Patila Guide

Buying Indian cooking equipment can be overwhelming at first. With so many different utensils to choose from, knowing what items are best for enhancing your homemade Indian food is not always obvious.

Certain Indian cookware is more well known than others. You may already have an idea of what an Indian spice box is or how you use a kadai to make delicious Indian food, yet there are some Indian utensils that are more overlooked than others.

The patila is an example of an excellent piece of Indian cookware that is often-overlooked when adding utensils to your kitchen. However, this inexpensive cooking utensil is certainly worth buying if you want to seriously enhance your homemade curries!

What is a Patila?

A patila is basically an Indian cooking pot. It resembles a conventional western cooking pot, although is typically much larger in capacity. This is because the patila is typically used to make sauces, which in Indian cuisine means one thing – making curry!

While designs often vary, a traditional Indian patila pot is made from a lightweight metal like aluminium or stainless steel, featuring two riveted handles at either side to carry the pot. Again, the pot is designed for making large batches of curry sauces, so a good patila should be much larger than your typical cooking pot.

Reasons to Buy a Patila

A patila is a great buy for anyone that enjoys making Indian curries at home. The pot comes with a massive capacity – usually several litres – making it a great option for making large batches of curry for the family. There are also smaller sized patila available for those making fewer portions or if you are short on storage space.

Aluminium patila pots are often regarded as the best choice for making a curry. This is because the metal allows some of the sauce to stick to the base of the pan without burning. You can then use this stickier sauce at the base of the pot to seriously enhance the flavour profile of your curry – seriously, you need to try it to see how much better it can make a curry!

Moreover, a patila is just a great cooking pot for a kitchen. Its not only suitable for curries, but also all sauces, stews, soups, and much more

How to Choose the Best Patila

As a patial is a standing piece of Indian cooking equipment, you won’t need to look for too much when buying one. The obvious thing to consider is the size of the pot. Make sure it is large enough for the usual portions you make – someone making curry for an entire family will need a larger pot than someone making one for just a few people.

Also, be sure to consider the materials used to make the patila. As mentioned above, steel and aluminium are the most common options, the latter being the best for creating an authentic curry. Steel is more robust and will work well with other types of cuisine, although aluminium pots are also great for making lots of varied meals.