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Cooking with the Right Appliances

Written by

Manjula Jain

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Many of you have questions about which appliances I use when cooking. Most of the questions have been about the blender, grinder and food processer I use. Using quality appliances can be a great help when cooking.

I am very happy with my KitchenAid 5-Speed blender and have been using the same one for the past 5 years. It still works great. I use this blender for almost everything, such as blending daal for Dosa, Pakoras, Vada, chutneys, and drinks with crushed ice.

When I need to grind in small quantities, I love to use my Magic Bullet. It’s simple to use works efficiently, and best of all it is easy to clean.

Additionally, a small KRUPS GX4100 Electric Spice, Herb and Coffee Grinder is very handy for grinding spices. I love this so much I have two of them! One is purely for grinding spices and the other is for grinding nuts and cardamom.

My Cuisinart 7-Cup Food Processor is the other small appliance I use frequently. It works best if you need to blend coarsely. This appliance is not good for blending anything smooth and pasty. It comes with a few attachments like a shredder and slicer. I do use these attachments when I need to slice or shred in large quantitie. I also use this food processer for making dough. It is especially good for making firm dough when you make puris or matris. I have had this food processer for at least 10 years and it is still in great condition!

Comments

25 responses to “Cooking with the Right Appliances”

  1. Anushobha Regmi

    Hi Manjula,

    I need to grind dry ginger to fine powder. Would your Magic bullet or Krup’s grinder be able to grind dry ginger?

    Thanks,
    Anu.

  2. Shweta

    I am in USA and have a family of 2..need a grinder/mixer for dosa, pakora, gravy paste..which one should I buy

  3. Anisha

    Great choice for kitchen appliances. I have to agree that without my blender, microwave, coffee maker and other kitchen machines, I’ll have a tough time.

  4. Anith

    Can u please tell me which is the right attachment to be used with “kitchenaid” for grinding chutney, dosa and idli batter a

  5. varun garg

    i my confused betwwen kitchenaid 5speed dimond blender or sujata mixer grinder for indian cooking speacilly for chutany?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Varun, I am not familiar with sujata mixer, kitchenaid will work.

  6. venkat

    I am from India. I am doing cooking for single person and occasionally for 2 persons. I find the available blenders (even the smallest cup) too big. I thought of spice blenders for small amount but this is only for dry blending. what about wet blending (e.g. small amount of chutney). Indian manufacturers should manufacture small itmes as more or more single persons and couples (professionals) do home cooking

    1. Manjula Jain

      Wenkat, for small quantity I like to use Magic Bullet NutriBullet 12-Piece High-Speed Blender/Mixer System this is readily available

  7. Aseem Grover

    Hello Ms Manjula
    Can you suggest what works best for chopping onions, tomatoes and grating carrots.
    I have wanted to make gajar halwa but can’t get to the grating
    Also, Onions are needed daily and my wife gives me this task.

  8. Rucha

    Hello Manjulaji,

    I’m a big fan and love your recipes.

    Could you please suggest one mixer/blender that can grind all kinds of Daal, spices, make batter, both fine and coarse, and chutney. Previously I had a Bella rocket blender which worked perfectly except when grinding coarsely and then the motor stopped working. So we got a Hamilton Beach processor, but it was not very useful with Indian foods. Now I have a nutri bullet. It is powerful but it does not make chutney in small quantities or grind chilli garlic ginger to very fine paste.

    Please recommend me which single appliance can do all the above.

    Thank you

    1. Manjula Jain

      Rucha, Sorry, I will also like to know that blender can do all these

  9. Riddhi Popat

    can I use magic bullet for making pasty and fine chutneys?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Riddhi, Magic bullet will work

  10. Te

    Can we find a small jar which can be be compatible with cusinart food processor and be used for making chutneys?

  11. Shalini

    I totally agree that it is important to use quality appliances. I would like to know your opinion regarding the use of Indian style mixer/grinder vs a blender especially for dosa/idli batter. Does the Indian style one like Preethi make grinding any easier? If I have an option, which one should I prefer?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Shalini, yes for most of the Indian dishes Indian style grinder is batter.

  12. soni

    Hi, Which tawa do you use for dosa? I tried making it on my iron tawa and it stuck to it.

    1. Manjula Jain

      Soni, Use non stick heavy skillet it is easy to work with

  13. Manisha

    Hi,
    just one question,can I use Magic Bullet or Nutri Bullet for grinding daal for Dosa, Pakoras, Vada, chutneys.
    currently have Oster mixer blender & it’s not so good.I have to add water to grind anything.

    1. Manjula Jain

      Manisha, Magic bullet works for most of the thing but not for grinding dal or dosa.

  14. Naomi

    The microwave is my best friend. It made me a better cook albeit a trying hard one 😀

  15. Sonia

    Great choice for kitchen appliances. I have to agree that without my blender, microwave, coffee maker and other kitchen machines, I’ll have a tough time. As much as possible, I minimize cooking time so I’ll have more for the kids and cleaning. Without my appliances, this would be impossible.

  16. Colette @ JFF!

    I love the food processor – I even use it for baking!

  17. Steve Young

    Thank you for sharing your tools in the kitchen!

    We now use our blender often making our “gravy” for your dishes. I never understood that we needed to blend our tomatoes, peppers (we use many more peppers than you do!) and Ginger.

    In the past our “sauce” turned out like an Italian meal, nothing against that style of cooking but it was not Indian.

    I have to tell you a funny story. We do not have a spice blender. So I used our coffee pot that has a grinder on the top to make Sanbar. It worked very well! Except for the next day, our coffee was rather aromatic!

    I think I need to click your link and order a spice grinder, or two.

    Peace my friend.

  18. Kevin Roberts

    Right kitchen appliances are always made to help you cook some of the most delicious food for all. I am not exaggerating anything. Trust me. I have seen many homemakers, chefs and various others who can do magic in their kitchen. They all do not hesitate to convey thanks to modern kitchen appliances and other accessories.

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