Fait-Tout

“Fait-tout” is French for “do everything” and this large saucepan/pot in my kitchen, called a “Fait-Tout”, really does do everything.

Whether I need a thick bottomed pan for making paneer, kheer, coconut laddoos or carrot halwa; a large sized pot for cooking sphaghetti or making a large batch of soup which involves sauteing and then simmering a lot of vegetables for a long time; a pan that is large enough to accommodate as many gulabjamuns as one packet of the Gits mixture produces (at least 30-40) without squashing/smashing any of them – this pot is the perfect answer.

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Coconut Grater

Could anything be simpler or quicker for the purpose?

I am eternally grateful to my sister in law Vasanti for introducing me to this cool little implement. Shri has now mastered the art of using it too, and makes quick work of grating both halves of a fresh coconut as he watches television or talks to the girls.

An Ancient Chopper

I have yet to find an equivalent machine here for making the peanut koot that goes in to a great carrot salad, in khamang kakdi and in peanut raita.

Other grinders I have tried to use for this make too fine a powder out of the peanuts, not the almost even-sized little pieces I like my koot to be made up of, that retain a bite.

So though the lid of the bowl has a crack now and a piece of the jar has broken off the base somewhere along the way in the 12 years since I bought it, I hang on to it…