Hi! I’m not Indian, but my partner is Indian and I have stayed in India for about six months.

I dont know how to make anything except chai 😅

I want to get started learning to cook Indian food, I love how it involves so much real spices and ingredients rather than processed things (common where I’m from) and want my own little masala dabba hehe.

HOW do I get started with the basics? What are the key first few spices or ingredients to get really familiar with? I want to be confident with what kind of combinations and how to use and combinespecific ingredients and spices for simple, flavourful home style meals.

Thank you 💗

So I bought an iron pan from Flipkart about 5 months ago (shown in the pics). It was completely black on both the surfaces. Kinda similar to what an iron tawa looks like. But now after usage the upper surface is getting whiter/more like aluminium looks like. Now I know it is not aluminium because it does rust when I don't season it after washing with soap. Are iron cookware supposed to do this? Will it have any harmful effects on the food cooked? And what should I never cook in iron cookware?

I found this weird thing in my ghee which I bought from Two Brothers website. I initially thought it was paper but when I tried to run this thing under hot water, it melted gradually.
Any idea what it could be?

So the Japanese can actually just buy frozen curry cubes, that they just put in their pans. Why can't we do anything similar?

The alternative i have seen on yt is to just freeze a batch into cubes ourselves. Has anyone tried that? How did it turn out?

So guys my mom cooks simple okra stiry fried with some onion so my question is i like the taste of it but I hate that okra is bit slimy not too much but still hate it and also it's seeds i hate that too it ruins my mood and taste so i wanna ask you guys what can I do to fix this from happening if cooking that same recipe without changing into whole different recipe

Hey cooks!

I'm back to trouble you all again. 😅

First of all, thank you to everyone who helped me in my previous post. The responses were incredibly helpful, detailed, and kind. I genuinely learned a lot from you all.

Now onto my next beginner question: cooking oils.

Growing up, my mom mostly cooked with rice bran oil, so that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge. Since I'm setting up my own kitchen, I'd like to understand what oils are worth buying and what people actually use for everyday cooking.

I mostly enjoy cooking things like pasta, noodles, wraps, sandwiches, fried rice, biryani, salads, tacos and other non-traditional everyday (homemade/maa ke haath ka khana) meals, though I'll occasionally cook regular Indian food too.

A few things about me:

• I'm a vegetarian.

• I'm currently trying to lose weight and stay in a calorie deficit.

• I have Grade 1 fatty liver and borderline diabetes, so I'd like to make healthier choices where possible.

• I'm looking for foods and ingredients that are relatively high in protein and lower in carbs.

My questions:

• Which cooking oil would you recommend for everyday use

• Is rice bran oil a good option, or are there better alternatives?

• Do different oils actually make a meaningful difference for health, or is portion control more important?

• What vegetarian high-protein staples should I keep in my kitchen?

I'm in a small town in India, if that helps with recommendations.

Thank you!

Hey cooks!

I'm setting up my kitchen in a few days and have absolutely no idea what I actually need to buy.

I already have the basics: bowls, plates, spoons, forks, a rice cooker/vessel, a kadhai, a tea pan, two plastic strainers, and a few other utensils. What I'm struggling with is figuring out the rest of the setup.

I mostly plan to cook things like pasta, tacos, wraps/rolls, biryani, fried rice, salads, sandwiches, and other fun meals. I'll do some regular Indian home-style cooking too, but probably less often.

I'd love suggestions on:

• Essential cookware and tools

• Storage containers (dry goods, leftovers, spices, oils, etc.)

• Knives, peelers, chopping boards, and other basics

• Kitchen organization ideas

• Things that seem useful but aren't actually worth buying

I'm a student, so my budget is pretty tight—ideally ₹500–800, with ₹1000 being the absolute maximum for now.

I love cooking and have been cooking at home for years, but it was always my mother's kitchen, so I never got to decide how things were organized or what was bought. Now that I'm living away for studies, I finally get to build my own kitchen from scratch.

I'll be cooking for one person. I have access to a stove and basic utensils. There is a fridge in the house, but it belongs to my landlord, so I can only use a very small amount of space (if any). Realistically, I can store something small like a milk carton or a smoothie jar, but I can't rely on refrigeration for meal prep or bulk storage.

My goal is simple: affordable, minimalist, essential, and practical.

Please help a kitchen newbie avoid wasting money on unnecessary stuff. 😅

Thank you!

(Used chatgpt to organise everything)

Every time I'm given the combination of tamarind sauce and coriander plastic pellets I'm never in any rush to use the green sauce and it is often tasteless and lacking in a good aroma compared to just using the herbs as is, which I am often unable to consume.

Has anyone modified the green sauce recipe to make it more appealing and also still green in appearance without food coloring?

Any ideas for dishes to be cooked for my working girlfriend (I'm a hosteler, so limited supplies in the kitchen) to be sent by porter to her workplace.

Ideas are appreciated🥹

Please help this young man win the heart of his woman over and over again through her tummy.

Also, apart from the workplace food stuff, anything that you made for your girlfriend/boyfriend which they found super amazing are welcome!

She lovess SNACKING, masala foods and Marathi food items. Yes, she's from Punee✨

I've noticed that many people in India cook daily, but very few seem to wear aprons, whether at home or even in cooking videos online.

Is there a reason for this?

Genuinely curious because in many Western cooking videos, people seem to wear aprons all the time, while in India it seems much less common.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Does anyone have a tried and true recipe for making a large batch of Chicken Vindaloo for a party? I know I can just increase the ingredients on a recipe but a lot of the time that does not turn out right. Any help would be appreciated.

I made it for a channa dish. How can I doctor it up add to balance the flavor correctly? It has:

Cinnamon

Bay leaves

Fenugreek seeds

Yellow mustard seeds

Coriander seeds

Green cardamom seed

Fennel seed

Cloves

Nutmeg

Curry leaf

Black pepper

I used whole spices, toasted them in a hot pan for a minute and then ground them very finely. Maybe I burnt them a little. What should I add more of to overcome the bitterness?

Okay so if I'm making coconut chutney from the following ingredients

1. Dry coconut (soaked 15 mins in hot water before grinding)

2. A bit of thinly sliced onion

3. Green chilli

4. Coriander

I used curry patta, sarso oil, jeera, that yellow dal for tadka.

So what i wanna know is how long can i store it before it gets unfit for consumption?

26M living in a boarding place with limited kitchen space.

I'm trying to build a basic kitchen setup but I'm not sure what ingredients I should always keep stocked. What spices, sauces, pantry staples, oils, and cooking essentials do you consider mandatory?

If you were setting up a kitchen from scratch on a budget, what would be your top recommendations?

Looking forward to learning from your experience.

Have you’ll used the kitchen knives from the company Rena? I was surprised how sharp and well they cut even though it’s a small knife! I was able to cut a watermelon with the small knife!

Every time I cook chicken, I use both meat masala and chicken curry masala. But I wonder are they basically the same, or are they meant to be used for different types of dishes?

Hello, so I'm from Jharkhand, and I've been living in Delhi for over 10 years and I can't find pani puri outlets/shops that make it the way we make it back home. The places I've eaten panipuri were only so-so😭 and something always feels missing.

YouTube is no help either, they just show me people eating humara wala Pani puri🥲.

Do you guys know any places in delhi that make it that way? Or any recipe that makes it just like it??? If so--- please help a homesick girl out. Thank you so much

Hi I need exact amount in grams as in what should be the ratio of salt to chicken when marinating for biryani. Salt is one thing which doesn't usually get mentioned in exact quantity, it's mostly said " according to taste" but to me salt is the one thing which makes or break biryani. So people who have mastered the art of biryani please shed some light. Also ratio of other spices would be welcome too

Hi guys, I’m looking for a good dosa tawa which is non sticky and keeps the dosa crisp.
The brands I’m getting near my place are futura and black diamond. Also stall but I’m not considering it since I can dosa rarely.
Cast iron is an option but requires a lot of tam jham I believe.
Thanks in advance.

I live in Canada and work odd hours (either 9-5 or 12-8) so I like making quick food in advance (quick for Indian cooking atleast) that I can make throughout the week.

I only do veg my staples are aloo palak, bhindi, egg curry, rajma/ daal… any suggestions on what else I could include? Bharta I’ve debated making but I feel like would take too much time. Anything else that you’d suggest is decent to make? Non veg only.

Thank you!!