If you’re in the process of setting up an Indian restaurant or are looking to refresh the appliances you have in an existing kitchen, the volume of choices can be overwhelming. While there are an abundance of appliances that could be worth investing in, there are some essentials you’ll want to make sure are on your list.
As with any kitchen, space is always at a premium and filling it with the right commercial cooking equipment takes time and thought. To ensure you have everything you need to get the most authentic and high-quality Indian cuisine possible, read on for Restaurant Equipment Online’s buyer’s guide!
What are the Essential Pieces of Equipment for an Indian Restaurant?
We recommend including five essential elements in your Indian restaurant’s kitchen: rice cookers, tandoori ovens, spice grinders, gas cooktops and chapati makers. They’re all indispensable and can enhance the quality of your food while streamlining the cooking process to increase turnover and save you on labour hours.
Rice Cookers
Whether you’re cooking plain basmati or an option seasoned with cumin or coconut, rice is a staple in every Indian meal. Having a rice cooker enables you to prepare higher volumes of perfectly cooked rice that can be served as a side or included with signature Indian meals like biryani.
How Do I Choose the Right Commercial Rice Cooker for an Indian Restaurant?
To choose the best option for your restaurant, consider the following features:
- Capacity: You’ll want an option that can cook enough rice to match the demand at your restaurant. Your needs may vary, and there are options to suit different requirements, with rice cooker capacity ranging from a moderate 4-litre volume all the way up to 20 litres.
- Durability: When you’re cooking rice in a commercial setting, you’ll want a model that can handle frequent use. We recommend choosing an option that’s made from durable materials like stainless steel. They’re hard-wearing and also easier to clean and maintain.
- Features: To save yourself time, you may want to choose an option that comes with additional features like warming functionality, different cooking settings and automatic timers.
Some of the brands we recommend most highly in the rice cooker category include those from Apuro, Panasonic, and Benchstar.
Tandoori Ovens
Tandoori ovens are a must-have when you’re creating everything from sides like roti to fan favourites like tandoori chicken and chicken tikka masala. They’re built differently from conventional ovens to deliver high, consistent temperatures that perfectly cook and tenderise meats and vegetables, no matter the dish.
The brands we especially recommend include GasMax and Semak, as well as Golden Tandoors, which specialise in this kind of equipment.
How Do I Maintain a Tandoor Oven?
To ensure you get the most out of your tandoor oven, you’ll need to keep up with some regular maintenance. This not only ensures you’re up to scratch with good health and safety, but looking after it properly can also extend the life of your oven.
Here are our top recommended maintenance tips:
- Regular Cleaning: As with anything in your kitchen, ensure you’re regularly cleaning your oven both inside and out. This will help keep the quality of the flavour of your food up and maintain the integrity of your oven.
- Seasoning: To ensure that your clay pot maintains its non-stick properties, you’ll need to season it regularly. This also helps reduce the chances of it cracking, extending the time you’ll get out of it before you need to repair or replace it. You can use oil alone or add a mix of spice and oil, depending on your own cooking preferences.
- Temperature Control: Ensure you gradually warm your oven to allow the clay to adjust. Sudden changes in temperature can cause damage, so keep an eye on it while you’re preparing it for use. When you’re down, cool it down over time rather than shutting it off completely.
- Inspection: When you clean your tandoor oven, make sure to check carefully that no cracks are forming. Minor damage can often be repaired rather than requiring a complete replacement, saving you time, effort, and money in the long term.
Spice Grinders
Grinding your own spice is one of the best ways to create the most rich, authentic flavours possible. Commercial spice grinders are something you’ll want to add to your Indian restaurant’s kitchen. They allow you to get the freshest possible flavour from your spices and give you greater ability to create your own blends.
What Should I Look for in a Commercial Spice Grinder?
There are a few key features to look for when you’re choosing a spice grinder that ensures you get the best results and a model that can keep up with a busy commercial setting:
- Durability: Spices can be exceptionally tough, and getting them down a fine powder requires something that’s both powerful and durable. Opting for a spice grinder made from stainless steel is a good choice to achieve a consistent result, even with frequent use.
- Capacity: Your capacity needs may vary depending on how often and how much spice you want to grind. Ensure the model you choose has ample space inside to bulk-grind to reduce the time you need to spend on this task.
- Ease of Cleaning: To avoid flavours melding together, you’ll want to be able to clean your grinder between uses. Models with removable parts make this much easier.
- Grinding Consistency: Depending on how coarse or fine you want your spices, make sure your grinder has the settings or capabilities to match your preferences.
Gas Cooktops
Commercial gas cooktops are the perfect partner to a tandoori oven. They’re crucial for producing the high heat needed to fry poppadoms or saute vegetables. You’ll need high-quality appliances with plenty of power to create the essential parts of many curries and Indian dishes.
Some of the top brands we recommend for an Indian restaurant are Luus and GasMax. Both have plenty of versatile models that can keep up with frequent use and high volumes of food preparation.
Chapati Makers
A perfect accompaniment to any Indian dish, if you want to add chapati to your menu, we recommend considering a specialised piece of equipment to help you prepare them in higher volumes.
While traditionally, chapatis are made on a frying pan that’s heated over fire or gas; you can achieve a similar result with the use of a crepe maker like the Apuro 3kW electric model.
Not only do these deliver the high heat you need, but they also free up your gas cooker for other tasks. You can also use them to make dosas, adding more versatility to your kitchen and increasing your menu opportunities!
Additional Considerations for Indian Restaurant Equipment
Benchtop Cooking
Depending on your kitchen space, you may want to consider benchtop cooking to expand your capabilities. Depending on what you prefer cooking with, benchtop electric griddles or benchtop gas griddles increase your cooking options. They deliver plenty of heat, making them an ideal choice for Indian cuisine. Benchtop griddles are also portable, giving you the ability to rearrange them to suit your preferences and needs easily.
Commercial Refrigeration
Depending on where and how you like to store your ingredients and prepared dishes, there’s a variety of commercial refrigeration to choose from. If you need a large and spacious option, commercial fridges come in a range of sizes. If you want refrigeration that’s close to hand while you’re cooking, under-bench fridges are a good addition to your food-prep setup.
If you serve chilled drinks, sauces and lassi at front of house, having a commercial drink fridge is another great option to consider.
Food Displays and Bain Maries
Depending on whether your Indian restaurant is sit-down or takeaway, having a food display on show for customers is worth having. There are multiple models that can keep your food at the optimal temperature while also displaying it buffet-style for your customers to pick and choose from.
Dishwashing Solutions
With a commercial dishwasher, you can keep your labour hours down and ensure optimal sanitation. You can complete a full cycle in just a few minutes and easily get your cutlery, plates, and glasses fresh, clean and ready for the next rush of customers.
Specialty Equipment
Finally, depending on your menu options and how you like to serve your food, consider something like a pie warmer to keep snacks and sides at the perfect temperature. Whether it’s onion bhaji or samosas, they display everything nicely, and your food is ready to eat.
Next Steps
If you’re ready to upgrade your Indian restaurant setup but have questions or want a personal recommendation, the team at REO are happy to help. Contact us via email at sales@restaurantequipment.com.au or give us a call at 03 9007 0634 now!