Beginner's guide to Indian cuisine — ingredients, techniques, recipes

Indian cuisine is one of the richest culinary traditions in the world. Yet many Czechs who love Indian food in restaurants think cooking it at home is too complicated. It isn't. Indian cooking isn't complicated — it's just different. Understand a few basic principles, get the right ingredients, and the first successful dish will hook you for life.

Masala Dabba — the spice box

The masala dabba is a round stainless steel box with a lid and 7 small bowls inside. It's basic equipment in every Indian home kitchen. While cooking you need fast access to 7 core spices at once — and the dabba lets you add spices straight from the bowls into the pot.

The basic 7-spice set for a masala dabba: whole cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala, Kashmiri red chilli, ground cumin, salt. With this set you can handle 90% of Indian recipes.

The Tadka / Tarka technique

Tadka is short (30–90 seconds) frying of whole or ground spices in very hot fat — ghee or oil. Fat carries spice aromatics 3–5× more effectively than water. This is one of the fundamental principles of Indian cooking.

How to do a tadka: Heat ghee/oil over high heat. Add whole spices (cumin, mustard seeds) — wait for them to crackle. Add garlic and ginger — 30 seconds. Add onion — sauté. Add ground spices — 30 seconds. Then add other ingredients (tomatoes, meat, lentils).

Basic pantry — what to buy first

10 essential spices: cumin (whole and ground), turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala, Kashmiri chilli, paprika, mustard seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves.

Basic groceries: Basmati rice (aged), red lentils (masoor dal), ghee, full-fat yogurt, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, fresh coriander.

Basic techniques

• Bhuna: Frying spices or the whole masala into a thick sauce. The signal a bhuna is done: the fat rises to the surface and separates from the sauce.
• Dum: Cooking in a sealed, tightly closed pot — steam circulates and cooks the contents evenly. Key for biryani.
• Yogurt marinade: Foundation of Indian grilled cooking. Minimum 2 hours, optimal overnight.
• Sautéing onions: The base of every Indian sauce. Never add spices before the onion is golden brown (8–12 minutes).

5 first recipes for beginners

1. Masala chai — the easiest start. Tea cooked in milk with spices. 15 minutes.
2. Basmati rice — learn the proper cooking technique. 30 minutes.
3. Dal tadka — red lentils with the tadka technique. 35 minutes, nourishing and cheap.
4. Butter chicken — a first attempt at sauce-based curry. 45 minutes with ready masala.
5. Chicken biryani — a festive dish as a challenge. 2–3 hours, but worth it.

Most common beginner mistakes

• Adding spices to a cold pan — spices must be fried in hot fat
• Too little onion and too short a sauté — the base of every sauce must be caramelized onion
• Skipping rice soaking — 30 minutes of soaking is the key to fluffy basmati
• Adding garam masala too early — it belongs at the very end
• Cooking on too high a flame — Indian cooking needs patience and a medium flame

Where to buy ingredients in the Czech Republic

Shalamar Foods is the largest specialised online store for Indian and Pakistani groceries in the Czech Republic. We've operated since 2008 and offer 3,000+ products. We deliver across CZ and SK — free shipping over 1,500 CZK.