Building an Indian Pantry | Stocking Pantry Essential Items

I was very paranoid about cooking the first few days after moving to USA since I had not tried cooking entirely by myself before marriage (always had mom or the help around).  I had to start from scratch here on my own, and what more - I did not come prepared with anything for the kitchen: no recipes, no list of things required in the kitchen, no tips, no experience, and basically NOTHING.

My first challenge was to stock the pantry with essential pantry items.  Then as I began experimenting more dishes, I started building my Indian pantry with spices, grains, flours, lentils, seeds, powders, and so on.  Since then, I have been gradually stocking up items to my pantryunderstanding the basics, the essentials, the substitutions, the extras and unnecessaries, learning about a new ingredient, challenging myself to cook a new dish, making mistakes and learning from them.


Here are some spices, grains, flours, lentils, seeds, powders, etc from my kitchen with their English and Hindi names.  These are probably just 5% of the entire stock in my kitchen.  I will add more, gradually.


Pantry Essentials for the Indian Pantry (and beyond…)

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Black Pepper Powder | Hindi: Kali Mirch Powder
Indian Pantry Essentials: Black Pepper Powder | Hindi: Kali Mirch Powder

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Cinnamon Sticks | Hindi: Dalchini
Indian Pantry Essentials: Cinnamon Sticks | Hindi: Dalchini

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Beaten Rice or Flattened Rice | Hindi: Poha
Indian Pantry Essentials: Beaten Rice or Flattened Rice | Hindi: Poha

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Cloves | Hindi: Laung
Indian Pantry Essentials: Cloves | Hindi: Laung

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Crushed Red Pepper or Red Chilli Flakes
Indian Pantry Essentials: Crushed Red Pepper or Red Chilli Flakes

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Fennel Seeds | Hindi: Saunf
Indian Pantry Essentials: Fennel Seeds | Hindi: Saunf

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Green Cardamom | Hindi: Hari Elaichi
Indian Pantry Essentials: Green Cardamom | Hindi: Hari Elaichi

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Bengal Gram or Split Chickpeas | Hindi: Chana Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Bengal Gram or Split Chickpeas | Hindi: Chana Dal


Spusht | Split Pigeon Peas | Hindi: Toor Dal, Arhar Dal, Tuvar Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Pigeon Peas | Hindi: Toor Dal, Arhar Dal, Tuvar Dal


Spusht | Split Skinned Yellow Mung | Hindi: Dhuli Moong Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Skinned Yellow Mung | Hindi: Dhuli Moong Dal

Spusht | Green Gram or Whole Green Mung Bean | Hindi: Sabut Moong Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Green Gram or Whole Green Mung Bean | Hindi: Sabut Moong Dal

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Nigella Seeds | Hindi: Kalonji
Indian Pantry Essentials: Nigella Seeds | Hindi: Kalonji

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Peanuts | Hindi: Moongfalli
Indian Pantry Essentials: Peanuts | Hindi: Moongfali

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Pearl Sago or Tapioca Pearls | Hindi: Sabudana
Indian Pantry Essentials: Pearl Sago or Tapioca Pearls | Hindi: Sabudana

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Red Kidney Beans | Hindi: Rajma
Indian Pantry Essentials: Red Kidney Beans | Hindi: Rajma

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Soybean | Hindi: Soyabean
Indian Pantry Essentials: Soybean | Hindi: Soyabean

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Coriander Seeds| Hindi: Sabut Dhaniya
Indian Pantry Essentials: Coriander Seeds| Hindi: Sabut Dhaniya

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Split Green Gram | Hindi: Moong Chilka or Chilkewali Moong Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Green Gram | Hindi: Moong Chilka or Chilkewali Moong Dal

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Split Orange Lentils or Red Lentils | Hindi: Masoor Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Orange Lentils or Red Lentils | Hindi: Masoor Dal

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Split Skinned Black Gram | Hindi: Dhuli Urad Dal or Safed Urad Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Split Skinned Black Gram | Hindi: Dhuli Urad Dal or Safed Urad Dal

Spusht | Indian Pantry Essentials | Whole Brown Masoor | Hindi: Sabut Masoor Dal
Indian Pantry Essentials: Whole Brown Masoor | Hindi: Sabut Masoor Dal


(to be continued...)
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4 comments:

  1. waiting for more... sometimes despite being Indian (southie to be specific), I get very confused with the dals... very informative... :)

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  2. love this with an Indian hubby we have a big cupboard with spices, will share great post for folks

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  3. Great info in a single post, waiting more.

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  4. good work nisha...will surely check ma pantry

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