Appliances for any American kitchen in India

When you first move to a foreign country, the looming task is to fill your home with furniture, appliances, linens, books, beds, mattresses, towels, kitchen utensil and plates. It's overwhelming to make thousands of decisions in a few short days or weeks. Many of us that have gone before you have learned a thing or two along the way (by making mistakes!).  Whenever you're in a hurry to set up a home, it's tempting to make quick decisions, or uninformed decisions.  To help avoid making the same mistakes I did, here's my advice as new families are sorting through the options.

The first thing to know is, you can get more than you might think.  You can buy a dishwasher.  You can buy a clothes dryer.  The dryer is only about $300.  It's highly worth it, especially if you live in a humid climate.  Especially the more kids you have, and even more especially if you are using cloth diapers. :)  If there's something you want, and even if other foreigners in your city say you can't find it, ask stores and google for it anyway.  Maybe they set up their house five years ago and you couldn't find that particular thing then. Things are changing every year in India, and more and more is available. I can think of three things off the top of my head that have come available in the last year that I would never have thought could be found!

Back to the kitchen.

Let's talk about appliances.  The biggest purchase for the kitchen is usually the refrigerator.  My advice: go as big as you possibly can.  I've upgraded twice, because I bought something that looked kind of mid-range in the store we were shopping in.  (Also because our family has grown by two kids since we came!)  Mid-range in the store is TINY by American standards. : )   For we Americans that like to shop once or twice a week, we need a larger refrigerator.  One great place to find larger refrigerators at a better price is at GreenDust.  It's a scratch and dent chain store all over India.  If there's one in your city, you can get a much bigger fridge there for the same price as you'll pay at a retail store for a smaller one.  If you look hard, you can get one with just a few dents around the back side.  We've had several appliances from GreenDust and have been really pleased with it all.

Now for smaller appliances.

There are several different routes to go for ovens.  There are convection ovens (a.k.a. fancy microwave ovens that will bake small cakes and cookies).  There are "normal" gas ranges with four burner tops and an oven underneath that stand on the floor.  And there are counter top ovens, which are called OTG's.  (Oven-Toaster-Grill).

So what I'm about to say is my opinion based on my experience. : )  I chose the OTG for a lot of reasons. It has a more predictable and flexible path to baking anything and everything.  The OTGs are electric and behave very similarly to the ovens I was used to in America. I didn't have to re-learn anything.  Now, you can get 40, 52, and 60 litre capacity OTGs from Morphy Richards.  I have the 52, and I can get two pans of pizza, two trays of cookies, two loaves of bread baking at the same time.  I believe that the counter top ovens are just as big (if not bigger!) than the full range ovens.  And I KNOW they are far cheaper!  The temperature seems easier to control (and keep at a low level for warming, etc.) in an OTG than in a gas oven.  Also, OTGs are more flexible in that not every apartment will have a space for a range.  The reality is, whatever house you move into your first year will most likely not be the only house you live in on this side of the world. : ) The one biggest advantage I see to the gas full ranges is that they can keep baking when the power is out.  If power is a big issue where you are, that may be a heavier factor for you.

My Morphy Richards OTG

We chose to get a simple microwave for heating up leftovers in addition to the OTG.  This is probably not necessary, but it sure was nice when I was heating up baby food! :) 

Speaking of baby food, I think another appliance that is really useful is pictured below:

These are known as food processors here.  I use this just about everyday.  It comes with all kinds of attachments.  In the polycarbonate bowl on the right, there is a chopper blade attachment (like a traditional food processor in the states), a dough kneader (which works great for a single loaf of bread, cake or cookie dough, pizza dough, etc.) a vegetable shredder (great for cabbage, carrots, cheese), a lemon juicer, an egg beater, a centrifugal juicer, and a french fry slicer.  On the left portion, the jar pictured is great for grinding nuts (making peanut butter!), coffee, chicken, or making sauces from tomatoes.  There's also a smaller jar that's a "chutney" jar that is great for pureeing onions, cilantro, making pesto, etc.  Did I say that I use this almost everyday? :)  There's also a blender to put on the left side.  I had a Bajaj brand my first five years, and it was great. Very similar to this, but after five years the motor went out. I've had this Lumix now for almost three years, and I think it's more powerful than the Bajaj.  It has been fantastic!  You can't beat the price of these, they typically are between Rs. 5,000-6000.  

There you have it!  The most important appliances for an American kitchen in India!  Feel free to comment with questions, and especially differing opinions for a balance perspective!