Yesterday, I had a doctor who cooked for his family to relax, a young couple whose mother in Texas had found my class as a gift for them, a very widely traveled photographer who had just moved to Westchester from Australia and a mother and daughter who wanted to do something together on a weekend. I love meeting new people and the cast of characters who join me in my suburban kitchen to put together a meal never ceases to fascinate me. absorb and relish the diversity of the people who are working with me in this exercise. There is always a delight in watching (even for the 100 th time) the happiness when someone associates the characteristic experience the vividness of discovery through their senses and feel a small sense of comfort and feel that I have brought a piece of my heritage across the miles into the lives of yet another group of people. There is a joy to sharing and talking about something you love so much. I crinkled the curry leaf to gently release its oils before I passed it around for inspection and in the midst of the animated conversation, I felt alive. I enjoy teaching both cooking and accounting, just find teaching cooking more fun, it also transports me to a world where I can relieve stories of childhood. In teaching, I bridge the connection between the past and present. I watched and sub-consciously learned, without instruction when to slice as opposed to when to dice and learnt the secrets, scents and colors of the world of spices. She often regaled me with tales of her own childhood and other stories of myths and legends, fairies and heroes but the true enchantment lay in her cooking. I sat in my corner in her kitchen and chatted with her.

As a child, I spent a lot of time watching my grandmother cook. It sometimes transports me to my childhood. The sensual delight of smelling the spices remains fresh for me, every time I see them through my student’s senses And, I found childlike delight in their visible surprise at the potency of freshly ground spices. The group learnt the importance of toasting spices before grinding them. I inhaled the familiar and magical scent of garam masala. I immersed myself in telling them about the smokiness of cumin. And then without fail, the magic started. They surveyed the ingredients and began to ask questions about the spices and the foods. I organized the spices, got my pots ready and arranged the knives and cutting boards. Tired after running around, the idea of teaching a class did not seem fun. And more often than not, I love my classes. Let us talk about classes, the korma and then the recipe! BTW, because of my generous pinch of saffron I call this my saffron chicken korma. It uses saffron and cashew nuts, that offers a vibrant color and beautiful texture. This simple and elegant variation is what I use in cooking classes.

Like any classic recipe on the Indian table, there are many variations. A weeknight pick me up, a casual dinner party, or just that weekend meal with family. This said done right, you get an elegant and comforting dish that is fit for all occasions.

Chicken Korma is such a hackneyed restaurant classic that I often hesitate to write about it.

Chicken korma cashew cream recipe