Indian Cooking For Dummies. Monisha Bharadwaj
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using a blunt knife, and you’ll know the meaning of frustration. Plus, a dull blade requires more pressure, which increases the risk of the knife slipping and injuring you. Invest in a good knife sharpener that you can use each month to keep that blade sharp. A knife steel can give you an uneven edge if you use different strokes each time, and they hone more than they sharpen. Sharpening involves the removal of a tiny amount of metal, so for a home cook, it’s probably a good idea to let a sharpener with a constant angle do the job. Always wipe the blade with some paper towel after you’ve sharpened it, holding the knife with the sharp end facing away from you. Your local butcher or kitchen store may be able to help you with professional sharpening if you prefer.
Other utensils
The following utensils are especially useful when making Indian recipes:
Rolling pin: Not all rolling pins are created equal. In fact, you can buy different rolling pins for different tasks. I’ve been to a kitchen shop in London that had a whole wall of rolling pins in various shapes and sizes! A traditional Indian rolling pin (see Figure 3-1) is slimmer than a Western one and comes with a round rolling board, which acts as a template to get the chapattis round as you roll them. The pin itself is tapered and light, which allows you to apply just the right amount of pressure to push the dough into a thin circle.
Grater: A stainless-steel box grater is easy to clean, has various-sized holes on each face, and is safe to hold and use.
Garlic crusher: I can’t stand garlic presses — they’re too fiddly to clean, and you lose half the garlic in the pressing compartment. Instead, I use a plastic twist garlic crusher. You’ll be able to mince fresh ginger in it, too. Best of all, it’s easy to clean under running water, and there’s no waste either.
Peeler: If you’ve tried peeling your vegetables with a paring knife, you’ll know how much safer it feels to do the job with a peeler. Look for a Y-shaped, fixed-blade peeler with a good grip. Choose a functional but inexpensive one that you can replace when it gets dull.
Ladles: You don’t need special ladles for Indian cooking, but my advice is to have a couple of ladles you use just for this purpose. If you use wooden or silicone ladles, the turmeric in curries will turn them yellow, and some even hold on to the aroma of spices.
Tea infuser: A round, mesh snap ball tea infuser is great to fill with spices and immerse into rice or curries while they’re cooking. Just lift out the infuser at the end of cooking and discard the spices.Photograph by Wendy Jo Peterson and Geri GoodaleFIGURE 3-1: An Indian rolling pin.
Sieve: You’ll need a sieve for washing rice and lentils and for rinsing beans from a can.
Colander: A colander is used for draining cooked rice in the sink or for washing larger vegetables such as cauliflower florets and potatoes.
Knowing Which Pots, Pans, and Griddles the Experts Use
You can cook your curry in a standard cooking pot or frying pan, so don’t rush out to buy any specialty equipment just yet. That said, having some Indian cookware makes the experience more fun and authentic. After you’ve tried the recipes and found the ones you love (and made some space in your kitchen), you may want to buy some of the items in this section.
Karahi
You may have seen small decorative versions of karahis — they’re often used as serving dishes in Indian restaurants. You can’t use decorative karahis for cooking. Instead, what you’re looking for are the larger cooking karahis (see Figure 3-2), which are somewhat similar to a wok in shape but are made of a thicker material. Some karahis have two small ear-shaped handles; others have none. Karahis are sold with a pair of tongs because the handles are made of metal and get as hot as the karahi itself! You can also buy a matching lid with your karahi — the lid has a lip that allows it to sit snug over the top, sealing in the steam.
I use a 14-inch (diameter) karahi for a curry for four people, but I also have a huge set of karahis in varying sizes all stacked up in my kitchen drawer. I also use them for frying, because the convex shape allows the oil to pool at the bottom, which means you can use much less oil than you would need in a frying pan. You can cook curries, dals, and dry vegetable dishes in karahis. And best of all, they’re dishwasher safe!
Photograph by Wendy Jo Peterson and Geri Goodale
FIGURE 3-2: Karahis.
Tava
A tava (see Figure 3-3) is a flat or slightly convex griddle for cooking chapattis, rotis, or other stovetop flatbreads on. You can choose between an iron tava that gets seasoned when used regularly or a nonstick one.
Dosa pan
Dosas are South Indian rice and lentil crêpes (see Chapter 17). They need to be spread thinly so they go a bit crisp while cooking. A dosa pan (see Figure 3-4) is flat and large (around 13 inches), and it doesn’t have sides, so you can spread the batter right up to the edge. The lack of sides also makes it easy to get under the dosa and flip it.
Pressure cookers
I don’t know of a single Indian kitchen that doesn’t have at least one pressure cooker. Typically, these are traditional pressure cookers that seal the food in and time the cooking process with a series of whistles. You may find recipes (though not in this book) that ask you to cook a curry for “three or four whistles.” Some modern pressure cookers, such as the Instant Pot, are electric.
Photograph by Wendy Jo Peterson and Geri Goodale
FIGURE 3-3: A tava.
Photograph by Wendy Jo Peterson and Geri Goodale
FIGURE 3-4: A dosa pan.
I love using pressure cookers! They cut down on cooking times and are very fuel efficient. The tight lid has a release vent and helps keep the steam locked in. Pressure cookers cook food using moisture, unlike ovens, which use dry heat. Many Western cooks have told me they’re frightened of pressure cookers blowing up, but honestly, modern ones are much safer than the ones that were used years ago.
You can buy pressure cookers in various sizes. I have about five in my kitchen — small ones for everyday cooking and the largest one for entertaining. I use them to cook meats, lentils, potatoes, and even rice. I’ve seen a large pressure