Mamajees Kitchen

Umeeda Switlo, who now manages Mamajee’s Kitchen enthusiastically talks about East Indian culture and food in Toledo.

‘Indian food is a combination of spices that in the ayurvedic tradition is not only tasty but also healing for your body. Yellow Ginger (turmeric) is an important ingredient in this tradition.

Turmeric was brought to Belize by Indian indentured servants. They learned, it grew quickly not requiring any agricultural inputs. The East Indians made delicious hand-made turmeric, combined with garlic and cilantro balls, which they added to and used in traditional Belizean foods such as Cahoon cabbage.

Turmeric is also used for making curries and for medicinal purposes. Our restaurant had the turmeric tested in Toledo and found that its curcumins (the chemicals produced by turmeric) were higher than any other turmeric tested in the world. We started a restaurant featuring turmeric in all of our recipes.

Besides being an excellent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, our innovative fresh turmeric paste is delicious. It is combined with fresh squeezed lime juice, cold pressed coconut oil, sea salt and fresh Belizean black pepper from the Spice farm. Truly Turmeric can be used in smoothies, stir fries, curries, soups and as a seasoning for meats and fish. We make mango smoothies and many traditional Indian dishes as well.

My mother Lella Umedaly wrote a best-selling Indian cook book called Mamajee’s kitchen. At our restaurant we base our cuisine around her recipes. We use the best that Belize has to offer in our recipes.
People traveling in Belize like to try different foods and often look for homemade foods. They are always surprised with our style of restaurant, it only has 2 tables of six, meaning you join anyone at a table and we have a meat and vegetarian option served in a traditional thali. Our take away is served in reusable tiffin boxes. You won’t find plastic or Styrofoam here.

We get great feedback from our customers; an Indian eating at Mamajee’s kitchen said, “I feel I am home eating at my mother’s kitchen table!” and one of our Belizean customers told me, “I can’t believe you can mix cassava, coconut and chicken to make this dish.” Come and taste for yourself!

How to book:

Call + 501-722-0405 for take-out and reservations. Be aware we are only open two days a week, lunch only, Wednesdays and Fridays!