Maya Kaimal’s Simmer Sauces Maya Kaimal’s Simmer Sauces At a ...

At a makeshift cooking station in the midst of a supermarket dairy section, a young man stirs the warming contents of three pans. Shoppers shuffle through the aisle but stick like clots as they come upon the demo table, unable to pass it by.

The stirrer doles small portions of each concoction onto Styrofoam plates and hands them to the eager tasters. The crowd consists of young, old and middle-aged, but all hold the same posture?pitched forward, expectant, eyes glued to the serving spoon. An Upper East Side-type still wearing her sunglasses pays a compliment to a woman who is observing from a short distance. "You're a good cook!" she remarks, hungrily smacking her lips.

The "good cook" is Maya Kaimal, an award-winning cookbook author and developer of the month-old line of Indian simmer sauces that bears her name.

The practice of handing out samples in the local supermarket may be frumpy in a suburban context, but not in New York City. Kaimal, an authority on South Indian cooking, personally prepared these samples for Saturday shoppers at Eli's: tofu and vegetables in her vindaloo; coconut curry sauce with peas, carrots and potato; chicken tikka masala. Her three sauces can be prepared with any variety of meats, fish and vegetables, and all taste truly homemade. The most popular is the coconut curry, a thick, flavorful stew with a pleasing crunch of roughly ground spices.

Kaimal's simmer sauces nestle between the bearnaise sauce and fromage blanc in Eli's refrigerated case. Their odd placement is a testament to the pioneering spirit of her goods?French condiments abound, but Indian sauces have yet to make a dent in the American grocery store.

"That's been a big dilemma that stores are facing," notes the fine-featured Kaimal. "Where to put it? Because there have been no other products like this."

If her cookbooks were intended for those who like to get their hands dirty, then her sauces are for people who don't. "From writing cookbooks I know what people's fears and hesitations are about cooking from scratch. This is a way to reach people who wouldn't necessarily cook from my cookbooks, but like Indian food." Even so, the 13 spices that Kaimal uses in her tikka masala could be daunting for any home cook.

Though she aspires to assist with her sauces, Kaimal also tasks herself with an instructive mission. "I didn't want to Americanize all of the names," says Kaimal. "And this we really debated a long time. Are we being sort of blind here and insisting on educating people at the expense of selling sauce?"

The answer appears to be no. By the time we returned to the demo from our interview, all of the containers of tikka masala had sold out.

For now, Kaimal and her helpers will continue to spread the gospel of the simmer sauce?sold for around $5 at Eli's, Kalustyan's, Fairway, Gourmet Garage, and some Amish Markets?at grocery store demonstrations around town.

"Sauce is the first step," plans Kaimal. "I would like to develop a whole line of Indian food where we have all of the components for people to make an Indian meal?flavored rice, snacks, chutneys, dips; there are so many ways to go!"