36 Equipment
"The kitchen sa laboratory, and everything that happens there has to do with science. lt's biology, chemistry, physics. Yes,
there's history Ye
there's artistry. Yes, to all of that. But what happened there, what actually happens to the food is all science." - Alton
Brown
Kitchen equipment is an instrument or tool that eases that complicated or sophisticated. The
kitchen equipment are nowadays replaced bytraditional
in smooth functioning in the kitchen. When it comes
to the Indian kitchen, these are quite
simple and not the ancy,
advanced and contemporary equipment.
Description of Various Equipment
Churner
This is simply achurner mostly made up of wood, used for
Is churning buttermilk. It
manually rotated between the palms for churning liquid food,
making buttermilk. mostly curds for
Alternate names: Mathani in North India, Ghutni in Bengal, Kavam in Andhra Pradesh.
Mortar and Pestle
This is an equipment used for pounding spices. It is
the market is flooded with mortar usually made of iron, but nowadays
and pestle made of marble, stone,
brass, and iron. bamboo, steel,
Alternate names: Hamamn Dasta in North India, Rolu
Khalur Dula in Kashmir, Ural Ulakka in Kerala, Pothram in Andhra Pradesh,
Danda in Punjatb, and Haman Dista in Bengal. Khal Bhatta in Maharashtra, Dori
Sil-batta
Sil is an extremely hard and firm rough
stone slab piece and batta is a small, rough,
conical or cylindrical stone. It is used for making
ingredients to be ground are placed on the sil and then paste
rubbed
of various masala. The
by the batta by forward
and backward movement with subsequent
pressure
water or vinegar. Both the sil-batta have to be with little addition of liquid like
use to provide a well-defined rough surtace to chiseled at regular intervals after some
ease proper grinding.
Alternate names: Sil Nora in Bengal, Varn in Goa, Goshpar Kaen in
warwanta in Maharashtra, Sil Pata in Bengal, and Siloutu in Kashmir, Pata
Uttarakhand.
Equipment 277
Chakla-belan
dais a mund marble or wooden platfornm used tor rolling roti on it.
and ftted
lindricallv shaped with handle and used to
ormarble. Some nolling pins can move on an axis roll oti. It is made of
Chauki Belan in the connecting the two handles.
northern states of lndia.
Eguipmentfor Cutting
semi-ciular curved blade atfixed on a wooden
long
so that platform.
R hasa is held bv the toot with sufficient The
athrn
skthing. ltt is used for cutting almostpressure, it doesn't movewooden
tting anything likeraw mangoes, while
on, It works like a sharp knife. In sone
and so but versions,
others it can move flexibly the vegetables,
and semicireular blade
and is fixed in
Nath.
touch the wooden
India, Bothi in Bengal, Pahsul in
Dantri in North
Maharashtra, Thuruvammai in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Veeli
Chanesoo
i in Uttarakhand Daraati in Rajasthan, and Daatuli or
urasi
as a pincer. It is used for
lane. It is also available in various versions.
holding hot vessels while removing
them from
AlhTate names: Sharashi in Bengal.
Chimta
ta literally means tongs. It is a
flat,
smooth-edged, long metal
both ends, and folded over intongs.
of steel or iron that is pointed at It is a flat
nsed for picking up live coals and for turning the middle. It is
over bread on tawa. It is also used for
baking chapati and plulka on the flame,
Kadhai
Itis a deep concave utensil made of brass, iron,
steel or aluminium. It has two handles
placed diametrically opposite near the rim for
t is curved at the bottom and very wide at holding the kadhai with proper grip.
moon. the
is mostly used for deep frying but is alsotop, rather appeasing like a half
preparations as well. used for preparing certain other
Alterate names: Cheena Chatti in Kerala, and
Korai in Bengal.
Patila/Bhagona
S the most common used utensil or cooking pot in the kitchens of India. It is
ymade of
aluminium, brass, copper
tat rimmed base. It is used for various and stainless steel. It has straight side
r braising purposes like boiling, stewing steaming
Altenate names: Thapeli in Gujarat and Toup in Uttar Pradesh.
Deg/rumThús isDegchiround
a
to
facilitate bottomed cooking pot that has a slightly narrow neck and a wide
an
Dum cooking effective grip. The shape of this utensil is also suited for Mughlai
Altemate names: Hari in Bengal, and Degul and Degcha in Kashmir.
Raatl rshapdooking pot available in avaried range of size. The
sumsil is ked on slow flame that adds to its natural and characteristic
a and taste hv peserving all to the aximum extent. It generally has
copper,
tthHwhhesus that tK does nÍt stick to the tandi. It is nmade of
anNm NiNm. and so on, Coyer of the handi is known as sharu.
lagan
a shallow utensil of
t s a ni opr utensil with aslightly oncave bottomn. It is
or poultry especially when
lk ight. It is used tor wking various tvpes of nents used in Mughlai cuisine.
the aliation ot heat is fom top and lottom, It is mostly
Perforated Spoon
is an yuipment used during deep-frying any item in a kadhui. It is simply a spoon
with perforation to let the oil or liquid drain through it. It is usually made up of
standess stel. The larger version of it is known as cBani and is used in bulk cooking.
Alkrmate names: Pauni in North India. Jhanjri in Bengal, Kadchi in Rajasthan, Pannah
or Jhanna in Uttarakhand, and Chakni in Bengal.
Ladle
It is a round shared spoon with a long handle. The basic use of this equipment is to
rtion arious curries, dal or any other dishes with a liquid consistency. It is generally
made of stainles stel.
Alternate ramS Hatha in Bengal, Chancha in Rajasthan, and Dyadu or Kadchalu in
Uttarakhand.
Kadchi
This is a flat lade made up of stainless steel. It is used for stirring the vegetables or
any other prepration while cooking. It is also used in shallow frying any items. Its
larger version is known as Palta and is used in bulk cooking.
Alkernate nans Khunti in Bengal.
Parat
It is a deen, lat and wide-rimmed round tray made of brass or stainless steel used
for kneading dough. It is made of brass or stainless steel. It is also used as serving
tray during wedding tunctions.
Thali
It isa metai plate with or without compartments used for serving food. It is also
to keep the mis-en -place. used
Alternate names: Thala in Bengal, and Thakuluu in Utarakhand.
Equlpment 279
Katori
Small et.al bovl used tor serving individual portion of curries, dal, rita and swects.
It is availabie in different sizes and also used in the kitchen for storing different pastes.
Tawa
| is a slightly curved concave shaped cast iron griddle, with or without a handle. It is
enerally made up ofiron but today many options are also available in various sizes.
Cenerallv, the tawa which is used in homes is of size ranging from 7 to 10 inches in
diameter. This is used tor making roti or dapati, phulka and paratha.
The tawas which are used commercially are bigger in size (15" to 30"). This tawa is
also much thicker as compard to the other one. The larger surface allows the food
to be moved to the periphery. The food left at the periphery remains hot for a long
time. Pav Bhaaji and tawa vegetables are made using this tava.
Knife
t is one of the most used basic kitchen equipnment and is used for cutting vegetables,
meat. fish, chicken, and so on into pieces. There are many varieties of knife available
in the market, varying in sizes and shapes.
Peeler
As the name suggest, it is used for peeling skin of the vegetables.
Winnow
It is atraditional equipment used for separating the grains from the chaff. It is used
dexterously with perfect left and right movement of the hands in order to remove the
chaff from the grains.
Alternate names: Soop in Uttar Pradesh.
Culinary Trivia: Dung Cakes
Thev are made from the byproducts of animal husbandry and are traditionally used as fuel in India for making food in a
domestic hearth called a cdullha. They are made by hand by vìllage women and are traditionally made from cow or buffalo
dried.
dung. These cakes of cow dung are moulded by bare hands with a curvature to keep them stuck to the walls. Once
they are put in a pile and covered with thatch called bituada.
