Curry Fayre

Welcome to Curry Fayre! If the name wasn’t a giveaway, we really love curries, and we want to share our passion for this amazing cuisine with likeminded people. Making a homemade curry is easier than most assume, and fewer things are more rewarding (and taste better!) than a curry made from scratch.

While you can certainly make a homemade curry using your current kitchen utensils, there are some Indian cookware utensils available that will take your curries to a whole new level. Best of all, because Indian cuisine is so beloved around the world, it is easy to find Indian cooking equipment for a reasonable price!

Of course, knowing what Indian cooking utensils you need is not always obvious. Just like western cookware, Indian kitchen utensils are varied, with items offering different cooking techniques to produce authentic Indian food, from curries to chapati to idli.

To help you find the best cooking equipment for Indian cuisine, we have created an expansive guide covering all the most used items in an Indian kitchen. Here you will find a quick overview of the main cookware used to make authentic Indian food, with more detailed guides available for each item.

Why Buy Indian Cooking Equipment?

Before we dive into all the utensils used for making Indian food, you might be wondering why you should bother buying it in the first place. After all, we mentioned above that many of the utensils are similar to western cookware, so why waste the money if you can use stuff already in your kitchen?

An Authentic Indian Meal

The biggest reason to buy Indian equipment is simple – it makes your Indian food taste more authentic. When using the same equipment in your average Indian kitchen, your food immediately tastes better, resembling something you would order from an Indian restaurant or takeaway.

If you love a good curry – and who doesn’t – then a few pieces of Indian cookware will make your homemade curries taste like the real thing.

Convenience

There is a reason these kitchen tools are widespread in India – they make cooking food more convenient!

These tools are designed with specific Indian recipes and cooking methods in mind, so the entire process is generally much easier. For example, with a good Indian spice box you can have all your common Indian spices ready for use, with timing being key to getting that incredible flavour and aroma in your curry.

An idli maker lets you easily cook homemade idli (a popular breakfast snack in southern India), while a tandoor, while a tadka pan is the perfect size for frying up fresh chapati. Simply put, any Indian recipe you make becomes much easier to prepare using Indian cooking equipment.

Versatility

The great thing about most of these items on our Indian cookware guide is that they are all versatile. These devices are designed for Indian cooking, yet most can be used for all kinds of cuisine, meaning you will get a lot of use from them beyond curries and other Indian fare.

For instance, a pressure cooker is perfect for making various Indian meals but it can also make a fantastic roast or stew.

So, just because it is meant for Indian food doesn’t mean you won’t find other uses for it in the kitchen!

The Best Indian Cooking Equipment for Your Kitchen

So, what exactly is the best cooking equipment for your kitchen? It depends mostly on what you want to make, so check out some of the most popular items below, where you can find out what they are used for and whether they may be useful for your cooking.

Chakla Belan

A chakla belan is a small rolling mat and pin used to prepare fresh dough for Indian flatbread like roti (also called chapati). The circular mat makes it easier to roll round pieces of dough for frying, while the pin helps to roll out the dough to the necessary thickness.

Inexpensive and easy to use, this a great addition to your kitchen if you want to start making fresh Indian flatbreads to serve alongside your curry.

Chimta

Also called a chippio, a chimta is a type of tong that is used to flip Indian flatbreads as they cook in a pan. You can use this utensil to flip chapati and other flatbreads cooking in the pan, or use it for different methods, such as roasting on an open flame for a fluffier flatbread.

Idli Maker

As the name suggests, an idli maker is used to cook fresh idli, a popular rice snack served in southern India. Idli is cooked using the steaming method, so an idli maker automates most of this process, allowing for perfectly cooked idli without much effort.

You can also use this to steam other foods, like vegetables, so it has plenty of uses beyond just idli!

Indian Spice Box (Masala Dabba)

A staple in any Indian kitchen, an Indian spice box is a metal container with around seven smaller cups inside, each one holding the most widely used Indian spices. This lets you quickly add the spices in your Indian food, where timing can make or break the meal!

This may not seem essential but is incredibly convenient, keeping all your spices in one handy location and saving the hassle of rummaging through countless spice jars.

Jhaara

A jhaara is a type of slotted spoon that is used to flip foods as they fry. It is commonly used to flip snacks and desserts, which are often made from doughs that are fried and served alongside chutney and sauces.

Another affordable item that can be used as a general purpose strainer for other foods, it is a great investment to make if you want to experiment with lesser known fried Indian snacks.

Kadai

A kadai is a type of frying pan used throughout southern Asia, including India. Considered the Indian equivalent to a wok, the kadai is a versatile cooking pan with flat bottom and high sides, making it great for frying various Indian snacks and side dishes.

It can also be used to prepare meats, sauces, and other foods.

Mortar and Pestle

A manual grinder that is perfect for crushing fresh spices common in Indian meals, a mortar and pestele is an affordable yet invaluable utensil for preparing Indian food. An authentic curry tastes best with freshly crush and ground ingredients, and a mortar and pestle is one of the best tools for this job.

These are versatile pieces of cookware suitable for all kidns of grinding, be it herbs, spices, nuts, seeds etc.

Patila Pot

A must-have for an authentic Indian curry sauce, a patila pot is essentially a large, double-handled cooking pot. It comes with a large capacity that makes it ideal for making large batches of curry sauce. The metal base of the pan lets sauces stick without burning, helping to enhance the flavour and aroma of your sauces.

Paniyaram Pan

This pan is designed for making paniyaram, a side dish made from a batter of rice and black lentils. It looks like a frying pan with a lid, letting you steam the paniyaram until it is cooked to perfection. There are stovetop and electric models available, the latter automating much of the cooking process for you.

Pressure Cooker

A pressure cooker is a large pot with a sealed lid that creates enough steam pressure to cook food. Steaming has become incredibly popular for cooking Indian cuisine, as it cooks various mains, sides, and desserts in a fraction of the time compared to other cooking methods.

This is a great investment as it can be used for all kinds of cuisine, not just Indian.

Sifter

As the name suggests, this utensil is used to sift flours, typically those used to make Indian flatbreads. Unlike western sieves, it comes with a flat base that lets you sift and strain by moving a utensil back and forth.

Spice Grinder

An electric spice grinder is perfect for preparing fresh spices without any effort. Essentially a small food processor, it features rotating blades powered by an electric motor, which quickly grinds ingredients for Indian recipes.

It is much quicker to use than a mortar and pestle, although you have less control over how coarse a grind.

Tadka Pan

A small pan that is used to fry spices with oil, a technique common in various Indian recipes. A small tadka pan comes with a long handle, keeping your hand away from the frying oil and spices, which tends to splatter.

Tandoor Oven

A tandoor oven is used to make tandoori-style meats and bake naan breads. It functions similar to a barbeque or pizza oven, being quite large in size and made from either clay or metal. Meats are coated with a marinade, put on skewers, and left inside of the cooking chamber, which produces that trademark tandoori taste and texture.

Tawa

A tawa is a type of frying pan used to make roti or chapati. It is a very thin pan, usually made from aluminium or cast iron. Simply place your Indian flatbread dough onto the tawa, turn a few times, and then serve with your curry.