Whoever said there’s no such thing as a free lunch is eating at the wrong restaurant.

Not that Maharani’s Joy Kapur is letting you off scot-free. At Kindness Kitchen, his new Sunday volunteer lunch program, diners are expected to recycle the karma.

Kapur serves complimentary vegetarian and vegan Indian meals out of the kindness of his heart (yes, really). If you partake, he just asks that you pay what you can or return the goodwill to the community via a good deed or two.

Not surprisingly, Kapur needs donations — 10 percent of monthly proceeds are given to Home of Hope, a nonprofit for orphaned and abandoned kids. But he also needs volunteers to cook, serve, and help his team.

It gives whole new meaning to the joy of cooking.

Sundays, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., at Maharani, 1122 Post Street, at Polk Street (415-775-1988 or maharanirestaurant.com). For more information, go to kindnesskitchen.com.