Re: Checklist/Musthaves for Kitchen
I will agree with most of the ladies who have put in their 2 cents.
If you are new to cooking I would suggest you to get a non-stick cookware set (T-fal, kitchen aid, any other trustworthy brand). I have a non-stick one by some Philipee smthng, which was a wedding gift. But I have been cooking for many years and the non-stick doesn't do justice to my culinary skills. I have a stainless steel one by cuisinart, I totally love it. The only thing, you should polish it time after time so it still looks pretty.
Get a food processor/blender combo that everyone has suggested. I have them separate. The blender is just this black and decker one, no probs so far. The food processer is a kitchenaid one.. I would give it 10 stars. I just don't use it very often, Im pretty happy with my knife skills so it never really gets to the food processor as such.. (except when im making koftay / seekh kabab)
A coffee grinder, very very essential for coarse or fine grinding your masalas
The kitchenaid standmixer is also a good investment if you enjoy baking/ bread making/ or even making roti dough. Make sure you get the one with the heavier wattage if you're a refined baker. I got the cheapest available. It works very good but the motor is not as slow at the slowest speed and the faster the paddle, the more bubbles, and your dough becomes granite... I use this machine almost every other day and if I have the money, I would totally go out and get the better model.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: a VERY sharp knife and a HUGE chopping board. I have a few Henckels and kitchenaid ones. The kitchenaid ones weren't as good. I also invested in a knife sharpener, an affordable henckels one which is my HG stuff in the kitchen!
for casual dinnerware, we just have these Corelle ones. I have this other formal one by don't rem who.. have only used it once
For flatware, just go to ikea for casual everyday use, and some gold/silver plated ones for more formal use. I just got one of those packed boxes from jc penneys
Other little things like : a set of different sized mesh strainers, spoon rest, cooking spoons. If you're opting with non-stick cookware, get only the plastic/ wood ones. Other metallic ones will obv scratch your pots.
Glasses, coffee mugs and some icecream bowls wouldn't hurt. Also bigger serving bowls for salans, a dish or 2 for rice/ pasta. Salan serving spoons..
A large stainless steel mixing bowl. Trust me, you will need it alllllllll the time. A couple medium sized plastic ones too (which you could just get from a dollar store). Everytime you're whipping up smthng, or marinating meat, or keema, these bowls, you can't do without!
You could also visit your local chinatown. theymostly have cute little soup serving sets on good deals
For masalas, I went to our local dollar store, got like 3- 4 dozens or so little containers and bought all the various masalas from desi / bulk stores. Larger containers for lentils and even larger ones for various flours/ rice/ sugar etc..
A box each of clear wrap/ aluminum foil/ parchment paper (even garbage bags)
oh and a good sized garbage can..
all I could think of... hope this helps :)