Kitchen Items for an Indian Grad Student - II

Here comes the tough part - choosing what food items you're going to take with you. While there are some mandatory spices that you must carry, the remainder of the space is yours to fill up!

Spices and Herbs:

• Sambhar powder
• Rasam powder
• Jeera powder - 200 gm
• Red chili powder - 200 gm
• Turmeric powder - 100 gm
• Coriander powder - 100 gm
• Black pepper powder -100 gm
• Chhole Masala - can be used for making rajma as well
• Royal Garam Masala
• Kitchen King Masala - used to make kurma
• Pav Bhaji Masala - this is one of the easiest dishes to make with any available vegetables
• Tandoori Chicken Masala - can be used for potatos or paneer also
• Shahi Biriyani Masala - an all-in-one dish that doesn't require sides
• Dried red chili pepper
• Mustard seeds
• Urad dhal
• Jeera seeds
• Coriander seeds 
• Fenugreek seeds
• Black pepper seeds
• Anise
• Cardamom
• Clove
• Saunf
• Kasoori methi
• Asafoetida powder
• Cinnamon bark pieces
• Sesame seeds [Optional]
• Splitz tamarind concentrate 
• Smith and Jones ginger-garlic paste pouch

Note:

• Do not carry curry leaves with you in any form to be on the safe side.
• Make sure everything is completely dry and stored in a sealed packing.
• A palm-sized Ziploc bag of spices is sufficient for 6-9 months, if cooking for 1 person
• The tamarind concentrate an ginger-garlic paste are best to use in the pouches with a screw-on enclosing. This preserves them longer and you don't need to worry about using a clean, dry spoon each time you need you use some.

Apart from the above spices and herbs, I also took a variety of ready-to-eat mixes. These are the brands that I've tried:

• Parampara Mixes - I've tried the chicken curry and it's really easy to make! 
• Ching's Secret - The schezwan chutney is a must. They also sell 10/- powders for making fried rice, hakka noodles, chicken 65, vegetable manchurian and chili paneer which are very convenient. 
• Maggi noodles
• MTR - The puliogare mix is really good
• Chef's Basket - They sell very good mixes with noodles, seasoning and spices.

You do not need to take rice, atta or dhal. You can purchase it on arrival. Other miscellaneous items that I took:

• Papad - you can microwave these for 10-30 seconds for a quick snack/side dish for rice.
• Pickle
• Pickled rice mix - for lemon rice, coriander rice, mint rice, etc.
• Coconut milk powder
• Garlic rice powder/ dhal rice powder
• Soyatein

Get a few things (Maggi/ Knorr noodles) that you can make easily with one pan for the initial few days. 

It is advisable to get scrubbing sponges for cleaning the dishes as well. Brands like Scotch-Brite are expensive. However, you can get other brands at the DollarTree.

Check out a list of pots and pans to take with you!

Kitchen Items for an Indian Grad Student - I

 A few of my friends have been asking me what they should take with them when they go abroad for the first time so I've prepared a list of things that I took and refined it a bit.

Let's start with the pots and pans:-

Everything that I bought was from Prestige or Futura. Here's my exhaustive list:

• Prestige 3-Liter Clip-On Cooker
• Futura 1.5 Liter Saucepan
• Prestige Die Cast Plus Tawa with Heat Indicator
• Futura 3.75 Liter Deep-Fry Pan (Kadai) - I recommend getting a non stick kadai instead of this though
• Stainless steel rice pot that fits inside the cooker with a lid
• 1 rolling pin and board for making roti
• 1 knife
• 1 peeler
• 4 spoons
• 2 forks
• 1 shallow serving spoon
• 1 deep serving spoon
• 1 spatula (for flipping roti/dosa)
• 1 tumbler/cup
• 1 spill-proof lunch box
• 1 plate (microwavable)
• Spare parts for the cooker (gasket, weight, etc.)
• 1 vegetable chopper [Optional]
• 1 cutting board [Optional]
• 1 hot pot clip handle [Optional]
• 1 sieve [Optional]
• 1 idli tray that fits in the cooker [Optional]

Stainless steel pot that fits inside the cooker with lid

Important Notes:

• Everything must be INDUCTION compatible!
• The stainless steel pot is VERY convenient for cooking rice and dhal at the same time and not getting the cooker dirty. Simply keep the rice in the pot with the required amount of water and the dhal on the top tray with water, turmeric, and oil. Add water to the pressure cooker, put the pot in and cook as you normally would cook the rice and both items would be ready in no time. The dhal does not spill and the cooker does not get dirty if the pot is correctly placed with the right amount of ingredients.
• If you are short on space, you can leave out the sauce pan and the kadai. The pressure cooker can be used as a kadai/sauce pan as well. These are easily available abroad.
• You can get spoons, forks, plates, plastic containers, salt and pepper shakers, cups, cutting board sheets at the DollarTree. Do not buy a knife here. 
• It is not advisable to use plastic items while heating food. I recommend buying a 10-piece Pyrex set on arrival. 
• The vegetable chopper is convenient if cooking in bulk. Otherwise, it is a hassle to clean.

To know about what spices and food items to take, check out Part - II!

Recipes

Indian Dishes:

• South Indian:
• Main Dish:
• Rice
• South Indian Parota
• Chettinad Kozhi Biriyani [Chicken Biriyani]
• Gravy Items: 
• Paruppu [Yellow Dhal]
• Rasam [Tamarind Curry]
• Sambar [Vegetable and Dhal Curry]
• Thakaali Kuzhambu [Chettinad Tomato Curry]
• Mushroom Chalna [Mushroom Curry]
• Chicken Chalna [Chicken curry]
• Chettinadu Meen Kuzhambu [Chettinad Fish Curry]
• Kothukari [Minced Mutton Curry] 
• Muttai Kuzhambu [Egg Curry]
• Prawn Vathakal [Prawn Stir-Fry]
• Prawn Kuzhambu [Prawn Curry]
• Dry Items:
• Urulaikizhangu Vathakal [Potato Stir-Fry]
• Carrot Poriyal [Stir-fry]
• Red Soya Beans Poriyal [Stir-fry]
• Green Beans Poriyal [Stir-fry]
• Peerkangai Porikari [Ridge Gourd side dish]
• Chenai Kizhangu Varuval [Elephant Foot Yam Fry] 
• Chepankizhangu Varuval [Colocasia Root Fry]
• Meen Varuval [Fish Fry] 
• Kari Vathakal [Mutton Fry]
• Butter Chicken Fry
• North Indian:
• Main Dish:
• Chapathi [Indian Wheat Flat Bread] 
• Gravy Items:
• Baingan Bharta [Eggplant Gravy]
• Kadai Paneer
• Paneer Butter Masala 
• Chana Masala [Chickpea Gravy]
• Dry Items:
• Jeera Aloo [Cumin Seed and Potato Stir-Fry]

American Dishes:

• Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Fluffy Pancakes

French Dishes:

• Crêpes

Seeraga Samba Rice vs Sona Masoori Rice vs Basmati Rice

Today I'll be writing about the difference between Seeraga Samba rice, Sona masoori rice and Basmati rice. 

As you can see in the picture below, Seeraga Samba is the shortest of the three. Sona Masoori is medium sized and Basmati is the longest rice. Sona Masoori doesn't have a strong scent but the other two are very aromatic. Basmati is mainly grown in the northern parts of India. Whereas, the other two are grown in the southern Indian states. All three rices are exported worldwide. 

Seeraga Samba is mainly used for making biriyani and fried rice. Sona Masoori is used for making the rice that you have with paruppu, sambar, rasam, etc. Basmati rice is used for dum biriyani and jeera rice. The usage of the rice varieties varies according to people's taste. Do experiment and taste the difference! :)

South Indian Meals [Tamilian]

South Indian Meal

A typical South Indian meal is served on a banana leaf. Here, I will explain the typical Tamilian meal. It starts with the vegetable side dishes. They can be anything from puttu urulai kilangu, carrot poriyal, green beans poriyal, red soya beans poriyal, peerkangai porikari, etc. At least 3 vegetables are served generally. Along with this comes the pickle and salt. Then the rice is served with ghee. The first serving of rice is with paruppu. The vegetables and the appalam is eaten along with the rice. Then comes the rasam. The rasam has a slightly sour taste and can be taken as soup as well. It can be eaten with the paruppu rice too. After the rasam, we go for the sambar. Mix the sambar with rice and ghee and just enjoy the delicious South Indian flavor! Following the sambar, comes the payasam which is a sweet dish that is made from milk, vermicelli, and sago. Then comes the curd and rice which is eaten with pickle and more milagai. What a scrumptious meal!

The best way to try this food is to attend a Tamilian wedding or to make it at home yourself!  Check out the recipes for more information. :)

Kadalai Paruppu [Chana Dhal] vs Thuvaram Paruppu [Toor Dhal]

Kadalai paruppu and Thuvaram paruppu may be difficult to distinguish for some. So here, I will describe the difference between both the dhals and what they are used for. 

Let's start off with the difference in appearance. Although both the dhals are yellow and semi-spherical, there are ways to distinguish them. Kadalai paruppu is bigger and fatter in size. Thuvaram paruppu is smaller and flatter. Kadalai paruppu is also more yellow than thuvaram paruppu. See the images below for reference.

Left - Kadalai paruppu, Right - Thuvaram paruppu

The yellow dhal that comes in a typical Tamilian meal is made with thuvaram paruppu. This is also used to make sambhar. Kadalai paruppu is mainly used to make pakoda, poli, vegetable side dish, and kadalai paruppu kolumbu with raw banana.

Hand Operated Vegetable Chopper Review

I bought a vegetable chopper on Flipkart a while ago and thought it's about time that I review it. Its the Euromax Swift Chopper. I bought it for 959/-. It's also available under different names. I got the lime green color chopper. It comes in a neat cubical box and has 16 pieces in it.

The Swift Chopper

16 Pieces - From top left: attachable handle, the main container, cap for the pouring hole, washing attachment, lid for spinning, lid for grater attachments, 5 grater attachments, handle for cranking, vegetable holder (to be used while grating), tri-blade with protective cover, egg beater attachment, the egg separator that fits on the lid (not shown above)

The chopper has the instructions on the box but there's no manual included. However, it is quite easy to assemble. First, attach the handle and the cap for the pouring hole so that nothing flies/spills out while chopping. The blade is put on the center protrusion in the main container. The handle for cranking is attached onto the lid for spinning. You cut the vegetable of your choice into medium size pieces and drop it into the container. It can take 2-3 onions at a time. Twist the lid on to the container. Now start rotating the handle clockwise. If it doesn't rotate, crank in the other direction for a quarter turn and rotate clockwise again. It requires barely any effort to turn the handle. Keep turning until you get the desired size of chopped vegetables. 

 Chopped Onion - Took only 5-6 rotations!

 Finely chopped beetroot

The chopper saves so much time in cooking, especially if you're a slow vegetable cutter. I've cut onion, beetroot, tomato, and coconut until now. The blade is very sharp and doesn't juice the tomato. The duration for which we chop determines the size of the pieces. 

Another attachment is the washing attachment. The vegetables can be cut and put in the container with this attachment and spun for washing. For drying, simply pour all the water out and spin. 

The egg beater attachment is a very useful tool. I used it for making omelettes and beating the egg whites for waffles. It requires no effort at all and is extremely useful when you don't have an electric beater.

Beating the egg for Omelette

Coming to the grater attachments, there are 5 attachments provided. One of them slices vegetables, another one cuts the vegetables into large strips. There are 2 graters - one large and one small. There is one more attachment as well - I'm not sure what it's used for yet. This is just like any other typical grater. There are only 2 rows for the grating so it's a bit slow and you can't grate much at once. The attachments also don't fit snugly into the lid. They protrude just a little bit but it's manageable. 

Pros:

• Quick and easy to use
• Chops vegetables in any size you want
• Beats eggs very well and very fast
• Doesn't require electricity

Cons:

• Chopped vegetables aren't the same shape.
• Need to clean many pieces of the chopper, depending on usage.
• The egg overflows from the container if we beat with too many eggs - I put 6 egg whites and that overflowed even with the cap on the pouring place.

Overall Rating: 4/5

This chopper definitely reduces the vegetable cutting time drastically. It's an excellent device and very simple to use. It may be a hassle to clean but I think the time it saves for chopping compensates for that. It's definitely a great tool to have around the kitchen. It seems much more durable than the string based chopper. I would definitely recommend it if you are a student and want to cook fast or if you are learning how to cook.