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Pomona College Magazine is published three times a year by Pomona College
550 N. College Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
Online Editor: Mark Kendall
For editorial matters:
Editor: Mark Wood
Phone: (909) 621-8158
Fax: (909) 621-8203
PCM Editorial Guidelines
Contact Alumni Records for changes of address, class notes, or notice
of births or deaths.
Phone: (909) 621-8635
Fax: (909) 621-8535
Email: alumni@pomona.edu
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Curry from Scratch
Expert Advice / Maya Kaimal '87
While growing up, Maya Kaimal ’87 frequently traveled to visit family in
India. She learned
Indian cooking from her father, a physicist—a savvy cook with a gift for
writing flawless
recipes. With each trip to India, Kaimal’s interest in Indian cooking
increased, along with her
collection of recipes. In 1996, she published Curried Favors: Family
Recipes from South India
(Abbeville Press), which won the Julia Child Award for best first book.
 Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods, based in New York, was launched in
October 2003, marketing high quality, all natural Indian simmer sauces
for cooking with meat or vegetables,
speeding up the preparation time of Indian food for time-crunched and
tired home cooks. These sauces may be purchased online at www.mayakaimal.com or at Whole Foods
Markets nationwide.
Beyond cookbooks and sauces, Kaimal has authored articles about Indian
cooking for Food
& Wine and Saveur and has appeared on The Today Show, Martha
Stewart Living Television
and The Food Network. She has taught cooking classes at the
Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley and the French
Culinary Institute in New York. For those adventurous enough to make
their own chicken curry from scratch, Kaimal offers some sage (natch)
advice:
Prep and Measure
Making Indian food always seems daunting because the ingredients list is
long. Prep and
measure everything and set it out in bowls— otherwise you may be left
with burned onions
and a little frustrated.
Use Fresh Spices
Make sure your spices are fresh and purchased from quality markets.
Re-stock your spices every five years. Five must-have spices in Indian
cooking are: coriander, cumin, cayenne, black pepper and turmeric. It’s
also good to have cinnamon, cloves and cardamom on hand.
Cook in Stages
Something that’s fundamental to building flavor is cooking in stages and
coaxing flavor out of
each ingredient. Sauté your onions until really caramelized. Wait until
you can smell that your spices are no longer raw. Take your time and be
rewarded with a more nuanced, flavorful curry.
Taste
It’s extremely important to taste the curry before serving. Test to see
if all the flavors are
coming through in a balanced way. If not, add a pinch or two of more
salt.
—Sneha Abraham (Scripps ’00)
From Maya Kaimal ’87
Chicken Masala Curry
2 cups of thinly sliced onions
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (not olive oil)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
6 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric
1½ teaspoons salt
2 cups chopped and drained tomatoes (or
canned tomatoes, drained)
2 lbs. boneless chicken (thighs and breast meat)
½ cup water or ½ cup coconut milk
In a deep sauté pan or Dutch oven, fry onions in oil on medium high heat
until the edges are nicely browned. Add garlic and ginger and continue
stirring 2 minutes. Add ground spices, including the salt, and fry for
another 2 minutes. If mixture dries out, add a few teaspoons of water.
Add tomatoes and fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the
tomatoes break down and a paste starts to form. Add chicken. Add water
or coconut milk.
Bring mixture to a simmer and then reduce heat to low. Cover. Simmer 20
minutes and check. If sauce is too thin, remove cover and simmer another
10 minutes. If the sauce is desired thickness, continue to simmer
covered for 10 minutes. Taste results. Serve with basmati rice and
stir-fried vegetables.
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