4 Essential Tips for Novice Chefs Cooking Indian Food at Home

Making a commitment to cooking at home can be an overwhelming task if one is unaware of what tools and equipment are needed to whip up the items.

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Making a commitment to cooking at home can be an overwhelming task if one is unaware of what tools and equipment are needed to whip up the items. The novice chef may be bombarded with a number of must-haves with advertisements lauding several appliances as having the power to turn an amateur into a bonafide chef overnight!

We are here to cut through the noise and tell you what is truly worth equipping one’s kitchen with to cook wholesome, delicious Indian food.

1. Cooking Utensils

Proper, sharp knives are a must-have in any kitchen, as are cooking spoons. However, for Indian food specifically, we also recommend buying mesh wire spoons and/or slotted spoons for taking fried items out of a kadhai. Tongs, too, are worthwhile investments as they help moving or flipping food in a way that reduces one potentially burning one’s self.

2. Chapati 101

If you plan on making homemade chapati and other Indian flatbreads, then you will want to buy a thin rolling pin and board. It will keep your flatbread the right size and consistency as you learn to master rolling out the dough.

For the perfect chapati, you’ll need a flat tava as well. A tava, or a flatbread griddle, is an ideal vessel for chapati because it cooks dough evenly.

3. Proper Use and Storage of Spices

Every Indian recipe, no matter how simple or intense, calls for the use of spices—and as any seasoned chef will tell you, the fresher your spices, the better your dish will taste!

Although it takes longer to do so, grinding whole spices in small batches for your immediate cooking needs is the way to go. Having a grinder used specifically and only for grinding whole spices is a worthwhile investment. We recommend a simple coffee grinder, again, used only to grind spices.

If you go through the trouble of buying whole spices and grinding them freshly per use, you better make sure you store both your whole and ground spices properly! We highly recommend investing both money and kitchen space in containers that will retain the integrity of your spices.

The potency, aroma, and taste of spices deteriorate even more quickly when not cared for properly. Spices must always be kept in air-tight containers away from sunlight and direct heat. Even wiser is storing your spices and herbs in steel tins or canisters versus glass jars; this ensures keeping out as much light exposure as possible.

4. Pressure Cooker

Investing in a good pressure cooker is a must-have appliance for those looking to cook Indian food. Pressure cookers cut down cooking time in half for daals, meats like lamb and goat, and rice. However, it’s not only valuable in its ability to reduce cooking time; cooking with pressure lends a tenderness to meats and a consistency to daals and lentils that or more challenging to come by in other means.