Pantry Glossary

Come across an unfamiliar flour or spice halfway through a recipe? Look it up here. Each entry says in a few words what the item is and how it behaves in the pan.

Ajwain (Carom Seeds): Tiny seeds with a punchy, thyme-like flavour. Work them into samosa or kachori dough for background warmth, and for their reputation as an aid to digesting fried food.
Amchur (Dried Mango Powder): Unripe mango, dried and powdered, that adds a fruity tang to chaat masala and to stuffings where lemon juice would make things wet. The sourness is rounder than tamarind and softer than lime.
Atta (Whole Wheat Flour): Whole grain wheat milled fine, the flour behind daily rotis and, in some regions, puris. Its bran and germ make the crumb denser and add a gentle nutty taste that maida never has.
Besan (Gram Flour): Pale yellow flour that comes from chana dal, the skinned and split chickpea. Keep a jar close, because pakora coatings, dhokla, khandvi and even the sev on your chaat all start here. Add water slowly while whisking, or you will be chasing lumps, and toast the flour in a dry pan first when the batter is destined for the steamer.
Besan Batter Consistency Terms: Three phrases describe how thick a batter should be. Ribbon means it pours off a spoon in one smooth, folding band. Coating means it leaves a thin film on the spoon's back. Pouring means it runs easily, close to cream. Looking at the batter beats counting cups of flour and water.
Besan ka Sev: Another name for sev. The longer title simply specifies gram flour as the main ingredient, to set it apart from other fried, noodle-like garnishes made with different flours. See Sev.
Boondi: Pea-sized beads made by tapping gram-flour batter through a slotted ladle over hot oil. Sugar-soaked boondi ends up in laddoos and other sweets. The salted version is sprinkled on chaat or stirred through raita.
Chaat Masala: Sour, salty, aromatic seasoning where dried mango powder and black salt lead, backed by toasted cumin, coriander and more. Shake it on finished plates, cut fruit or roasted nuts. Cooking it into a dish wastes its fragrance.
Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas): Skinned chickpeas that have been split. Do not confuse them with whole chickpeas (chole). They are used in a few stuffings and now and then tempered whole in South Indian dishes for crunch and a nutty edge.
Curry Leaves: Glossy leaves from the curry tree, dropped into hot oil for a few seconds in South and West Indian tempering. Fresh or dried both work. Despite the name, they have no connection to curry powder.
Dahi (Yogurt): Thick plain yogurt, whisked until pourable, and often seasoned with a little sugar or salt before it goes onto dahi puri, aloo tikki chaat or papdi chaat. Choose full-fat, firmly set yogurt for the best body.
Date-Tamarind Chutney: Tamarind and dates (or jaggery) cooked slowly with spices into a dark, thick sauce. It is the sweet-sour partner that steadies the heat and tang of chaat.
Dhania (Coriander): One word, two ingredients. The dried seeds go into spice mixes whole or powdered. The fresh leaves, called cilantro in some countries, finish dishes and give green chutney its base.
Dhokla Batter: Besan batter that is either fermented or raised quickly with a leavener. It steams into a soft cake, then gets a sizzling topping of mustard seeds and curry leaves. The gram flour batter guide explains how to get it right.
Garam Masala: A fragrant mix usually led by cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. Fold it in late in the cooking so that its scent stays lively and has not boiled off.
Garlic Chutney (Dry): Crumbly red mixture of crushed garlic, dried chillies and, frequently, desiccated coconut, pounded by hand instead of puréed. Mumbai's vada pav is where most people first taste it, tucked inside the bun.
Ghee (Clarified Butter): Butter cooked slowly until the water evaporates and the milk solids are strained off. What remains is a golden fat that keeps well, tolerates high heat and smells of toasted nuts. It is used for tempering and some doughs.
Ginger-Garlic Paste: Fresh ginger and garlic crushed together in about equal weights into a smooth purée. It starts many gravies and goes into marinades, for chicken tikka among others.
Green Chutney (Coriander-Mint Chutney): Raw and blended: coriander, mint, green chillies and a sour element like lime or green mango. It accompanies nearly every chaat and plenty of fried snacks.
Gud / Jaggery: Raw cane or palm sugar, boiled down from the juice and left unrefined. In chutneys and spice mixes it contributes a darker, faintly mineral sweetness that white sugar lacks.
Haldi (Turmeric): Dried root, ground to bright yellow powder, used sparingly for colour and a faint earthy bitterness. Put it in early. Added at the finish, it tastes powdery and raw.
Hing (Asafoetida): Strong-smelling dried resin, usually sold powdered and cut with rice flour. Raw, it smells harsh. Once it sizzles for a few seconds in hot oil it turns savoury and rounded. Cooks add it first in a tempering, especially when no garlic or onion is used.
Idli Rava: Coarse grit made from parboiled rice, milled for idli and dosa batter. People mix it up with sooji, but sooji is wheat, and the two behave differently.
Imli (Tamarind): Sticky, sour pulp from the tamarind pod, sold in blocks, as concentrate or as paste. Boil it with jaggery and spices and you have the sweet-sour chutney that finishes most chaat.
Jeera (Cumin Seeds): In the majority of tempering routines, these whole seeds go into the pan first. They need only a few seconds in hot oil or ghee to release their smell before the next ingredient follows.
Kala Namak (Black Salt): Pinkish-grey rock salt with an eggy, sulphur smell. Chaat masala and chaat water would taste incomplete without it. Treat it like a seasoning, adding a small pinch at a time, and keep regular salt for general cooking.
Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves): Fenugreek leaves, dried and crumbly. Rub them between your palms over the pot in the last minutes of cooking. They bring a faintly bitter, hay-like perfume to North Indian gravies and certain tikka marinades.
Khoya / Mawa: Whole milk simmered patiently until nearly all the water is gone, leaving a firm, faintly grainy paste. Festive snacks and sweets use it more often than everyday chaat does.
Kokum: Dark purple dried rind of a fruit, used for sourness in western regions of India. It tastes gentler and fruitier than tamarind, and it sometimes replaces it in local chutneys.
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli Powder): Crushed dried red chillies that give both colour and burn. Strength varies a lot by brand and region, so read the amounts in these recipes as an opening bid, then taste and adjust.
Maida (Refined Wheat Flour): Soft white wheat flour with little protein, much like what bakers call cake flour. Samosa and kachori shells and bhature dough rely on it for tenderness and puff. Swap in whole-wheat flour and you will get a heavier, tougher result.
Momos Dough: Basic dough of refined flour and water, no yeast, rolled thin to enclose steamed dumpling fillings. Aim for a dough that folds into pleats without tearing and does not cling to your fingers.
Moong Dal (Split Mung Bean): Small split beans, sold skinless or with the green husk on. You will find them in savoury pakoras, a few dhokla versions and light snack batters.
Mustard Oil: Oil squeezed from mustard seeds, sharp enough to sting the nose. In North and East Indian kitchens it is customary to heat it until the smoke fades before cooking, which softens the rawness.
Paneer: Fresh cheese made by splitting hot milk with acid and pressing the curds. It keeps its shape when heated. Cube and grill it for paneer tikka, or crumble it into fillings. There is no ripening involved.
Papdi: A thin round cracker of fried dough, built from flour, semolina and oil. It is the platform for papdi chaat and sev puri. Break one in half: a good papdi snaps with a clean crack and does not flex.
Poha (Flattened Rice): Rice that has been steamed, rolled into thin flakes and dried. Skip the boiling. Rinse the flakes, let them steam briefly, and they are ready for the breakfast dish of the same name or for a chivda mix.
Puri (Chaat Shell): For chaat purposes, a puri means the little round shell of semolina or wheat dough that balloons when fried, then holds water, yogurt or potato in pani puri and dahi puri. The bigger puffy bread served with curry shares its name but is a different item.
Rai / Sarson (Mustard Seeds): Round black or brown seeds that crackle and jump the moment they touch hot oil. South and West Indian cooks start many a tempering with them, along with curry leaves and urad dal.
Rava / Sooji (Semolina): Durum wheat ground to a gritty meal. It is the reason pani puri shells shatter, and you will meet it again in upma and quick rava dosa. Check whether a recipe wants fine or coarse, since the two soak and fry differently.
Rice Flour: Rice milled to a fine powder. It supports some dosa and idli batters and tightens certain chutneys and coatings. Without gluten it cannot stand in for wheat flour wherever a dough needs stretch.
Sabudana (Sago / Tapioca Pearls): Round starchy beads pressed out of tapioca root. Fasting days often call for them because they contain no grain, and they are the heart of sabudana vada. Soak them until each pearl presses flat between your fingers. Boiling turns them to paste.
Sev: Crunchy, hair-thin threads of spiced gram-flour dough, pushed through a holed press and fried. Handfuls go on bhel puri and sev puri for crackle, and plenty of people nibble it straight from the jar.
Tadka / Tempering: A quick fry of whole spices, and occasionally garlic or chillies, in very hot oil or ghee. The flavoured fat is added to a dish that is almost done. Read the dedicated technique guide for the full method.
Urad Dal (Split Black Gram): Starchy, dense lentil that, after soaking and grinding, lifts idli and dosa batter and holds medu vada together. Skinned or unskinned, whole or split, each type cooks differently, so buy exactly what the recipe lists.