Bengaluru brews India's first homegrown sake

Chef Maia Laifungbam, a certified touji, or sake brewer, is all set to launch the country's first locally produced Japanese rice wine

- Geetika Sachdev

On the outskirts of Bengaluru, in Yelahanka, a makeshift laboratory was the nucleus of chef Maia Laifungbam's brand new experiment to recreate sake, or experiment to recreate sake, or Japanese rice wine, in India.

In the last few months, her life has been taken over by countless trials. She experimented with different strains of indigenous rice from the northeast and one from south India-the names of which she doesn't reveal-to crack a recipe.

Finally, Laifungbam is ready for her baby' to meet the world. In June, the chef, who is also India's first certified sake brewer, or touji, will launch two sake products in Bengaluru and Mumbai. There's junmai, a clear and refreshing sake, and nigori, a cloudy version with a stronger flavour. She has moved from Yelahanka, and a brewery in Bengaluru is also in the making, where guests can sip on freshly pressed sake, which boasts a stronger flavour and higher sugar content than the brewed versions.

"It takes about a month to prepare sake. Out of the four rice strains, one turned out to be terrible, while the others were phenomenal. I developed three types of sake recipes," shares the 31-year-old.

Homegrown sake has arrived at an interesting time. There is a growing appreciation for Japanese culture, an increased interest in Japanese cuisine, a surge in Indian tourists visiting Japan, and higher disposable incomes, all of which have contributed to its rising popularity in India. "Sake's growth trajectory here is similar to that of wine two decades ago.