Pulses, grains and dairy are essential to many Indian dishes and worth keeping on hand in your pantry. Here are eight essential staples that will add an authentic touch to home-cooked Indian meals:
Ghee:
Toasted or clarified butter, ghee has a higher smoke point than regular butter, making it ideal for the Indian cooking technique of tempering spices. Toasting the spices produces a nutty flavour and an aromatic cooking fat that you can use to saute other ingredients.
In North Indian cuisine, dishes that feature butter are called makhani.
Lentils:
Split red and black lentils are common in Indian cooking…red lentils also known as masoor dal, are salmon pink and quickly cook down into a soupy consistency. While black lentils, are closely related to mung beans and are used as an ingredient in the batter for South Indian idlis and dosas.
Coconut milk:
This is primarily used in South Indian dishes such as coconut crepes. If the coconut milk separates, the fatty top can be skimmed off for use as a coconut oil, which is a popular frying oil in the Subcontinent.
Chickpeas:
Also known as garbanzo beans or chana, chickpeas are typically sold dried and feature in the popular Punjabi dish, chana masala. Chickpeas are also sold split, as chana dal, and as a flour called besan or gram.
This flour is used in kadhi (a yoghurt and turmeric soup), as a breading for vegetables and in papadums.
Basmati rice:
Basmati is used in rice dishes such as biryani and can be served as a side dish for almost any Indian recipes.
Paneer:
Paneer is a crumbly curd cheese with similar flavour and texture to feta. It holds its shape well, so can be cubed or fried. In North Indian cuisine, paneer is often substituted for meat to make dishes vegetarian. It is also the star of popular dishes like palak paneer and matar paneer.
Chutney:
This tangy-sweet, jam-like condiment can feature a variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs. It is typically served alongside samosas and dosas. You can buy mint or mango chutney at the supermarket, but it is not hard to make your own.
Pickles:
Indian pickles, known as achaar, are unique in that they typically feature oil (mustard oil in the north and sesame oil in the south). Whether made from lemons, limes, mango or carrots, Indian pickles are fermented and packed with spices.
