A “choreographed dance” is how Hudson Valley resident Maya Kaimal describes a typical Indian home kitchen with women who form the troupe. “It’s a calm, chill, very confident, and busy place. Everyone knows where they need to be and understands what steps are necessary to finish the meal, including tasting and conferring near the end,” says Kaimal. Unlike many American kitchens, there isn’t only one person who cooks. “If there is cooking happening, everyone is in the kitchen and there’s a lot of help. It’s social. It’s communal and it makes it easier.”
Indian cooking has long had a reputation for being time-consuming and requiring a lot of things not at the ready. “Making it easier” has been Kaimal’s goal since launching Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods in 2003. Now based in Red Hook, Kaimal and her team have led the charge in growing the company in a manageable way, not influenced so much by trends. The company has added new products to the shelves every few years, reaching over 10,000 stores and supermarkets nationwide, most recently adding a line of Indian-inspired soups.
Kaimal began absorbing Indian culture and cuisine long before then, through her Indian father, Chandran, on the weekends and while visiting family in the South Indian region of Kerala. Kerala, a region on the southwestern tip of India, is situated in such a way that brings a diverse set of elements together in a unique way. “Kerala is host to a spectacular range of influences based on the age of exploration, leading to the spice trade, coastal location, and an equatorial climate lending to three growing seasons,” says Kaimal. Coconut milk and oils, curry leaves, seafood, and surprisingly, many non-vegetarian dishes are part of the cuisine left over from early Portuguese influences.
Anyone who meets her might use those same adjectives—calm, chill, confident—to describe Kaimal herself. Not only was she empowered through a strong matrilineal system in her Kerala family (Kerala has a population with 90% literacy and a high female-male ratio), but her American mother was smart, adventurous, and “a dyed-in-the-wool feminist,” says Kaimal. And busy? Sure, she’s busy as hell.
After twenty some-odd-years of growing her business while raising her twin daughters with her husband (she was pregnant the same year she started her business), authoring two cookbooks and a career as photo editor at Saveur, Kaimal has published a third cookbook, Indian Flavor Every Day: Simple Recipes and Smart Techniques to Inspire. “I spend so much time thinking about how to present Indian food through my business. There are ways to do this that don’t just come in a package form,” she says.
Kaimal’s first cookbook focused on bringing her physicist father’s intricate family recipes from a three-ring binder to print in Curried Flavors: Families Recipe from South India, which won the Julia Child First Book Award. Enamored by the cuisine of the region from which her father came, Kaimal desired to go deeper and began visiting her Aunty Kamala and cousins in Kerala, leading to her second cookbook, Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala.
Kaimal has been at this business for a long time – long enough to see that although Indian cuisine is becoming more popular and ingredients widely available, the idea of making Indian food is still daunting. And despite India’s population having recently surpassed China’s, only 7% of households in the US today have Indian food in their cupboards.
On March 28, a room full of close friends, family, and industry colleagues gathered at the Upstate Table in Kingston to celebrate the book launch, hear from Kaimal, and yes, have an opportunity to nosh on a handful of the 80 new recipes in the book that seemed almost too photo-ready to touch, but irresistible to leave behind.
“Cooking Indian food is time-consuming and exhausting,” Kaimal says with a laugh during a Q&A with Hudson Valley food cookbook author and writer Sarah Copeland. “I think it’s important to be realistic about what Indian cooking is and also what it can be,” says Kaimal. “I’m trying to meet people where they are with this book and share how I approach Indian cooking in my home. It can be reduced to a simpler approach and still capture the essence of Indian cooking and build flavors the Indian way.” And right now, according to Kaimal, market analysis shows that many people, particularly younger generations, are looking for recipes which are lower in sugar content, plant-based, and explore more exotic flavors.
In Every Day, Kaimal gives a deft introduction to Indian food, with traces of Kerala peppered throughout the book. “I’m spotlighting the techniques that a lot of Indians take for granted, like sizzling spices in oil (tarka), and making masalas from ground spices, and toasting spices or coconut. It’s reflected in the structure of the book and in how we laid out the recipes, showing which ingredients get which treatment,” says Kaimal.
Tarka, among other names, is a versatile technique, Kaimal says, that is pretty uniquely Indian in how it gets used and incorporated into the cuisine either at the beginning or end of a dish. “Indians have such a mastery of spices and how to get the most out of them,” she says.
Kaimal and her husband moved to the Hudson Valley from Brooklyn in 2004, in part to be closer to her first manufacturer, then based in Saugerties. “We knew there were great schools, restaurants, train accessibility, enough connectivity to the city, but also enough distance that it appealed to us,” she says.
When she’s not with her team in the kitchen or in her basement office working on a cookbook, Kaimal enjoys being outside, walking her golden retriever, Saffron, frequenting galleries in the Hudson Valley, or enjoying the many great restaurants around, including Cinnamon in Rhinebeck (and soon to be in Woodstock as well.)
Every Day gives a glimpse into her family history and culinary journey while learning foundational techniques unique to Indian cuisine, understanding where the flavor comes from, and a range of recipes suited for both the experienced chef to the never-ever. Terms like, ‘tikka’ are defined along with Kaimal’s method to determine the spice level of a chile.
Kaimal hopes those curious will learn these techniques and try her recipes, and then feel comfortable adding some unique flavors regularly to overcome that mealtime ennui. “Why can’t Indian flavors be something we reach for to make our food taste good,” she questions. “I love living in such a rich area agriculturally, the Hudson Valley. We are lucky to have so many CSA options and farmstands, and part of what we address in the book is how to use locally grown produce.” Kaimal recommends trying out the Roasted Asparagus with Tamarind and Crispy Shallots (p. 102) or using vegetables on hand as a substitution.
For those brand new to Indian food, try the Chicken Tikka Skewer recipe (p.157) – especially nice with grilling season right around the corner. To go a step further, whip up the Vibrant Cilantro Chutney (p.299) for dipping. The Fish Molee with Fresh Tomato and Coconut (p. 172) should also be on the list. “These are very straightforward recipes with great results,” says Kaimal.
An added bonus is the aesthetics of the book — a work of art in itself — influenced by Kaimal’s education in the arts, her career as a photo editor, and her love for Indian color combinations and textiles.
Kaimal will be teaching a cooking class at Blue Cashew Kitchen on Saturday, June 24th. She’ll also be signing books at the Rhinebeck Farmers Market on Sunday, July 30, and will teach another class this fall at The Upstate Table in Kingston.
Indian Flavor Every Day is available online or at Oblong Books, 6422 Montgomery St in Rhinebeck and Rough Draft Bar & Books, 86 John St, Kingston, NY 12401.
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