While at the airport in Mumbai, Pushpa Sidam squeezes in a call between connecting flights (Udaipur-Mumbai-Nagpur). We couldn’t have reached her at a better time; she is recovering from the excitement of her first trip ever. Glee colours her voice as she reveals, “Mujhe bahut mazza aaya (I had a lot of fun).”

Pushpa and her team, led by chef Tabrez Shaikh, were at Udaipur’s Leela Palace for a pop-up showcasing the seven-course meal they serve at ‘Palaash’ — an idyllic restaurant that shares ground with the area bordering the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Gondwakadi, Maharashtra.

Flanked by forest land, Palaash marks out a space where the story of traditional flavours is retold through a modern perspective.

A native of the Marathwakdi village in Maharashtra, Pushpa’s dreams were once confined to her home kitchen. “I never thought I’d be a chef one day!” But two years ago, a chance meeting with chef Amninder Sandhu, the creative force behind Palaash, changed her life.

From sweeping the Tipai resort’s staff quarters — Palaash is located in a corner of the luxury resort Tipai — to now enjoying a say in the preparation of meals at the restaurant, it’s a full circle moment for Pushpa. She is one among the handful of women who are reclaiming their agency through the opportunity provided by chef Amninder.

But our chef shies away from credit. “These women used to make around 400 chapatis (Indian flatbread) for the staff cafeteria every day by hand, with the same precision. The consistency was beautiful.” As chef Amninder observed, their deft hand movements appeared governed by muscle memory.

“The idea behind Palaash was to uplift the population around it. I wanted to leverage the women’s skills to make a difference in their lives.”

The women’s innate sense of the use of masalas stemmed from years of experiments in their home kitchens. “They have the restraint and maturity that Indian cooking needs,” chef Amninder taps into the sentiment, “That’s why when we were building Palaash, I wanted them on my team.” Pushpa and the others see the island kitchen as a lifeline that allows them to stay in touch with their dreams.

Dining in the wild to the beats of empowerment

At the Leela Palace in Udaipur, the guest list was all praise for the exquisite spread — think gendaphool sorbet (sorbet with the essence of marigold........

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