What to Stock First in a New Kitchen: A Realistic Pantry Starter List

The mistake people make

Setting up a first kitchen, new students and new couples tend to do one of two things: buy everything at once and spend a fortune, or buy nothing and live on takeaway. A better method is to buy in rounds. Start with the core that makes dinner possible, then add as you learn what you actually cook.

Prices and availability differ by country, so this list has no costs. It is about order.

Round 1: the essentials (first shop)

These make simple dinners possible, and each is cheap and long-lasting.

Staples

• Rice, and flour or flatbread if you eat it daily.
• One or two lentils. Red lentils cook fastest and are easy to start with.
• Pasta or noodles as a backup.

Cooking basics

• Cooking oil.
• Salt and black pepper.
• Onions and potatoes (keep them cool, dry and dark).
• Garlic and ginger, fresh or paste.
• Tinned tomatoes.

Protein and dairy

• Eggs.
• Plain yogurt or milk.
• A tin or two of chickpeas or beans.

Basic spices

• Turmeric, cumin, red chili powder, coriander and garam masala. Buy small packs. A starter set is enough to cook most things in a South Asian kitchen.

With only this, you can cook khichdi, daal and egg curry. Daal takes 15 minutes of prep and 30 of cooking for four. Egg curry is 10 and 30. Khichdi is 10 and 30. All three are on our recipe cards with the full steps.

Round 2: the second week

Once you have cooked a few meals, you will know what you miss. Add:

• Frozen peas, spinach and a mixed vegetable bag.
• Chickpeas, dry or more tins, for curries and salads.
• A second lentil, such as split chickpeas.
• Lemons, fresh coriander and green chilies.
• Tea or coffee, sugar.
• Whatever your household cannot live without, like bread or cereal.

Now you can also make aloo gobi (15 minutes of prep and 25 of cooking for four, using potato and cauliflower), matar pulao and egg fried rice.

Round 3: the extras

After a month, add the things that make cooking more fun but are not urgent:

• Whole spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and mustard seeds.
• Ghee, and a small bottle of vinegar or soy sauce.
• Dried fruit or nuts for snacks and rice dishes.
• A few sauces or pickles you love.
• Baking basics, if you bake.

Equipment, briefly

You can cook a lot with very little. A decent pot with a lid, a frying pan, a sharp knife, a chopping board, a wooden spoon and a colander cover most meals. A pressure cooker is a good buy if you eat lentils and beans regularly because it cuts the time. Add things as you notice the lack.

How to avoid waste when you are new

• Buy small. Small packs of spices cost more per gram but you will not throw away a half-kilo of stale coriander.
• Buy fresh vegetables for three days, not seven. You will skip nights.
• Freeze what you cannot finish. Bread, cooked lentils and ginger freeze well.
• Cook double and eat twice. One pot of daal covers two dinners.
• Write a list before you shop. It is the best protection against impulse buys.

Pairing with Degchi

Degchi is an Android app, supported by ads, with no subscription. You can add your starter staples to the pantry, mark them have, low or out, and see what you can cook with them. For a new cook, this answers the question "what do I do with this" without scrolling endless videos. It also helps you see what is missing for a dish you want to try, so your first few shops are targeted. It will not teach you to chop an onion, but the recipe steps in cook mode walk you through each dish.

A first-week plan

A final thought

Cooking skills come from repetition, not from owning the right jars. Cook the same three dishes several times in your first month and you will start to improve without looking at the recipe. Then add a fourth.