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Cookware and Utensils

I always enjoy strolling through kitchen-specialty stores looking for interesting new kitchen tools and cookware while my husband impatiently reminds me that I already have this or that, or that I do not have room for more things or that I simply don’t need it! I tell him to relax and that I am just looking for fun. Although sometimes, I do find an irresistible serving platter or interesting gadget that I must take home with me—much to my husband’s chagrin!

Even though I enjoy browsing fancy kitchen gadgets, I keep to the basics at home with easy-to-use and easy-to-clean kitchen cookware and utensils. My cooking style does not require any fancy or specialized Indian cookware but just basic items that you probably already have or are easy to find. Naturally, there is specialized Indian cookware that is used in traditional Indian homes, such as the tandoor, karahi and tava, but I have developed ways to prepare delicious Indian food using common everyday cookware.

I prefer to use heavy bottom cookware—it gives me more control than thin pans do because food does not heat up too quickly, which will cause food to burn if you do not keep an eagle eye on it. I use stainless-steel pots and pans for the majority of my cooking but I also sometimes use nonstick skillets. Stainless-steel is durable, dishwasher safe and nonreactive to acidic ingredients such as tomatoes. If you prefer to use nonstick stockpots and saucepans for easy cleanup and for healthier cooking (less fat will be required), that is perfectly fine. Lids for cookware are useful but if you do not have one, you can use a plate instead. In the entries that follow, you’ll find useful information about the cookware and utensils I use to make the recipes in this book.

Box Grater This tool is used to grate (shred) food. A typical box grater has at least four different sides, each with a different purpose. I use the side with the largest round grooves to grate onions and the side with the smaller grooves to grate ginger, carrots and unripe mangoes. You might see some other prickly holes that look like small pointed rasps—I use this to grate whole nutmeg. You can even zest lemons, limes and oranges on this side. Some box grates also have raised, sharp horizontal slits that are used to get shavings of food, such as cheese and vegetables. To use a box grater, stand it on a plate or cutting board, hold the handle with one hand, and grate the food by holding it in the other hand and moving it up and down across the surface. Be careful not to scrape your knuckles!

Cast-iron Skillet When making Indian crepes (dosa), pancakes (uttapam) and flatbreads, a cast-iron skillet works best. You need a surface that gets quite hot and that retains heat well. You can also use an Indian tava (page 12) for this purpose. A cast-iron skillet can be seasoned (to create a smooth and safe nonstick surface) by repeatedly heating up the skillet and coating it with vegetable or other cooking oil. A cast-iron skillet should be gently scrubbed with water only and immediately dried to prevent rusting.

Cheesecloth This is a light-weight, cotton gauze that is traditionally used in cheese making. The cloth allows the whey to quickly drain out, while retaining the curds, creating the Indian cheese paneer. You can also use it to strain tamarind pulp and coconut milk if you want to extract them from whole tamarind and fresh coconuts. If you do not have cheesecloth, you may use a thin muslin cloth, a fine mesh sieve or a strainer instead. The size of your cloth does not matter—as long as you can fold it at least four times so none of the curds slip through. After using a cheesecloth, wash it by rinsing any food products off it and then use a few drops of dishwashing liquid and rub it in the cheesecloth. Rinse thoroughly and hang outside on a line to dry, or drape it over a dish rack on your counter or in an empty rack in your dishwasher. My husband did not know what a cheesecloth was until he saw mine. Once after using the cheesecloth, I had washed it and placed it to dry over my counter dish rack. He saw it and thought it was a worn-out old rag and was going to throw it but I caught him just in time!

Citrus Squeezer Small-sized citrus squeezers, also called a citrus press, are used to squeeze lemons, limes and sometimes they are big enough to handle oranges too. My mother uses an old wooden citrus press she brought from India years ago but I use a sturdy metal one. If you do not have a citrus squeezer, you can squeeze citrus fruits by hand over a small strainer to catch the seeds.

Cutting Board My mother does not use a cutting board because she cuts and chops food quickly and skillfully by holding the fruit or vegetable and knife in her hand, but I prefer to use a cutting board. It is best to get one that is made with smooth plastic or composite material such as polypropylene rather than the glass ones with a grooved surface. The latter are bad for knives and can dull them quickly. A wooden board is also good to use, but it is not ideal to cut meat on because you would have to thoroughly immerse it in water to wash away the bacteria, and this is damaging for the board. Wooden boards should be wiped clean with a damp cloth. That is why I stick to a multipurpose composite board that can be washed by hand or in the dishwasher and is also easy on knives.

Garlic Press This tool makes fast work of mincing garlic. It is usually made of metal and presses peeled or unpeeled garlic cloves through small holes creating a close substitute for hand-minced garlic. Although this tool saves time, I have found that the downside is it can be hard to clean out since garlic can get stuck in the grooves. After using it, be sure to pry out any garlic stuck in the press so it does not go to waste.

Immersion Blender This handy tool is also called a hand blender. It has a stick handle and a small metal blade at the bottom. It is called an immersion hand blender because you hold it in your hand and immerse it directly in the food to be blended. This works great for puréeing soups and sambar because you do not have to wait for the hot food to cool down and you can avoid the step of transferring the hot food to a blender. Instead, you simply immerse the hand blender directly into the hot pot and blend until it becomes smooth. To avoid splattering, try to keep the blender deep in the pot fully immersed in the food while using it.

Indian Spice Box In Hindi, this common Indian spice box is called a masala dabba, with the word masala meaning “spice” and dabba meaning “box.” I think almost every Indian home around the world has one of these! A spice box is a round stainless-steel container with a lid and inside are about seven smaller containers for you to keep your most frequently used spices right at your fingertips. Spice boxes are very convenient and time saving, especially if you cook frequently and use a certain combination of spices repeatedly.

Karahi A karahi is an Indian wok that is used to deep-fry foods. The bottom of a karahi is not as rounded as a Chinese wok but it is still an efficient utensil to deep-fry food. If you prefer to get an Indian wok, they are sometimes available at Indian grocery stores or you can order them online. A Chinese wok (page 12) or deep stockpot both make excellent substitutes..

Microplane A Microplane is a very handy kitchen tool that I use for grating nutmeg and fresh ginger. It is a rectangular flat metal grater with sharp grooves throughout. They come in different sizes but I prefer to use one with small fine blades to get a very fine grating of ginger. I often use a Microplane because it is small and easy to clean but you can use a box grater instead for the same purpose.

Mini Processor This compact version of a big food processor is small and simple with just a basic two-prong blade. I can easily shred onions with it and make Mint Chutney (page 32) in a flash. Although some foods can be similarly processed in a blender, a blender is typically used to purée liquids or items with soupy consistency. A food processor allows for more options of cuts than a blender depending on the blade used. For the recipes in this book, a simple mini food processor with just the basic blade and a low and high speed button will do just fine.

Mortar and Pestle Mortar and pestle is the traditional Indian tool used to crush and grind spices. It has a bowl-shaped base (the mortar) and a small bat-shaped stick (the pestle) that is used to crush the spices by repeatedly and forcefully pressing down on spices with the pestle and rotating it. Mortar and pestle come in different sizes and materials, from marble or other stone, to wood, porcelain or metals. I personally prefer to use an electric coffee/spice grinder because it is faster, but a mortar and pestle is ideal for small amounts of spices or nuts— amount that will not grind properly in a coffee grinder or spice grinder. You could also crush small amounts of spices or nuts by placing them in plastic bag with the bag on a cutting board and tapping it with a rolling pin.

Parchment Paper This is a nonstick paper that is used in baking. I place a small piece between hot breads before freezing them so they will not stick to each other and tear or break when separating them for thawing and reheating. Even if the breads are very hot, they will not stick to the parchment when frozen. Parchment paper can be found in the same section of the grocery store where aluminum foil is found.

Popsicle Molds Popsicle molds are fun to use to make Indian ice cream (kulfi). You can get different mold shapes, such as ice cream bar molds or rocket shapes, but I prefer the basic popsicle shape because it is similar to the kufli in India, although the Indian kulfi mold is much longer. After the kulfi is frozen, turn over the molds and run them under hot water for about 30 seconds or until you can feel that you can easily pull out the pops. Just make sure they do not fall out when you have them turned over!

Rolling Pin Rolling pins are used to roll out dough but I also use mine to crush nuts, cardamom seeds and roasted cumin seeds. Rolling pins come in different materials such as metals, marble, silicone and plastic. I prefer to use a wooden one because they are easy to find, relatively lightweight and easy to clean. It is best to wipe wooden rolling pins clean with a wet cloth instead of submerging them in water and then wiping them dry with a kitchen towel. Rolling pins vary in thickness and some have handles while some do not. I use a medium–thick tapered rolling pin that is about 1½ inches (3.75 cm) around the center. Tapered rolling pins can be pivoted and rotated while rolling out dough. This is very helpful when trying to roll out a perfect circle of dough. They are also very lightweight, which allows me to get a good feel of the dough when I am using it. The style and thickness of rolling pins is a matter of personal choice—you should use what feels most comfortable to you—some people prefer to use the thicker, heavier ones and some people use very thin ones.

Spice Grinder This handy gadget, also called a coffee grinder, can be used to grind spices and definitely beats using a mortar and pestle—the traditional tool for grinding spices. If you use a spice grinder for grinding coffee, it is best to have a separate one for spices, unless you like cumin-flavored coffee! From my experience, I have seen the motor can burn out if you overload the spice grinder or run it for a long time at one stretch. It is best to grind spices in small batches and frequently rest the motor for a few seconds while operating it. To clean a spice grinder, carefully wipe with a damp cloth or paper towel. You can also put uncooked white rice or a slice of bread and run the grinder as it will absorb some of the spice aromas.

Tandoor A tandoor is an outdoor cylindrical clay oven resembling a pit, either above or underground, that can be found in backyards or verandas of homes in India. It is fired with wood or coal and the open flames give excellent heat and smoky flavor to foods cooked in it. Both sets of my grandparents had a clay tandoor in their backyards in which they made delicious Indian breads. A tandoor reaches much higher temperatures than a western oven and is good for making breads and cooking skewered meats and fish. Breads, such as Oven-Baked Naan Flatbread (page 58) and Oven-Baked Whole Wheat Roti (page 60), are slapped against the inside wall of a tandoor, while meats and seafood are skewered and placed inside. Indian restaurants around the world have professional metal exterior and clay interior tandoors installed in their kitchens that are either coal-fired, gas-fired or even electric but none of these are practical to have in a western home kitchen.

Tava A tava, also spelled tawa, is a cast-iron rimless skillet used to make various types of Indian flatbreads as well as Crispy Dosa Crepes (page 44) and Savory Vegetable Uttapam Pancakes (page 53). I find that using my large lowrimmed American cast-iron skillet works just as well. A tava is commonly around 10 or 12 inches (25 to 30.5 cm) in diameter. If you feel this size is too small, you can use a cast-iron griddle pan and make several breads at a time! Also, see cast-iron skillet (page 10).

Wok A wok is a round-bottomed cooking utensil popular in Asian cooking for stir-frying. It can also be used to efficiently deep-fry since the round-bottom shape creates a deeper frying area that requires less oil than a flat-bottomed pot with straight sides does. Also see karahi (page 11).