Kitchen essentials : Knives, Oils, Vinegars, Sauces and Wine

The best thing to do is to get a Knife Set (preferably of a good company). It will have an assortment of knives and you can use whatever suits your purpose, for example, a Paring knife is used for peeling and cutting the fruits and vegetables while a Boning knife is used to remove the bones from raw meat. Another advantage of getting a whole knife set is, you will also get a wood storage block which comes handy while storing the knives and also keeps their edges sharp. You will also get Kitchen Shears in the set which is super helpful while cutting herbs or butchering the poultry.

Next we need to buy some good Oils. Now you may not be a big fan of Canola or Vegetable Oil but remember you will need it sometimes especially when you want to deep fry something. I always keep the following oils in my pantry:

• Mustard Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Vegetable or Canola Oil
• Grapeseed Oil

I also always keep Sweet Cream Unsalted Butter and Ghee (Clarified Butter) in my fridge along with a couple of cheeses like:

• Parmesan
• Havarti
• Mozzarella
• Cream Cheese 
• Goat cheese

Other items in my fridge include:

• Mustard Sauce
• Ketchup
• White Vinegar
• Chicken Broth
• Soy Sauce
• Chili Garlic Sauce
• Basil Pesto 
• Marinara Sauce 

I don’t usually cook with Wine and I prefer to get a fresh bottle if I am using it in any recipe.

Note: You may have to go to the Indian store or Costco for some of these items.

Recommended Reading:

• Dhania Chutney (Cilantro Chutney)
• Creamy Cream Cheese Dip
• Bread Dipping Oil with Parmesan and Herbs
• Tamarind Chutney – sweetness with tang
• How to make Tamarind Pulp?
• Kitchen essentials: Utensils which come handy
• Slow Cooked Turkey and Bacon Chili
• Debarshi’s Garlic Chicken
• Hamburger Pasta with homemade Sauce
• Debarshi’s Shrimp Fried Rice
• Bandakopi Alur Torkari (Mamma’s Cabbage in curried Potatoes)
• Alu Palak Sabji (North Indian Dish: Stir-fried Potatoes with Spinach)
• Alu Shimla Mirch Tamatar Sabji (Potato with Bell Peppers in a Tomato gravy)
• Cholar dal diye Kumror Torkari (Mamma’s Pumpkin Gravy with Split Bengal Gram)
• Papa’s Kosha Mangsho (Grandpa’s Special Goat Curry)
• Egg Devil (Bengali recipe of Croquettes with egg and minced meat/ Indian Scotch Eggs)
• Mamma’s Matar Paneer (Peas and Indian Cottage Cheese in a tomato gravy)
• Sausage Tomato Basil Pasta
• Easy Air Fryer Paneer Tikka
• Station wala Lehsunia Alu (Indian Railway special Garlic Potato Stir-fry)
• Alu Peyaj er Chochchori (Bengali recipe: Stir fried Potatoes with Onion)
• Chana Masala/ Chole Masala
• Chicken Kosha (Bengali Style Hot Chicken Gravy)
• Mixed Dal with Cilantro (Arhar-Masoor Dal with Dhania garnish)
• Bengali Tomato Chatni (chutney) With Dried Fruits
• Air Fried Korola (Karela/ Bitter Gourd Chips)
• Chicken Tikka Chowmein
• Bhindi fried in Kalonji seeds
• Chichinda Pyaz Sabji (Snake gourd and Onion stir fry)
• Masala Alu Bhindi (Stir-fried Potatoes with Okra and spices)
• Keema Matar (Minced Goat meat/ Beef with dried Peas)
• Air Fried Okra (Bhindi/ Lady Finger)
• Bread Pakora with Soa Alu (Deep fried Bread Fritters with Dill and Potato filling)
• Koraishuti’r Kochuri (Deep Fried Puffed Bread with Pea Filling)
• Panch Mesali (Bengali recipe: Mixed Vegetables)
• Paneer Pakore (Fresh Cheese Fritters)
• Palak Kachori (Deep Fried Bread kneaded with Spinach and spices)
• Saag Chole (Curried Spinach and Chickpeas)
• Vegetarian Poha Style Chow Mein/ Pasta
• Alu Soa Sabji (Potato stir-fried with Dill)
• Air fried Pakoras (Fritters)
• Egg Curry (Bengali recipe: Fried Eggs curry)
• Kashmiri Rogan Josh (Slow cooked mutton in red curry)