Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Indian Kitchen Utensils - 101 - Saute Pan or Wok or Kadai

Writings about Indian cooking as we all know primarily deals with the spices, flavors and the cooking techniques. What gets short shrift but is an equally important aspect of the cooking process is the type of utensil used for making the recipe. When I started reading recipes and trying them out I came to the realization that the utensils used in the cooking process is as important as the technique.



This series is a small effort to set people interested in Indian cooking in the right direction regarding the types of purchase to make.



Today I will introduce, not that it needs introduction the Indian style saute pan.

Vada Satti as we say in our house in Tamil or Kadai in Hindi or a skillet or saute pan in English is a wide mouthed pan with a slightly deeper center allowing easy evaporation of the moisture. This is an essential utensil in the Indian kitchen and its utility is endless. Roasting, pickling, sauteing, deep frying all are done in this vessel. Some of these come with handles on either side.



Whenever a recipe requires sauteing this is the pan I turn to. If the sauteing/roasting has to be done for a longer time a non-stick pan might work out better and faster. I prefer the kadai made with hard aluminum or iron to the ones made of stainless vessel. Stainless steel requires using liberal amounts of oil as food tends to stick easily.




Saute pans or kadai these days are made with non-stick surfaces or are hard anodized on which food tends to stick less. Using non-stick pans comes with its own set of problems. The peeling surface, the overheating chemical reaction problems etc., Do the research and find one that works best.


anodized saute pan

Kadai is the first one to be showcased because I consider it an essential in any Indian Kitchen. If a kadai or a wok is hard to find not to despair, a flat bottomed saute pan will work well as a substitute.


stainless steel saute pan with copper bottom with handle


Cooks and readers do you have a favorite Saute Pan?

10 comments:

  1. I love that sturdy looking first pan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. O'course it's Kadai.....Once while moving we had to live temporarily in one apartment for one month, most of the stuff we packed in storage, two things(cooking utensils) i decided to keep were Cooker & kadai :) plus a small pot for chai making....I don't use non-stick anymore.....aluminium or iron is best....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. exactly. My mil uses this to cook pretty much everything from sambhar, rasam to poriyal.

      I try to keep away from non-stick but keep going back to it for the convenience.

      Delete
  3. My favorite is a cast iron frying pan. I have two of them. The only drawback is its heavy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have a cast iron pan. Got to invest in one.

      Delete
  4. I like the shape of your kadhai. Mine wobbles a bit on the stove. I prefer to use my all-clad saute pan for that reason

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This kadai has to be seated correctly or it will wobble too. Now they make ones that have a slightly flat bottom.

      Delete
  5. The weight of the first pan will make it stay and not wobble, am I right? A few years ago, I gave away all my aluminum stuff and bought steel ones.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really like the idea of this series Indo!
    I brought a small cast iron saute pan at a flea market and it is my favorite

    ReplyDelete
  7. Indo - This is a helpful 101! I like the Kadai, however most of the ones I own are non-stick or steel. I need to get a large Aluminum Kadai. My Mum has one and its so versatile.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. Appreciate you taking the time.
Comments embedded with links, spam and in poor taste will not be published.