Glossary of Kitchen Utensils

Veg Dishes

Non-Veg Dishes

Tips of Cooking

Glossary

Festivals Recipes

Ice-cream

Indian Herbs and Spices

Baking trays	Large and small, aluminium / stainless steel trays used for baking purposes.
Bamboo broom	A normal short broom of bamboo sticks, widely used in Chinese kitchens to clean the wok.
Bamboo Steamer	A special kind of steamer made from bamboo strips used in Chinese cooking specially for steaming dimsums.
Chakla & Belan	Chakla is a small marble or wooden platform and belan the rolling pin, usually made of wood. They are used for rolling dough to make various Indian breads.
Chimta	In simple term tongs, meant for holding cooking object in frying, griddle cooking etc.
Chopping Board	Made of food grade fibre, comes in different shapes, sizes, thickness and colours used for the purpose of cutting and chopping food items on it.
Cling Film	A transperant food grade ultra thin plastic sheet used for covering cooked, uncooked food kept in food trays, bowls etc. under room temperature or refrigerated conditions.
Collander	Round, deep utensil with lots of holes meant to drain liquid and retain the residue for further processing.
Conical Strainer	A grooved stainless steel conical sieve used for straining soups, sauces etc. in large quantities.
Degchi / Pateela	A pot of metal normally with good depth, round in shape, a very general utensil for Indian cooking; generally provided with a lid.
Foil	It is a very thin sheet made of aluminium, can be easily moulded to shape and retains heat well. It is a multi-utility product where the use ranges from wrapping finished product to keeping semi processed food product in the refrigerator and beyond.
Food processor	An electric equipment run by motor, used to break down food items or for blending and other purposes. It comes with various attachments and blades meant for the above processes.
Frying Pan	A shallow thick bottom pan used for shallow frying.
Gateaux slicer	A flat spoon with a handle at an angle to help in lifting delicate pastries, specially fresh cream cake slices.
Grater	An equipment which has sharp grooves of different sizes meant for the purpose of grating (reducing to very small size).
Hamam-Dasta	Generally known as mortar and pestle, used to pound dry masala.
Handi	Made of brass and the cooking surface is coated with tin, has a neck that is narrower than the base.
Kadai	A deep frying pan, made of various metals and alloys, the most common being iron, stainless steel, aluminium and brass.
Knife	A sharp edged tool used for cutting. It is a basic necessity in the kitchen and comes in various sizes and shapes for different purposes like carving, butchering etc.
Masala Dani	Commonly known as Spice Box , contains the commonly used dry spices.
Moulds	Implements of different shapes, sizes, width etc. as required for the process of cooking, baking or setting of food items in a desired shape in which it is set or cooked.
Muslin cloth	A thin loosely woven cotton cloth used for fine straining purpose such as to drain curds, strain juices or often used to line a sieve.
Nozzle	A small conical tool, used with the piping bag, to force out pulp or batter in various floral / leaf or other fancy shapes.
Palette knife	A long, flat, blunt knife used for the purpose of creaming and icing cakes.
Parat	A big size round shaped utensil with side walls in which dough is kneaded.
Pauni	A perforated spoon meant for frying.
Piping bag	A conical bag with an opening for a nozzle, made of cloth and lined with plastic, temporarily can be made with butter paper, used for the purpose of piping or creating a fancy shape. Eg. while making biscuits etc. or icing on a cake.
Potato Peeler	An implement with a sharp groove and a serated edge on one side to peel potatoes and other firm fruits and vegetables. The serated edge is used for creating ridges for decorative purposes.
Pressure Cooker	A stove pot hermetically sealed, in which steam pressure builds up so that foods cook quickly at temperatures above boiling point.
Pulveriser	A heavy duty electrical grinding machine with a very high speed of grinding and breaking down of ingredients.
Round spoon	A stainless steel spoon with rounded base to help in lifting off gravy or other moist preparations.
Scooper	A tool used to scoop out fruits, vegetables or icecreams in spherical shapes of different sizes.
Sieve	A tool of equal sized grooves, used for removing of impurities and separating grains of different sizes, it is available in various sized grooves for different purposes. Slicer spoon- A flat spoon with horizontal grooves on it.
Spatula	A flat spoon of a definite shape made of plastic or rubber widely used in bakery for the purpose of mixing ingredients.
Tandoor	A clay, baking chamber which is heated with live coals. It is used for baking various Indian breads, tikkas and other tandoori items.
Tandoor sariyas	Long iron rods, onto which the food items are pierced and put in the tandoor for cooking, while similar rods either with a hook edge or with a flat edge are used for removing rotis or other tandoori breads from the tandoor.
Tawa	A slightly concave thick iron / non stick pan used for cooking Indian breads like chappati, parantha ,etc.
Thali	A big plate, with straight sides, made of aluminium, stainless steel or brass. Traditionally Indian Food is always served in a Thali. It can also serve as a lid, to cover a vessel.
Tin cutter	A tool used for cutting open the lids of a food can or container.
Whisk	An accessory made with a length of Stainless Steel (mostly) wire shaped in a balloon shape with a handle at one end. Used for whipping eggs or mixing things.
Wire whisk	A stainless steel wire coiled to resemble a balloon, used for beating of eggs, cream etc. to incorporate air and make it lighter in texture or for blending of sauces.
Wok	Similar to a kadai, made of iron, nowadays even non-stick woks are available. However they are shallower and wider than a kadai, to enable the heat to penetrate the food items easily for faster cooking used specially in chinese cuisine.

Indian Herbs and Spices