Whether you’ve recently moved to a new city alone, are newlyweds, or college students, equipping and organising a new kitchen can get complicated and nerve-wracking. Shopping for kitchenware is fun and can be misleading, you may end up splurging on a coffee maker or waffle maker that you don’t necessarily require.
Whether we’re seasoned home cooks, or haven’t really done anything beyond making instant noodles or assembling a sandwich, when you live alone, maintaining a health and balanced diet may not necessarily be as manageable as you think it is. So, how do you eat well and avoid takeout every night? We’ve broken down, categorised, and put together kitchen essentials that you need to set up your first kitchen, and ensure you’re healthy lifestyle isn’t compromised.
Appliances
Every kitchen needs the four basic appliances to function—a stovetop, refrigerator, oven, and a mixer grinder. Of course, microwaves have become a necessity today, and do come in affordable variants as well. You could include one in your list of basic kitchen amenities. However, avoid the regular use of a microwave as they tend to diminish the nutritional value of food.. At a later stage you may also want to, invest in appliances like a hot water kettle, blender, and a multipurpose food processor. For people who bake, a stand/a hand mixer is a must-have.
Prepware
To cook any meal you need prepware. The must-haves depend on how advance your cooking skills are. The cutting and chopping essentials—you will need knives that are meant for chopping vegetables and meat, scissors for your leafy greens, and a good quality no-slip chopping board. Tools such as a rolling pin, silicon mat, can opener, vegetable peeler, garlic press, grater/zester and a colander for rinsing rice or draining pasta.
Cookware
For compact kitchens, it is best to buy cookware keeping in mind the no of people you will need to cook for on a regular basis. Of course, this varies in case you plan on regular dinner parties. It is best to have a full set of stove-top cookware—a frying pan, skillet or tawa, pressure cooker, saucepan, and a deep circular cooking pot (kadhai) or large non-stick cook pan. Serving spoons, silicon spatulas, whisks, tongs, a soup ladle, and a slotted spoon are important tools required for cooking. For more advanced cooks, you may invest in a Dutch oven pot, grill pan, non-stick dosa pans, and a wok. When it comes to the material, it ranges from anodised to copper, or stainless steel to non-stick.
Bakeware
If you do have an oven, there are certain items that you should have in case you plan to up your cooking game—a baking tray (this usually comes with the oven), wire grill tray, standard six-inch cake pans, oven-safe porcelain, and glass or stoneware casserole dishes to make various baked dishes. Measuring cups and spoons, baking paper and oven mints also make the cut. More advanced bakers can invest in a variety of cake moulds, loaf pans, muffin trays, spring foam cake pans, pie dishes, etc.
Dinnerware
You must invest in the basics—a set of easy-to-wash, stain-proof serving plates, bowls, dishes, glassware, cutlery, water bottles, and tea/coffee mugs. Depending on your storage space and budget, you may also invest in soup bowls, dessert plates and cutlery, appetiser plates and cutlery, juice pitches, and trays. However, if you’re just starting out, and dinner parties are plans best kept for a much later date, the basics are what you need.
Necessities
There are various kitchen items that you can't do without, but you won’t realise it until you need them. Add these to your shopping list for an easy kitchen experience: airtight storage containers and zip lock pouches of various sizes for loosegrains , pasta, flour, spices, biscuits, coffee, and tea mixes. Airtight glass containers, mason jars, and bottles are ideal to store left over food, homemade sauces, fresh milk and juices, etc. Cleaning supplies like drying rack, dish towels, soap, paper towels, and a garbage can are a must. Open storage wall racks for your plate, detachable drawer compartments or holders for your cutlery and serving spoons are great space-saving décor hacks ideal for smaller spaces.