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Dildaar Sona Masoori is the medium-grain rice that most South Indian households cook every day. The grains are shorter and lighter than basmati, they cook soft, and they take up whatever goes on top of them instead of competing with it, which is exactly what is wanted under sambar, rasam or a curry. This is the full 10kg household sack.

Best for

• Everyday steamed rice with sambar, rasam and curries
• Curd rice, lemon rice and pulihora
• Pongal, and batter for idli and dosa

How to cook it

Rinse two or three times until the water runs mostly clear. Sona masoori carries more surface starch than aged basmati and turns gluey if you skip this. In a pressure cooker, use one cup of rice to two cups of water and cook for three whistles, then let the pressure fall on its own rather than releasing it. In an open pot, boil one cup of rice in four cups of water until the grains are soft and drain the excess. Fluff with a fork; stirring with a spoon mashes the grain.

Pack and storage

10kg sack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Decant into an airtight container and keep it off the floor; a couple of dried bay leaves in the container is the usual way to keep weevils out.

Daawat Basmati Extra Long in the 5 kg green bag is the long-grain line Daawat is best known for. The grains are matured before packing, so they cook dry and separate and stretch noticeably in the pot rather than swelling and going soft.

The green bag is the Extra Long grade. It is a different grain from Daawat's Rozana and Super lines, which sit at different lengths and price points — worth knowing if you have cooked with those before and are expecting the same result.

Best for

• Biryani, where length and separation are the whole point
• Pulao and ghee rice
• Everyday steamed rice with dal, sambar or curry

How to cook it

Rinse two or three times until the water runs clear, then soak for 20 to 30 minutes — extra-long grains need the soak to cook evenly. Use about 1.5 parts water to 1 part rice, bring to the boil, cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes off the heat.

Pack and storage

5 kg green bag. Store somewhere cool and dry, sealed after opening.

India Gate Sona Masoori is a medium-grain, lightly polished rice from South India — softer and more absorbent than basmati, and not trying to be it. The grains are shorter, cook fluffy, and take on the flavour of whatever they are served with, which is exactly why it is the everyday rice across Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka.

It is lighter to eat than a long-grain basmati, and the 10 kg bag is sized for a household that cooks rice most days.

Best for

• Everyday steamed rice with sambar, rasam or dal
• Curd rice, where a softer grain is what you want
• Lemon rice, tamarind rice and other South Indian rice dishes
• Idli and dosa batter, ground with urad dal

How to cook it

Rinse two or three times. Sona Masoori needs no long soak — 10 minutes is plenty. Use about 2 parts water to 1 part rice, or cook it in a pressure cooker for 2 to 3 whistles. It is more forgiving than basmati and reheats well.

Pack and storage

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

Aashirvaad Multigrain Wheat Flour is an atta with other grains and pulses milled in alongside the wheat, which gives a roti a denser bite and a nuttier flavour than plain wheat atta. The dough also behaves differently: it drinks more water, it is less stretchy, and it repays a longer rest before you start rolling.

Best for

• Everyday chapati and phulka
• Paratha, plain or stuffed
• Thepla and puri

How to cook it

Add the water gradually, as this flour takes noticeably more than plain wheat atta, and knead to a soft dough that does not stick to the fingers. Cover it and rest it for at least twenty minutes so the bran softens, or the rotis will come out tough. Roll a little thicker than a plain chapati, since rolled thin this dough tears. Cook on a hot tawa until the surface bubbles, turn once, and press gently with a folded cloth to make it puff.

Pack and storage

5kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, and keep it in an airtight container away from damp.

Daawat Basmati Extra Long in the 20 kg green bag, supplied with an extra 2 kg included — 22 kg in total. This is the bulk pack for households that cook rice most days, and for restaurants and caterers who want one grain they can rely on across the menu.

The grains are matured before packing, so they cook dry and separate and stretch noticeably rather than softening. The green bag is the Extra Long grade, a different grain from Daawat's Rozana and Super lines.

Best for

• Biryani in quantity, where every grain needs to stay separate
• Restaurant and catering service
• Households cooking rice daily who would rather buy once a season

How to cook it

Rinse until the water runs clear, then soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Use about 1.5 parts water to 1 part rice. Bring to the boil, cover, cook on low for 10 to 12 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes before fluffing.

Pack and storage

20 kg plus 2 kg free. Store in a cool, dry place. For a bag this size, decant what you need into a smaller sealed container and keep the main bag closed.

Udhaiyam Toor Dal is split pigeon pea — tuvar or arhar dal — the lentil that sambar is built on and the everyday dal in most South Indian kitchens. It cooks down soft and golden with a mild, faintly sweet flavour.

Best for

• Sambar
• Dal tadka, dal fry and rasam
• Kootu and poriyal, where a little dal thickens the dish

How to cook it

Rinse two or three times until the water runs clear. Pressure cook with about 3 parts water to 1 part dal for 3 to 4 whistles, or simmer 35 to 45 minutes until it breaks down when pressed. Finish with mustard seeds, cumin, dried chilli and curry leaves in hot oil or ghee.

Pack and storage

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

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.

TRS Mustard Seeds Brown are the small reddish-brown seeds used across South and West Indian cooking. Raw they taste of almost nothing; the flavour only appears once they hit hot oil and pop, turning nutty and gently pungent.

Best for

• Tempering for dal, sambar and rasam
• Poriyal, thoran and other South Indian vegetable dishes
• Pickles, and Bengali fish curries

How to cook it

Heat the oil until it shimmers, add the seeds, and cover the pan — they jump. Once the popping slows, add curry leaves, dried chilli or urad dal and pour the lot over the dish. If the seeds sit in lukewarm oil without popping, the tempering will taste raw; if they blacken, start again.

Pack and storage

100 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Aashirvaad Chakki Atta is whole wheat flour ground on a chakki, a stone mill, so the bran and germ stay in the flour instead of being sifted out. It is what a North Indian kitchen means when it says atta, and it makes rotis that stay soft and pliable for hours rather than stiffening as they cool. This is the 10kg sack for a household that makes roti daily.

Best for

• Everyday chapati, roti and phulka
• Paratha, stuffed or plain
• Puri, bhatura and roti dough for the freezer

How to cook it

Work to roughly two parts flour to one part water by volume, adding the water in stages and kneading for five minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Rest it, covered, for fifteen to twenty minutes; kneading and resting are what make the difference between a soft roti and a leathery one. Roll evenly, cook on a tawa hot enough that the roti starts to blister within seconds, turn it once, then lift it onto an open flame or press it with a cloth to puff.

Pack and storage

10kg sack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Keep working quantities in an airtight container and the rest of the sack closed and off the floor.

Udhaiyam Green Mung Beans are whole green gram — small olive-green beans with the skin intact. They cook softer than most whole pulses while still holding their shape, and have a mild, faintly sweet, grassy flavour that takes a tempering well.

Best for

• Sprouting for salads and sundal
• Whole green gram curry and pachai payaru
• Soups, stews and thick dal finished with coconut

How to cook it

Soak six to eight hours, or overnight, before cooking. Pressure cook one cup with two and a half cups of water for four to five whistles — the beans should give under a spoon without collapsing. To sprout them, soak eight hours, drain thoroughly, then leave them tied in a damp cloth somewhere warm for a day or two, rinsing once a day. Finish cooked beans with mustard seeds, curry leaves and grated coconut.

Pack and storage

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

Udhaiyam Chana Dal (split Bengal gram) is a versatile pulse with a slightly sweet, nutty flavour. Used in dal preparations, chutneys, snacks and South Indian tempering, it is a true kitchen essential.

• Split Bengal gram with nutty, sweet flavour
• Ideal for dal, chutney and South Indian tempering
  

Haldiram's Bhujia Plain is the classic fine gram flour bhujia — thin, brittle strands seasoned simply with salt and spice, with no potato or nuts in the mix. It is the everyday namkeen most kitchens keep on hand, crisp enough to eat by the handful or scatter straight over a plate.

Best with

• Everyday tea-time snacking
• Topping khichdi, dal or curd rice
• Building bhel and chaat at home

Pack and storage

200 g pack. Keep sealed in a cool, dry place away from steam and sunlight.

TRS Cinnamon (Dalchini) is whole cinnamon bark in quills — warm, woody and sweetly aromatic, and firmer and stronger in flavour than the soft rolled Ceylon type. It is one of the whole spices that goes into the oil at the start of a biryani or a korma.

Best for

• Biryani, pulao and korma
• Garam masala and whole-spice blends
• Masala chai, and slow-cooked meat curries

How to cook it

Break off a two or three centimetre piece and fry it in hot ghee with bay leaf, cardamom and cloves for a few seconds until it swells and smells sweet. Remove before serving. For chai, a small piece simmered with the tea and milk is enough; the bark is hard, so grind it in a spice mill rather than a pestle.

Pack and storage

50 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Dildaar Extra Long Basmati is long-grain aromatic rice selected for grain length, which is the thing that matters in a biryani where every grain has to stay separate and visible. Cooked properly the grains stretch out, stay firm at the centre and do not clump together. The aroma shows itself in the pot and settles as the rice rests. This is the 5kg pack.

Best for

• Dum biryani, where separate grains matter most
• Pulao, jeera rice and fried rice
• Plain steamed rice alongside a rich gravy

How to cook it

Rinse gently until the water runs clear, then soak for twenty to thirty minutes; soaking is what lets a long grain elongate instead of snapping. For plain rice, use one cup of rice to one and a half cups of water, bring it to a boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat for twelve minutes, then rest it ten minutes off the heat before lifting the lid. For biryani, parboil in plenty of salted water to about seventy per cent, drain, layer and finish on dum. Separate the grains with a fork, never a spoon.

Pack and storage

5kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Keep it airtight and away from strong-smelling spices, as basmati takes up other aromas readily.

TRS Haldi / Turmeric Powder is ground turmeric root, deep yellow and slightly bitter with an earthy, musky aroma. It goes into almost every Indian savoury dish, usually in small quantity, as much for colour as for taste.

Best for

• Dals, sambar and everyday vegetable curries
• Marinating fish and chicken before frying
• Rice dishes, pickles and spice pastes

Using it

A quarter to half a teaspoon is enough for a family-sized dal — too much turns the dish bitter and muddy. Add it early, with the onions or straight into the cooking dal, so it has time to lose its raw taste. It stains cloth and plastic readily, so wipe spills straight away.

Pack and storage

100 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Ginger & Garlic Paste is ground ginger and garlic in a ready-to-spoon paste, which takes the daily peeling and grinding out of the cooking. One spoonful stands in for roughly equal parts of fresh ginger and garlic in most Indian recipes.

Best for

• Curry and gravy bases
• Marinades for chicken, fish and paneer
• Biryani, pulao and dal tempering

Using it

Add it once the onions have softened and fry on medium heat until the raw smell goes and the paste stops sticking, usually a minute or two. Put it into oil that is too cold and it stays raw; put it into oil that is smoking and the garlic burns, which turns the whole dish bitter. About a tablespoon suits 500g of meat or a curry for four. Use a clean, dry spoon every time.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place; keep sealed and refrigerated after opening.

Annam Sona Masoori is a medium-grain raw rice and the everyday table rice of Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka. Cooked grains are soft and slightly clingy rather than long and separate, which is exactly what you want under sambar, rasam or a curry.

Best for

• Everyday steamed rice with sambar, rasam or curd
• Lemon rice, curd rice and tamarind rice
• Pongal, bisibelebath and light pulao

How to cook it

Rinse two or three times until the water runs mostly clear. In a pressure cooker use one cup of rice to two cups of water for two whistles, then let the pressure drop on its own. In an open pot use one cup to two and a half and drain any excess. A twenty minute soak makes the grains a little softer and slightly quicker to cook.

Pack and storage

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

Udhaiyam Tamarind Seedless is pressed tamarind pulp with the seeds and most of the fibre already taken out, so it goes straight into hot water without the picking-over that whole tamarind needs. It is sharply sour and sticky, and it is what gives sambar, rasam and kuzhambu their backbone.

Best for

• Sambar, rasam and vatha kuzhambu
• Pulihora and tamarind rice
• Chutneys, sauces and chaat

How to cook it

Break off a piece about the size of a small lime for a pot serving four, soak it in a cup of hot water for fifteen to twenty minutes, then squeeze it out with your fingers and strain the liquid, discarding the fibre left behind. Use that extract rather than adding the block to the pot. Let it boil for a few minutes before the dal goes in, as raw tamarind tastes flat. Add it in stages and taste as you go.

Pack and storage

200g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening; keep it wrapped, as tamarind dries out and hardens in open air.

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.

Dildaar Extra-Long Basmati in the 10kg sack is for kitchens that cook rice most days, or cook for a crowd. It is long-grain aromatic rice chosen for grain length: the grains elongate as they cook, hold their shape, and stay loose rather than sticking, which is what separates a proper biryani from a pot of savoury rice.

Best for

• Biryani and pulao for large gatherings
• Everyday steamed rice with curries and dal
• Fried rice and jeera rice

How to cook it

Wash the measured quantity gently until the water clears, then soak for twenty to thirty minutes before cooking. On the stove, one cup of soaked rice to one and a half cups of water, brought to a boil then covered on the lowest heat for twelve minutes, gives separate grains; leave it to stand another ten minutes before opening. For biryani, parboil to roughly seventy per cent in heavily salted water, drain well, layer over the meat and cook sealed on low heat. Always fork the rice apart rather than stirring it.

Pack and storage

10kg sack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Move what you are using into an airtight container and keep the rest of the sack closed, away from damp and away from spices whose aroma it will pick up.

Priya Idli Rava is coarsely ground rice, the granular rice rava used with urad dal to make idli batter without grinding whole rice from scratch. It gives idlis a slightly grainier, more open texture than a batter ground entirely from soaked rice, and being pure rice it is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Idli batter made with urad dal
• Soft steamed idlis for breakfast
• Steamed rice cakes and rice-and-dal batters generally

How to cook it

Soak urad dal with a little fenugreek for four hours and grind it to a light, fluffy paste. Separately soak the rava in water for about twenty minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and fold it into the ground dal, roughly two parts rava to one part dal by volume. Add salt, cover, and leave it somewhere warm for eight to twelve hours until the batter has risen. Pour into greased idli plates and steam for ten to twelve minutes.

Pack and storage

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

Udhaiyam Brown Chickpeas (Kala Chana) are small, dark, thick-skinned chickpeas that stay firm and separate after cooking instead of breaking down. They have a deeper, nuttier, more earthy flavour than the large white variety and a noticeably chewier bite.

Best for

• Kala chana masala and chana sundal
• Sprouting for salads and chaat
• Dry curries, stews and slow-cooked gravies

How to cook it

These want a long soak — eight hours or overnight in plenty of water, as they take up well over double their volume. Drain, rinse, then pressure cook with fresh water and a little salt for six to eight whistles and let the pressure fall naturally. Older stock can need a couple of whistles more, so check one before you open the pan. Keep the cooking liquid; it thickens the gravy and carries the flavour.

Pack and storage

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

Townbus Masala Peanut is whole peanuts jacketed in a spiced gram-flour batter and fried, so each one has a crisp shell around a firm nut. It is the standard tea-time and bar snack across India, salty and mildly hot, and it is more filling than a crisp or a sev because of the nut at the centre.

Best with

• Tea, coffee or a cold drink
• A bar snack or party nibble
• Tossed with sliced onion, tomato, lemon and coriander as a quick masala peanut chaat
• Long journeys

Pack and storage

170g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Keep the pack airtight; the coating softens first and the nuts inside lose their snap soon after.

Annam Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal) are split pigeon peas, the yellow lentil at the base of everyday South Indian cooking. They cook down to a soft, slightly sweet purée that carries tamarind and tempering better than firmer lentils do.

Best for

• Sambar and vegetable kootu
• Everyday dal with tomato and tempering
• Dal palak, dal fry and pappu with greens

How to cook it

Rinse until the water runs clear and soak for twenty to thirty minutes, which makes a noticeable difference to how evenly it breaks down. Pressure cook one cup of dal with two and a half to three cups of water and a pinch of turmeric for three to four whistles, then mash it smooth. Salt goes in after cooking, since adding it early keeps the lentils firm.

Pack and storage

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