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Maya Kaimal was born and raised in Boston, MA and she might not have become an Indian cook at all if her father, a scientist, hadn't begun researching the prairies of Kansas 30 years ago. Because he was miles from any restaurant, he had to start cooking for himself, and he turned to the classic dishes from his home state of Kerala, on India's southwest coast. As his skills grew, he even began to teach an Indian cooking class and Maya learned how to cook at his side.
At Pomona College in California, Maya formed a cultural club to serve Indian food to her friends, and when she began working at a New York magazine, she would prepare Indian meals for the staff on deadline nights. She continued to refine her cooking, and was surprised by the disparities between the South Indian cooking of her family, and the North Indian food that is typically served in restaurants. On visits to Kerala, she would take notes while her aunt cooked so she could reproduce those flavors when she returned to the US.
Kerala is lush land of spices and a unique culinary pocket of India. Because it stretches along the Malabar Coast and is full of inland waterways and kes, fish and seafood are prominent and eaten by Hindus, Muslims, and Christians alike. Its primary crops include rice, coconuts, cashews, coffee, tea, and ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and black pepper, and foods tend to be quite spicy, with a hint of sourness.
Maya has written extensively about the cuisine of Kerala in her two cookbooks, Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors From Kerala (HarperCollins, 2001) and Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India (Abbeville Press, 1996), winner of the 1997 IACP Julia Child Award for First Cookbook. She visits Kerala often, and one of her greatest food mentors is her Aunt Kamala, who lives there. Maya has also written articles on Indian cuisine for several magazines, including Saveur, where she is currently the Photo Editor. She lives in New York.
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