Chef's table: Here’s how to stock your pantry during the lockdown

As lockdowns are now a certainty in most cities how should you stock up your pantry and refrigerator in the healthiest way possible?

If you have been living on the same street for a long time, you would probably know the local vegetable vendor who arrives with his vegetable cart full of fresh produce every day. Buying fresh vegetables every day is wonderful, but you might not able to do that anymore when lockdowns in the city are imposed indefinitely.

How can you stay better prepared? The last time the lockdown happened, I did not anticipate it at all. I ended up with nothing in my pantry except for lentils, rice and some local vegetables. Next time around, I decided that I would prepare myself better.

How can you have a healthy pantry?

The first thing that you need to do is to clear out anything in your refrigerator that is spoilt. Rotting vegetables can spoil everything in your fridge, and this happens more often than not.

Stocking your refrigerator to capacity also depends on how much space you have. I have one refrigerator, and I have to see that I manage space well. As for other pantry essentials, you can store them outside, provided that you have storage boxes to keep lentils and rice, free of pests.

Organised planning is the key to optimal storage

If you want your mind to be relaxed, think of what your ancestors used to do. There were no refrigerators. Vegetables might have been supplied every day by local farms, but some vegetables would have had to be stored within the house. Begin from that space.

Plan meals that contain adequate fats, fibre, proteins, complex carbohydrates and micronutrients. You can get vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients from vegetables and fruits. Which ones can you stock up and which ones will also help you stay healthy?

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Stock up on healthy fats

Begin with stocking up on fats that you may need. You might have some local and traditional fats and oils that you like to use. You need adequate high smoking point oils for cooking like ghee, coconut oil and sesame oil.

You also need some healthy fats that you can use raw like extra virgin olive oil for salads and nut oils. You can also stock up on nuts and seeds like cashews, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and chia. These are great to make nut milks, blend into gravies, toast into snacks or even just to be eaten raw. Keep them in cool spaces.

You can also stock up on some perishable fats like avocados but not too much as they probably will not last too long. Buy plenty of organic nut butters which can be blended into smoothies, spread onto a roti or just eaten as a snack.

Buy into protein power

When it comes to proteins, plant-based ones are much more likely to last, although you can definitely stock up on some fresh fish fillets in your freezer and have some free-range eggs in your refrigerator.

Stock up on masoor, toor, moong, rajma, chana, lobia and black dal. All of these are great, and these are what kept me going through the first lockdown, when I started running out of fresh produce. Soak them and use them in curries, make a simple dal, transform them into breads or patties, and they will keep you going through any lockdown.

You can also have some tofu in your refrigerator, but it will not last too long. Green peas are great to have in your freezer, and I missed them terribly in lockdown!

Invest in the staples

Grains are staples. Although there is a lot of emphasis on low carb and grain free diets globally, unless you have some serious condition that requires you to be that way, whole grains are great for fibre!

Stock up on rice, boiled rice, red rice, black rice, amaranth, quinoa, millet and buckwheat. You can also have all these grains as flours, to help you make rotis, parathas and bakes. They can be a great addition to a well-stocked pantry.

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Go vegetable shopping

When it comes to vegetables, some of them can last outside, provided they are kept free of pests. These include beets, carrots, tapioca, yams, sweet potatoes, onions, pumpkin, arbi, raw banana and ginger. Stock up on other vegetables which you might like, that include bhindi, different gourds, leafy greens, cucumber and cabbage as much as you have space. This should also include fresh coriander and mint leaves.

Replenish your spice box

By the end of the last lockdown, my cooking became more and more bland, as I had not anticipated the problems and had run out of spices! Yikes! Can you imagine Indian food without spices?

So, make sure you have enough turmeric, chillies, pepper, cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, your favorite curry powder, sambar powder, asafetida and whatever else you need. You can also include preservative free sauces like tamari and barbecue sauce into it! Think about dry condiments like mustard, jeera, ajwain, coriander and methi seeds as well.

Freeze and puree fruit

When it comes to fruit, what you can do is to store fruits like pears and apples in the refrigerator. I sometimes puree perishable fruit like mangoes and cherries and store them in the freezer to use in quick smoothies. Think about those which will not last fresh, and then you can freeze them instead.

One day of making a list from here can help you to plan, procure and organise your pantry so well, that in case of many more sudden lockdowns, you’ve got yourself well covered!