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Recipe Index » Uncategorized » Essential Indian Cooking Equipment

Essential Indian Cooking Equipment

September 19, 2018 By Kanan / 8 Comments

Essential Indian Cooking Equipment

Today I am sharing two lists of essential Indian cooking equipment. One is basic, must haves. Second is advance, good to have.

Essential Indian Cooking Equipment

If you are cooking Indian food once in a blue moon then you may not need to buy any special equipment. Just because I am sure everyone have basic pots, pans and spatulas in their kitchen.

But if cooking Indian food more often and like to try different variety of recipes other than simple curry and rice, then this list is for you.

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links meaning I earn a small commission if you use those links, nothing extra for you. I only recommend companies or products I use and trust.

Basic Indian Cooking Equipment:

Pressure cooker or Instant pot: this one is my most favorite. I at least use them once or twice in a day. It saves lot of time when cooking lentils, beans. The same can be cooked on stove top in a saucepan. But it takes whole lot of time (sometimes more than an hour). So having a good quality pressure cooker is must. Other than cooking lentils, beans, many times I cook my pulao, rice in cooker. So it gets ready in jiffy.

There are many different sizes available. I normally use 3L size.

But from past 1.5 years, this traditional pressure cooker is replaced by Instant pot. Actually I just love my instant pot that now I rarely use my stove top cooker.

pressure cooker instant pot

Paniyaram pan: Traditionally many things are deep fried like kofta, pakoda, vada. But in today’s lifestyle we care about the calories and intake of heavy food. So we can get the same taste and similar texture by shallow frying and using few teaspoons of oil in this is paniyaram pan.

Substitute: Aebleskiver pan.

paniyaram pan

Coffee grinder: You know that Indian food flavors come from spices. When we add freshly ground spices, it enhances the flavor more. Also it gives nice aroma. So whenever possible I dry roast and ground the spices in small batches. For that coffee grinders comes handy. Also I prefer to make my own spice powders (garam masala, sambar masala, biryani masala etc.) rather than buying packets.

I keep two coffee grinders, one for coffee and one for spices. Of course I don’t want spices flavor in my coffee and vice versa.

coffee grinder

Blender, food processor, grinder: I use preethi mixer grinder for everyday chutney, grinding onion-tomato gravy or idli-dosa batter. I use food processor for chopping onion, tomato purpose e.g. onion tomato masala, pav bhaji. I use blendtec blender for smoothies, juice, soup.

blender food processor mixer grinder

Small tadka pan: Many recipes call for tadka (tempering) e.g. dal tadka. Many chutney recipes call for tadka e.g. coconut chutney. In that case using regular sized pan is not practical. This tadka pan comes very handy.

Substitute: Mini egg fry pan

tadka pan

Kadai: I use this almost everyday for making sabji, curry or dal/beans. I keep two, one for daily use and second for deep frying.

Substitute: any saute pan or wok.

kadai

Saucepan or Patila: For making dal, rasam, soup and many dessert recipes, the saucepan is good choice. At home I use patila which I bought from India. Here in USA these are so expensive, so you can use saucepan.

saucepan patila

Tawa: To make Indian flatbread (paratha, naan), tawa is the right choice.

Substitute: griddle pan

tawa

Chakla belan: To roll paratha, naan this chakla belan is must. Chakla is rolling board while belan is rolling pin.

Substitute for chakla: silicon mat

chakla belan

Masala dabba: Check out this detailed post on Indian spice box. This is must if you cook Indian very often.

masala dabba

Advance list of Indian cooking equipment

  • Chimta (Tongs): for making roti
    chimta
  • Sev maker (recipes: plain sev, aloo bhujiya, tikha gathiya, chakli)
    sev maker
  • Mandoline slicer (for making banana chips and slicing vegetables)
    mandoline
  • Steamer for muthiya, dhokla, khaman, idli
    steamer
  • Cast iron pan for dosa
    dosa tawa
  • Mortar pestle (to crush fresh ginger, garlic, green chilies)
    mortar pestle
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Comments

  1. Radha Shankar

    April 15, 2019 at 3:56 am

    I agree with you, l have these things in my kitchen

    Reply
    • Kanan

      April 16, 2019 at 11:45 am

      True. Thank you

      Reply
  2. Pema

    November 18, 2018 at 8:34 pm

    The list of these essential equipments along with size and price being displayed under each well to do company, ready to select and place orders would be even convenient for the customers.

    Pema

    Reply
    • Kanan

      January 8, 2019 at 6:25 am

      these are not my products, but just the recommendations.
      So if you click on the image it will show you the price and descriptions in detail.

      Reply
  3. Hiral

    October 2, 2018 at 12:43 am

    Hi Kanan,

    I have a electric glass stove at home would you know how I can use the paniyaram pan on it. Thanks in advance

    Reply
    • Kanan

      October 2, 2018 at 8:01 am

      The shown in the post is non-stick and it won’t work.
      But cast iron should work (please check description before buying and see if it’s right for you or not)
      https://amzn.to/2RlcPVk

      Reply
  4. Neeta Shenoy

    September 22, 2018 at 11:55 am

    Hi there, I’d like to start by thanking you for sharing all these fantastic recipes. I discovered your website during a casual Google search and I have to say, I unearthed a treasure trove. I have made a bunch of your recipes – Punjabi aloo beans, amti dal, masoor dal, and several others. Your instructions, nifty tips, and step-by-step explanations are amazing and make the cooking process such a breeze. I recently tried out your Eggless chocolate cup cakes recipe, and had to convince my husband that they were not store bought – they were that good. I am a huge fan of your work and can’t thank you enough for letting me be a part of your culinary adventures. I visit your site at least two to three times a week and have shared it with my colleagues and friends. Everyone is unequivocally convinced that you are a gifted cook who is helping us amateurs find their way. Thank you so much. 🙂

    Reply
    • Kanan

      September 26, 2018 at 2:15 pm

      Very happy to read your comment, it made my day.
      Glad that it is helpful.
      Thank you so much for spreading the words.

      Reply

KananHi, I am Kanan!

I share easy, delicious vegetarian recipes (mostly Indian), Eggless and vegan baking recipes that will make your life easy in kitchen.

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