Kitchen Management

Yes that is what I call it! When I entered the kitchen about 8 months back, I had no clue what was going to be in store….actually NOTHING! My husband had a carton that said “Kitchen stuff” written on bold. When I opened it I found some interesting stuff in it. A nice aluminum wok which most Bengalis will vouch for, a few plastic containers with some contents in them which looked very weird so I threw all of it, a nice big soup mug, a coffee mug, a few plates, spoons and few other basic things. So when I took everything out and looked up at my husband looking at me , he knew that his weekend was gone. So today after 8 months I feel that this post will help a lot of people to organize their kitchens ( both married and unmarried) and also because I had to make a number of phone calls to my mother to figure the basic out. So here is a plan that I hope helps you.

Start with the basics - utensils. Go slow on the purchase as most of the things available in malls / hyper marts are expensive. Don’t try the fancy things. Go for the basics. 

Pic Courtesy : Pinterest 

1. Wok ( buy one normal and one non- stick)

2.       Pan ( for your quick Maggie, eggs etc)

3.       3 Sizes of milk pans ( pateela in Hindi) – 1 litre, 3 litre/4 litre and a bigger one

4.       Tawa for rotis ( if you make parathas and dosas then buy a nonstick version

5.       Chakla belan ( for rolling the rotis)

6.       Pressure cooker ( buy one size for now for dal etc) – 2 litres is good enough

7.       Some wooden spatulas and spoons.

8.       Buy a set of spoons, fork and knives.

9.       Chopping board ( a basic one would do )

10.   Tongs for roti and taking the hot utensils off the gas stove

11.   Buy a set of plastic containers that are microwave friendly ( helps you to keep food after the food is made and also you can use it for storage in fridge)

12.   Buy a set of spice containers ( I bought about 20 small bottles and 10 bigger bottles for spice and dal)

13.   Buy two big containers for rice and atta

14.   Buy some wipes as you will need them.

Pic Courtesy : Pintrest 

Once you have the utensils in place, go to a grocery store to pick up all your spices, lentils, rice etc. You will need to think though this so go to a departmental store/ hypermart as they have sections which will help you to figure your life out. I picked up the basic spices and two types of lentils with rice and wheat to begin with.  Ok so there is a little secret I did : I followed my day from waking up to sleeping and made a list of things I will need. Eg : Tea when I wake up, breakfast ( eggs and bread and milk) … so on and so forth. It helps to make a list before hand or else you can get lost

Next stop was at the veg/ non- veg section. Here I picked up the basic flavorings like onion, garlic, ginger and then just got 3 more veggies. I wanted to see if I could be regular with the cooking or not first.

Lastly, I could have missed a lot here, but this is a basic list. You keep adding as you go. I hope this helps you all out there. Enjoy setting up your kitchen as it’s the heart of your house and a well planned kitchen is always a delight for any cook!