Guest Post: The Indian Kitchen Part 1 - Gadgets & Gizmos

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Today's post is a guest post from Heena over at The Indus Tijori!  Her blog is about South Asian women's lifestyle, including fashion, travel, and food.  If you have not checked out her blog yet, you should.  I especially love her fashion tips!


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Oh, Indian food, how I love thee.  Soft and airy dhoklas sprinkled with fresh shredded coconut and whole green chilies; crispy dosas served with hot sambhar that warms your soul; cold spicy pani poori on those hot summer afternoons; jhaal moori with extra mustard oil that goes straight to your nose; creamy koftas with very garlicky naan fresh from the tandoor; the ultimate comfort dish of khichdi after a long journey; and just simple garam garam rotis with my favorite subzi -- what would life be without these dishes? It would be a dark and dreary world indeed.

As much as I love Indian food, it does come with a lot of baggage – meaning gadgetry, equipment, and ingredients needed to make a dish.  My first kitchen was in a teeny tiny apartment in New York City.  I quickly realized that I could only keep basic essentials.  But what essentials did I need?  This is where my absolutely fabulous Mummy came to the rescue.  And this is where we will begin a three-part series of the essentials of the Indian kitchen.  

We will first start where she and I started – choosing the right tools and equipment.  In the midst of my extremely short wedding shopping trip to India, we made time to pick out my first set of vasan (broad term for pots, pans, containers, etc.).  Just like shopping for clothes in India, you sit, relax, and they serve you tea and snacks, all while they pull out different sizes, models, types, and finishes of everything you need to stock your kitchen!  If you love gadgetry as much as I do, it is hard to focus on only the essentials! But Mummy reigned me in and kept me focused on the most important items I would need:

• Tava - a pan used for making breads, such as rotis

• Chakla/Aadhni - a flat circular board on which breads are rolled with a rolling pin, and
• Belan - thin rolling pins for rolling out breads
  

• Karahi - a cooking pan similar to a wok (pictured with a small long-handled pot used for tempering spices)

• Pressure cooker or slow cooker - necessary for cooking dried beans and legumes

• Masala dabba - a container for storing the six spices used most often.

Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of a few other tools you may want to keep, depending on how much storage space you have in your kitchen:

• Paratha pan - pan for cooking parathas; alternatively use a non-stick pan, and
• Paratha presser - alternatively use a spatula
  

• Metal slotted spoon for frying
• Metal tongs - for gripping hot breads off the stove
• Mesh strainer
• Serving spoons for rice and subzis
  

• Immersion blender or valoni/mathani - an Indian whisk used to blend lentils or yogurts into a smooth consistency
• Flour sifter - a round one in the shape of a pan is good for sifting large amounts of flour

• Stainless steel idli/dhokla stand - fits inside a pressure cooker and steams the food

• Oil/ghee (clarified butter) containers - with spoons

Review this list with your Mummy.  She may add to this list dependent upon what is used in your region of India.  Plus it's an opportunity for mother-daughter bonding!

These items can easily be found in India, any major Indian grocery store, or online.  I have created an Amazon Wish List (search by name: Indus Tijori) that contains most of the tools or follow this link to the list: Indus Tijori The Indian Kitchen: Tools Wish List

I hope this helps you de-mystify Indian tools and gadgetry, and helps you on your quest to setting up your kitchen. I will be using all of these in future recipes.  Stay tuned for the next two parts on setting up The Indian Kitchen - legumes/grains and the essential Indian spices! 

xoxo,

Heenerzz