The pantry staples for all your Indian cooking needs

You'll want to have these ingredients in your pantry to cook great Indian food.

Indian cuisine is a glorious array of vegetables, meat, grains and spices. Source: Andrew Dorn

Open an Indian pantry and be greeted by a rainbow of spices, each with their own aroma and purpose in Ayurveda. All you’ve got to do is balance those flavours right in order to concoct the perfect base for any curry.

One of the main staples of an Indian pantry? The golden spice that stains fingertips yellow: turmeric.

Chef and owner of Melbourne's Enter Via Laundry, Helly Raichura, says on SBS Food show The Cook Up. "Turmeric is almost in all dishes. It's something that we love using and I don't think we can survive without it."

Turmeric is almost in all dishes. It's something that we love using and I don't think we can survive without it.

When used, turmeric has to be "cooked down", according to Raichura. "It has to be cooked along with the oil, or if you want you can add a little bit of water to it and then cook it with the oil, but it has to be cooked down."

Turmeric root is commonly sold dried and powdered, but can be found fresh at specialty grocers.

Spice things up with chilli

Did you know that chillies were introduced to India by the Portuguese in the 16th Century? Before this, the nation’s people made use of black pepper to add piquant characteristics to their food. Fast forward to now, and Indians from many regions of the country incorporate green chillies in their meals (even on top of pizzas).

Pea stuffed eggplants with green chillies. Source: Kitti Gould

Stock up on fats

According to the region, the type of oil or fat used will vary. On the west coast and in the south, coconut oil is predominantly used to cook food. Coconut oil is so versatile that locals even use it to moisturise their hair.

Across the country, it’s also common to find ghee, the deliciously rich clarified butter which you’ll find as a staple base in many dishes across India and Australia too.

If you’re cooking Bengali cuisine, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got mustard oil in your pantry.

Daal is the ultimate comfort food

Many Indians love a piping hot bowl of daal. If you want to add it to your rotation, make sure you've got the essentials at your disposal to whip it up any time.

Ma ki dal is a specialty of the Punjab region Source: Andrew Dorn

“My Indian pantry essentials are turmeric, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, methi(dried fenugreek leaves), nigella seeds, Kashmiri chilli, coconut oil, good quality canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, legumes and ghee,” says chef and owner of Biji Dining, Harry Mangat.

“With these few ingredients you can always make a great daal or sabji (vegetable dish) or make a good curry by adding fresh ingredients. I grew up in a household where every dish was lightly spiced and kept simple and seasonal.” 

One last tip before you start is to make sure that you use and replenish your spices often, as they lose flavour each time they're exposed to oxygen.