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🛒 Shopping List — Block 35–38: Indian

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Where to shop: An Indian grocery store is mandatory for this block. You need fresh curry leaves, mustard seeds, asafoetida (hing), whole spices, moong dal, urad dal, idli/dosa rice, mango pickle, and ghee at proper prices and quality.

⚠️ Equipment Check

  • [ ] Heavy cast iron skillet — for naan and dosa
  • [ ] Spice grinder or coffee grinder — for garam masala and fresh spice grinding
  • [ ] Pressure cooker or Instant Pot — for dal makhani and biryani (quicker versions)

🥩 Proteins — Block 33

  • [ ] Chicken thighs, boneless — 3 lbs (Mon butter chicken + Wed tikka masala)
  • [ ] Lamb shoulder or cubes — 1.5 lbs (Wed biryani Block 36; buy early)

🥩 Proteins — Block 34

  • [ ] Eggs — 1 dozen (various; dosa batter)
  • [ ] (Blocks 36 is largely vegetarian — no additional meat purchase required)

🫘 Lentils and Beans

  • [ ] Moong dal (yellow split mung) — 1 lb
  • [ ] Whole urad dal (black lentils) — 1 lb (dal makhani Fri Block 35)
  • [ ] Toor dal (pigeon peas) — 1 lb (sambar Service 43 + weekday dal)
  • [ ] Dried chickpeas — 1 lb (Mon Block 34 chana masala; or 2 × 15-oz cans)
  • [ ] Rajma (kidney beans) — ½ lb (dal makhani)

🥦 Produce

  • [ ] Garlic — 4 heads
  • [ ] Ginger — 1 large piece (use throughout)
  • [ ] White onions — 4 large
  • [ ] Tomatoes — 10 (pureed for sauces + fresh sides)
  • [ ] Cauliflower — 1 head (Tue Block 34 aloo gobi)
  • [ ] Yukon gold potatoes — 2 lbs (Tue + biryani + various)
  • [ ] Lemon — 6
  • [ ] Serrano or green chiles — 10 (used daily in small amounts)
  • [ ] Fresh cilantro — 3 bunches
  • [ ] Cucumber — 4 (raita)
  • [ ] Fresh curry leaves — 1 sprig (Indian grocery; South Indian tarka)

🥛 Dairy

  • [ ] Full-fat yogurt — 2 lbs (marinade + raita + naan dough)
  • [ ] Heavy cream or double cream — 1 pint (butter chicken, dal makhani)
  • [ ] Ghee — 8 oz jar (use throughout; superior to butter for Indian cooking)
  • [ ] Whole milk — 1 quart (chai + various)

🧂 Whole Spices (buy at Indian market)

  • [ ] Cumin seeds — large bag
  • [ ] Coriander seeds — large bag
  • [ ] Mustard seeds (black/brown) — 1 bag
  • [ ] Cardamom pods (green) — 1 small bag
  • [ ] Black cardamom pods — 4–5 (biryani)
  • [ ] Cinnamon sticks — 4
  • [ ] Whole cloves — 1 small bag
  • [ ] Black peppercorns — 1 bag
  • [ ] Dried red chiles — 1 bag
  • [ ] Bay leaves — Indian variety (tegpatta)
  • [ ] Mace — 1 small bag (biryani)

🧂 Ground Spices + Condiments

  • [ ] Turmeric — large jar
  • [ ] Cumin (ground) — large jar
  • [ ] Coriander (ground) — large jar
  • [ ] Kashmiri red chili powder — 1 jar (mild heat + color)
  • [ ] Regular red chili powder or cayenne — 1 jar (heat)
  • [ ] Garam masala — store-bought (for comparison; also make fresh Fri Block 36)
  • [ ] Amchur (dry mango powder) — 1 bag (chana masala)
  • [ ] Asafoetida (hing) — small jar (dal tarka; tiny amount goes very far)
  • [ ] Coconut milk — 2 cans (South Indian thali + sambar)
  • [ ] Fresh coconut — ½ coconut or 1 cup desiccated (coconut chutney for dosa/idli service; fresh is best, desiccated works)

🍚 Pantry

  • [ ] Basmati rice — 5-lb bag
  • [ ] Parboiled rice (idli/dosa rice) — 2 lbs (idli and dosa batter requires this — basmati will not work; find it at Indian grocery)
  • [ ] All-purpose flour + bread flour (naan dough)
  • [ ] Instant yeast — 1 packet (naan)
  • [ ] Saffron — small pinch (biryani)
  • [ ] Tamarind paste — 1 jar (sambar Service 43)
  • [ ] Mango pickle (achar) — 1 jar
  • [ ] Papad (poppadum) — 1 pack
  • [ ] Samosas — store-bought fine for Saturday feast accompaniment