You don’t need a million gadgets or a vast array of herbs and spices to be able to create simple, but delicious home cooked meals. These are my kitchen essentials, gadgets and store cupboard must haves, the things I can’t cook without.
First on my list is a stick blender. While this is no substitute for a food processor, it is an essential for soups, pasta sauce and pate.
Next is my beloved pestle and mortar. You can buy electrical grinders and no doubt they are much easier to use, but I love the smell and satisfaction from grinding herbs and spices by hand.
I have a slight obsession with interesting herbs and spices but I am aware that I could live without at least half of them. Don’t tell John that though! My essentials are cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, curry powder, mixed herbs and oregano. I also grow thyme, rosemary, mint, basil and sage in the garden. They are all plants that can be grown from a cutting and live quite happily on the window sill.
My store cupboard essentials include tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, dried pulses (lentils, chickpeas and beans) and stock cubes. All the ingredients to make a big pot of soup or a vegetable curry.
My freezer always holds ginger, coriander, (I can’t grow coriander), mixed peppers, peas and curry leaves.
What essentials do you have in your kitchen?