Whether you are setting up a kitchen after moving to a new country or a recent dinner at an Indian restaurant has piqued your interest in the cuisine, this list of tools and utensils needed in an Indian kitchen is for you. These are the only things you need to get started with cooking.
Pressure Cooker – Instant Pot
Rice and legumes are an integral part of Indian cuisine, making pressure cookers a necessity. Instant pots are like an upgraded version of pressure cookers. Depending on what model you buy, you can choose from pre-set options, choose from different pressure levels, and set delay time.
Chakala Belan
Absolutely imperative for any Indian kitchen. How else are you going to make those chapatis? To make any bread be it roti, puri, paratha, or bhatura, you will need your chakala belan. And I have tried making them on the kitchen platform with just the belan (rolling pin), I had to go and buy a chakala (circular rolling board made of wood) within a week.
Mixer Grinder
We Indians love our chutneys and if you want to continue making that, you need a good mixer grinder. It is also vastly useful for making gravies for sabzis.
Masala Dabba
This simple storage box for spices can be found in every Indian kitchen. It is a round box with seven round boxes. The contents of the box are different in different regions of the country depending on what is used more.
Strainer
Tea is the first thing that gets made in almost every Indian household and a strainer is required for preparing it making it an essential tool. You can skip it though if you are a coffee or plain milk person.
Related Post: Easy Healthy Indian Meal Plan for Vegetarians That Actually Works
Tava
Once again required for making all the breads, having a tava is crucial. In case you have an electric or induction cooktop, you may have to buy one with a flat bottom. Making chapatis on them may get tricky. I recommend this video if you are struggling as well.
Pan
Buy one medium size pan (two liter capacity should suffice) for making your dals, sabzis, tadkas, etc. You may need to buy more later but my suggestion would be to buy just one to begin with and the get next one once you have a better idea of how big a pan you will need.
Conclusion
Setting up your first Indian kitchen may seem overwhelming at first but the key is to start small and build up as you need. A lot of these utensils and tools are versatile and can be used for multiple things.
