prior Food and Beverage Manager Dave Minten and includes such delicacies as…

  • Cabbage with mixed Capsicum (above)
  • Cauliflower and Green Peas (below)
  • Cottage Cheese with Green Chili Tomato (bottom)

Wishing you all goodness, lightness and happiness on Paryusana.

Kurumba - Jain vegetarian cauliflower and green peas

Kurumba - Jain vegetarian cottage cheese with green chili tomato