It’s spring season वसंत ऋतु  (vasant rutu) and I’ve been spending a lot more time in the kitchen रसोई घर (rasoi ghar), trying out recipes with fresh produce from the farmer’s market. This set me thinking about the variety of tools यंत्र (yuntra) and utensils बर्तन (bur-tan) that one uses in the kitchen, and brought me to my next blog topic: things around the kitchen.

The कढ़ाई (kadhaai) is a deep round-bottomed vessel usually used for deep frying तलने के लिए (talne ke liye).

A डोई (doe-ee) is a ladle. This can be shallow as in the kind used for serving items like सब्ज़ी (subzi) or deep, like those used for serving दाल (daal) or other gravy-based dishes.

Meals are served and eaten in a round stainless steel plate called थाली (thali).

Compartmentalized thali

These come in different sizes/varieties–some have in-built compartments to separate the different dishes, while some others may have a high wall to prevent food from spilling out when it’s scooped by hand. If the plate is not compartmentalized, different dishes may often be served in stainless steel cups/bowls or कटोरी (katori). A stainless steel tumbler प्याला (pyala) of water or buttermilk छास (chhaas) usually accompanies every meal.

In India, most people eat by hand, and do not use spoons, knives, or forks चम्मच, छुरी, या काटा (chum-much, chhoori, ya kaata).

In the olden days, food was cooked over an open flame or चूल्हा (choolha).

Woman frying pakoras in a kadhai on a choolha.

Today, the stove or cooking range is quite common in many areas. The cooking flame is called आंच (aanch). धीमी आंच (dheemi aanch) or low flame and तेज़ आंच (taze aanch) or high flame are terms you will hear often in cooking shows.

And what do you do when you need to pick up a hot कढ़ाई off the stove? You use stainless steel tongs called पक्कड़ (pakkad).

Pakkad (kitchen tongs)

As a side note, I will mention that cooking, serving, and eating utensils are not only made of stainless steel, but they can also be made of aluminum or copper. Many people also eat in silver plates as they believe that the metal imparts properties beneficial to health.