If you have struggled to find the perfect blender for your indian kitchen or have newly shifted to the USA, this post will help you decide which blender you should spend you hard earned money on.
This post is for someone who wants to make chutneys - like coconut chutney or green coriander chutney at home, or make dosa batter, grind coconut to make coconut-based curries and chutneys, or grind spices to powder.
If you only use the blender to make smoothies, these options are not for you.
My Experience and Research
When I first moved to the USA, I struggled a lot, especially cooking Indian foods like dosas and chutneys every day. Despite all the help and recommendations from friends and family, I fell for all the marketing done by big brands.
Where we live in the USA, we don't get good dosa batter, so I make it every week from scratch. For a small family, we consume a lot of dosa batter. I initially bought the Ninja Kitchen system, thinking it was a well-known brand. Every attachment to it broke within five months of buying it. They didn't offer a replacement and didn't even have spare parts that I could buy.
I made all the mistakes while buying equipment in the US, so you don't have to! I will give you a detailed list of the best grinders for the kind of cooking you expect to do in the US.
After the failure, I decided to dive deep into this. I took detailed notes from friends, relatives, and Facebook groups. Poured into the Amazon reviews, made pros and cons lists,, and thought i must share it for Indian people moving to USA. So here it is.
Indian Blender Requirements
After the first few failures, I made a list of specific requirements for a blender. The blender should be able to
- Make coconut chutney and grind coconut into a thin paste for curries and stews
- Should be able to grind a small amount of ingredients to make green coriander mint chutney without too much water
- Dry Grinding- Should be able to grind dry coriander seeds into a thin powder
- Should be able to make smooth dosa batter.
When buying blenders, one of the most important specifications to note is the wattage. In India, I used the 1000 Watts Bosch blender. I recommend it to everyone. It was a workhorse of my kitchen. If I go back to India, I will rebuy this.
In the US, I haven't found a 1000-watt blender with a small jar for chutneys.
What not to buy
First, what not to buy. Do not buy anything on discount. If it's on discount, it's not selling; the only reason it's not selling is that it's not good enough.
You need heavy-duty, stable, good-quality stuff for indian cooking, and this time, a deal will only make you spend more in the long run. I speak from experience.
Ninja compact kitchen system—I bought this from Costco and used it on an everyday basis for my family of three. The dough and food processor bowl broke in three months, and they didn't have any options for return, repair, or even buying a brand new one. I am extremely disappointed and would not recommend buying at all!
Instant Pot Mixer/Blender—My brother bought this in Toronto, and it worked fine for about five months, after which there was no way to repair it.It was a big waste of time and money.I can't even link it because the product is no longer sold.
KitchenAid Food Processor—This is fine for cutting vegetables, but the jar breaks while making dough. The blending function is subpar, and you cannot even make smooth hummus in this.So, it's a pass.
Vitamix Legacy—This machine is great for blending large quantities, but at this price point, I would want it to do everything! It's not suitable for small amounts of spices or chutneys. If it had a small chutney jar, I would buy it, though I have heard that it heats up and messes up the fermentation of dosa batter.
Vitamix was not only out of budget but it didnt do everything. After reading hundreds of reviews of indian women on Reddit and on Facebook groups, I decided it didn't suit my needs. I needed something that could make idli dosa batter and chutneys.
Hamilton Beach Engineered in India & USA—This has been on my list forever. When they first released it in India, all cooking enthusiasts were in a tizzy. If you have used it, please leave a comment, but going by the reviews on Amazon, it seems like it's a hit or miss.
Best Value for money blender
My first recommendation is a budget option. You can get it on amazon, walmart and some bigger Indian stores.
Preethi Eco Twin Jar Mixer Grinder, 550-Watt
This is the best budget option for a mixie that will last and not buckle under the pressure of heavy Indian usage. It's already adapted for US voltage, so no conversion business is needed.
Pros
- Cheaper than most other options.
- There are two steel jars: a smaller one for chutneys and whole spices and a larger one for blending batter, smoothies, and curries.
Con
- It will need to be handwashed. It's not dishwasher safe.
- Would like another jar for frozen smoothies.
My mother-in-law and aunties have had this brand for 10-15 years without any problems. The replacement jars are readily available on Amazon. I would stay away from the blue leaf line from preethi. My mother had it in India and it was not great for coconut grinding.
Best blender for indian cooking
If your budget allows it or you have a bigger family, then I recommend buying multiple gadgets, especially if you do any South Indian cooking involving the making of dosa batter.
In addition to the Preethi 3 jar mixer grinder, I suggest a wet grinder for dosa batter and coconut scraping.
Ultra is the most famous Indian wet grinder brand. I had a 2 liter Ultra grinder in India and used it without any problems, though it was cumbersome to clean, extremely heavy, and took up too much counter space.
But the batter it made was just unbeleivable.It is fermented to perfection in the grinder itself every single time.
Here, given my small kitchen and no help, my options were an Ultra mini grinder or a Premier kitchen tilting grinder. I ended up buying the mini because i figured it will be easier to clean.
Other brands suggested were Blendtech and oster. I havent tested them but if you have used these successfully, do comment and tell us your story!
After moving to the USA recently, I had to buy everything from scratch. After a lot of trial and error, speaking to many Indian immigrants in the USA, and looking at Facebook groups, I have finally arrived at a list of mixers and food processors that work for Indian cooking in the USA.
This post is my first in a series of tips and tricks for Indian cooking when not in India! While I compile all the information, I have created an Amazon storefront with all my Indian kitchen essentials.It has everything that works for me in my small kitchen, where I have to make most Indian food from scratch.
Leave a Reply