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Udhaiyam Urid Dal Split 1kg is split black gram with the skin removed, so the grains are ivory-white and cook down into a thick, sticky paste rather than staying separate. That stickiness is exactly what gives idli and dosa batter its body and what makes vada hold their shape in the oil.

Best for

• Idli and dosa batter, ground with parboiled rice
• Medu vada and ulundu vadai
• Papad dough and thick South Indian dal

How to cook it

For batter, rinse until the water runs clear and soak four to six hours with a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds. Grind with very little water, adding it a splash at a time, until the paste is smooth and light and has roughly doubled in volume. Combine with soaked parboiled rice at about one part urid to three parts rice, salt it, and leave it overnight in a warm spot to ferment. Cooked as dal, one cup takes three to four whistles in a pressure cooker with three cups of water.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Udhaiyam Urid Whole Gota is whole white urad dal — the black gram with its skin removed, left whole rather than split. Creamy-white, and the grain behind idli, dosa and vada batter.

Whole gota grinds to a smoother, better-aerated batter than split urad, which is why it is the one traditionally used for idli.

Best for

• Idli and dosa batter, ground with rice
• Medu vada and uzhunnu vada
• Papad, and thick North Indian dals

How to use it

For batter, soak 4 to 6 hours with a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds, then grind with cold water until light and fluffy. Combine with soaked rice and leave to ferment overnight in a warm place.

Pack and storage

1 kg. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Udhaiyam Urid Whole Gota (whole black gram) is the key ingredient for iconic dishes like Dal Makhani and Idli batter. These whole, unpolished lentils deliver a rich, earthy flavour and creamy texture when cooked.

Udhaiyam White Chickpeas are the pale, round chickpeas known as kabuli chana — larger and milder than the darker kala chana, with a soft, buttery texture once cooked.

Best for

• Chana masala and chole
• Hummus and salads
• Sundal and chaat

How to cook them

Soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours, then drain and rinse. Pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles, or simmer for about an hour until soft enough to crush between two fingers. A pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the soaking water softens them further.

Pack and storage

1 kg. Store in a cool, dry place in a sealed container.

Telugu Foods Roasted Wheat Rava Fine is fine wheat semolina that has already been roasted, so the step most people skip or rush at the stove is done. Being fine rather than coarse, it cooks quickly and gives a softer, smoother result, and being pre-roasted it is far less likely to turn into a lumpy mass.

Best for

• Quick weekday upma
• Kesari, sheera and rava halwa
• Rava kesari-style sweets and rava ladoo

How to cook it

There is no need to roast it again, though thirty seconds in a dry pan does no harm. For upma, bring two and a half parts water to a rolling boil with salt, then pour in one part rava in a thin stream while stirring without stopping, which is the only reliable way to avoid lumps. Cover and cook on the lowest heat for three minutes, then rest it off the heat for two more. For halwa, use milk in place of water and add the sugar after the rava has absorbed the liquid.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Tata Tea Gold is a blend of CTC tea with a portion of hand-picked long leaves folded in, sold in a 450g pack — built for the strong, milky chai brewed on the stove rather than a delicate cup.

The CTC grain gives the colour and the strength that stands up to milk, sugar, ginger, cardamom and masala; the longer leaves round the cup out and soften the edge. It brews fast and dark, which is exactly what you want for a morning cup or an evening chai with biscuits.

For a strong cup, boil the tea with water first, then add milk and bring it back to a boil. Keep the pack sealed in an airtight container away from spices, since tea picks up nearby smells.

Barilla Fusilli No.98 Pasta 500g

Ja! Tomato Passata 500g

Kühne Jalapeños 370ml

TRS Red Kidney Beans (Rajma) are large dark red dried beans with a firm skin and a soft, floury inside. They are the bean for rajma — they hold their shape through a long simmer while the gravy thickens around them.

Best for

• Rajma masala with rice
• Chilli and bean stews
• Salads, and thick soups

How to cook it

Soak overnight, or at least eight hours, and discard the soaking water. Dried kidney beans must be boiled hard — bring them to a rolling boil for at least ten minutes before the heat comes down. Then pressure cook for 6 to 8 whistles, or simmer for about 90 minutes, until a bean squashes to a paste. Mash a spoonful into the gravy to thicken it.

Pack and storage

1 kg. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Aachi Ragi Flour Roasted is finger millet ground to a fine flour and roasted, so the raw, slightly bitter edge of plain ragi flour is already cooked out. It is dark brown, closer to a wholemeal flour in weight, and being pure millet it is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Ragi mudde and ragi sangati
• Ragi roti and dosa
• Ragi malt and porridge

How to cook it

For porridge or malt, mix the flour with a little cold water first to a smooth slurry, then pour it into simmering water or milk while stirring; adding flour straight to hot liquid guarantees lumps. For mudde, boil water with a pinch of salt, add the flour in one go, and work it against the sides of the pot with a wooden stick until it comes together as a smooth ball. For roti, make a stiff dough with hot water and pat it out by hand rather than rolling, as ragi dough has no gluten to hold it together.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Aachi Red Chilli Powder is made from premium dried red chillies, ground to a vibrant, fiery powder. It delivers consistent heat and colour to curries, marinades and everyday Indian cooking.

• Vibrant red colour and consistent heat
• Made from premium dried red chillies
  

Telugu Foods Kashmiri Chilli is the whole dried chilli used for deep red colour rather than heat. It is noticeably milder than a Guntur chilli, which is why it is what goes into tandoori marinades, rogan josh and butter chicken, where the dish needs to look red without becoming too hot to eat.

Best for

• Tandoori marinades and tikka
• Rogan josh, butter chicken and other North Indian gravies
• Colouring pickles, chutneys and chilli pastes

Using it

Soak four or five chillies in hot water for twenty minutes and grind them to a smooth paste; a wet paste releases far more colour into the oil than dry powder does. Fry the paste in the oil at the start of the gravy until the oil takes on the colour, which is the step that makes the difference. For a tempering, use them whole and lift them out before they darken. Mix them with a hotter chilli when you want both colour and heat.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight jar away from light.

Townbus Cornflakes Mixture is a namkeen built on crisp cornflakes rather than gram flour, with fried lentils, peanuts and spices mixed through. The flakes stay light and shatter easily, so it eats as a lighter mixture than a sev-heavy one, and the seasoning is salty with a mild chilli edge. Children usually take to this one first.

Best with

• Tea and coffee
• A party or guest snack bowl
• Chaat, as a crunchy topping
• Lunch boxes and after-school snacking

Pack and storage

150g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Cornflakes go limp faster than fried snacks do, so transfer the mixture to an airtight jar as soon as the pack is opened.

Aachi Rice Idly Mix is a ready idli batter mix of rice and lentil flour, so the overnight soaking and wet grinding are already done. You add water, let it ferment, and steam. The idlis come out soft and white, much as a home-ground batter would.

Best for

• Soft steamed idlis for breakfast
• Idli with sambar and chutney
• Lunch boxes and easy weekday mornings

How to cook it

Mix the powder with water to a thick batter that drops slowly off a spoon rather than pouring, and leave it covered somewhere warm for six to eight hours, or overnight in a cold kitchen, until it has risen and smells faintly sour. Stir in salt gently, without knocking the air out. Grease the idli plates, fill them three-quarters full, and steam for ten to twelve minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Rest for two minutes before unmoulding.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Barilla Maccheroni No.44 Pasta 500g

Wholemeal Spelt Flour 1kg

Finish Dishwasher Salt is a specially granulated coarse salt that regenerates your dishwasher's water softening unit, preventing limescale build-up and protecting the machine while ensuring sparkling clean results.

• Regenerates water softening unit in dishwasher
• Prevents limescale and protects machine longevity
• 1kg bag

Südzucker White Sugar 1kg

Telugu Foods Wheat Rava Coarse is broken wheat at a coarse grind, closer to cracked grain than to fine semolina, and it keeps the bran. It cooks to a firmer, chewier result than Bombay rava and takes longer to soften, which is why it suits savoury pots and breakfast porridges rather than delicate rava dosa.

Best for

• Godhuma upma and savoury broken-wheat dishes
• Wheat rava pongal and khichdi with moong dal
• Sweet or savoury breakfast porridge

How to cook it

Rinse once and drain. In a pressure cooker, use one part rava to three parts water and cook for two or three whistles, then let the pressure drop on its own. In an open pot it needs closer to four parts water and fifteen to twenty minutes of simmering, topped up as it thickens. Temper mustard seeds, chana dal, green chilli and curry leaves in oil first and add the drained rava to that, so the grains take on the flavour as they swell.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.