Maya Sweets: Pure vegetarian fare and exotic sweets
As an Indian food fanatic, one of my favourite haunts of an evening is Cleveland Street in Surry Hills. I’m not sure how many Indian restaurants there are in Surry Hills, but I’d confidently guestimate the number is close to a dozen.
I’ve always said that I would systematically try something from each of them over the course of a few months, but somehow I always end up back in Maya instead. Apart from being incredibly good value for money, Maya, a 100 percent vegetarian establishment, is as close as you’ll get to the buzzing, pure vegetarian eateries of cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Step into the brightly lit room and the first thing you’ll notice is the wraparound refrigerated glass counter, stocked with scores of unique, colourful Indian sweets including burfi (a soft, crumbly slice made from condensed milk) and gajar halwa (a dense dessert using carrots, milk and butter). The sweets are made on the premises and are easily among the best I’ve had anywhere in Sydney.
Maya is a decidedly no-frills affair. You walk up to the counter to order and the glitziest thing about the place are the Bollywood music clips playing, sound-down, on two wall-mounted television screens. The room is divided into two separate spaces, both of which are usually packed with students, families, appreciative vegetarians and Indian food devotees.
Among Maya’s specialities are the dosas, spectacularly oversized savoury crepes made from lentil flour. Spiked with a slight, fermented tang, they come stuffed with a delicious choice of masala spiced vegetables, egg or paneer (mild Indian cottage cheese). Maya is also one of the few Indian restaurants that serve rawa dosa. Made from semolina flour these dosas have an extraordinarily crunchy exterior.
Maya thali plates or “sampler platters” give you helpings for four different curries (choose from South Indian or Punjabi style), with fried bread, pappadums, fresh salad, super-sour pickles and a dessert – served on an authentic silver thali plate.
There are south Indian specialties like idli (fluffy steamed rice cakes served with chutney) and uttapam (flatbread topped with spiced veggies – kind of like an Indian pizza), and north Indian style treats like flavour-packed samosas, stuffed tandoor breads and sizzling paneer tikka with mint chutney. Wash it all down with a mango lassi, a hot masala chai, or the exquisite Bengali sweet, ras malai (a spongey cottage cheese dumpling floating in sweetened milk with pistachios – far more delicious than it sounds!).
Posted by Fiona Davies
