Continuing from my earlier post “Bits and tips to keep your pantry well stocked” Part -1 (Read it here), in this post let us look into other household shopping requirements.
Most of us shop for our groceries including toiletries, once a month. But in the times of yore, people used to stock up their grains and other items once a year. In my Ajji’s house we had a room tucked in the pathway that led from the living room to the kitchen called as “Kothi kholi”. This room had the yearly supply of pulses, wheat, maize, tamarind, turmeric, salt and other items. Of course, smaller quantities of these were stored in the kitchen for daily use and as and when these were exhausted, they would be refilled from the pantry. Multiple rice bags each weighing 100Kgs were piled one over the other and were placed on a wooden plank in the portico area near the entrance. As I write this post, I am recollecting how my Ajji’s house was well designed to cater to various aspects. Only a dedicated post can do justice to the marvel of the design of the house.
Those were the times when most of the produce used to come from the family farms or from a faraway place – remember the retail industry with its supply chains is a recent phenomenon. However, this also ensured basic food supplies for the entire year was guaranteed in the eventuality of any natural calamities or financial crisis.
Not just at my grandmother’s house but even at my mom’s place we had a room called “Akki cheelada kholi” which literally translates to “Rice Bags Room”. Mom would buy 3 to 4 rice bags each weighing 100 kg, which were stacked on a low height wooden plank. She would also buy yearly supplies of toor daal, urad daal etc and store these in large stainless-steel boxes in the storeroom. Rice would age naturally in these bags. Again, the rationale was cost saving as new harvest of rice is much cheaper than aged rice and also the basic daal rice supplies were available throughout the year and we were protected from the vagaries of the market where prices used to go up significantly.
While I haven’t personally seen my Mother-in-law buy rice and daal in bulk after my marriage, but she used to do the same in earlier years and, for this purpose, we still do have two large 25Kgs capacity steel containers that were used to store rice. Currently these dabbas are used for storing other unused extra vessels and are tucked away in a corner.
With changing times, where retail industry has become mainstream, with space constraints in most of the current day urban homes, stocking yearlong grocery supplies is not practical. Stocking the grains safely ensuring there are no worms or pests’ infestation are an added burden to the already Uber busy urban life. So, our timeline and shopping frequency has now shrunk from once a year to a month. From a cost savings perspective, the money saved in buying groceries in bulk for a year can never compensate the loss we suffer if god forbid pests and worms infest these grains. For the current times where everyone is busy, monthly shopping seems most practical.
Master List – Why
We all know deleting something from a list is much easier than typing a new entry into it and we do tend to forget one item or the other during any shopping trip; Therefore, it is a good idea to take time and create an exhaustive master list with different categories. We all have some kind of gadgets with us these days, be it mobile, Tablets, Laptops etc. so we can create a list on our phones or laptops. Every month, we can create a copy of this master list and strike off / delete the items which we don’t need for that month and also update the quantities required.
Segregation and Categorisation always helps in managing any lists. So, our grocery list also should be categorised into multiple sections for ease of managing.
Categories
- Grains and Pulses
- Spices
- Nuts
- Breakfast items
- Oils and Ghee
- Dairy Products
- Beverages
- Toiletries
- Personal Care
- Pet Care
- Gardening
- Stationeries
Deep Dive: Let us deep dive into each category.
People from different regions have different requirements of pulses and grains, oils etc so we will go through some guiding principles and not prescribed must follow list.
- Grains and Pulses:
List all the grains you would ever use beginning with the one you use daily and moving on to the ones you don’t use frequently. Try to buy whole grains and unhusked pulses ones if available. These provide wholesome nutrition.
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- Rice: Sonmasuri, Kollam, Brown rice, Basmati rice etc whichever variety you eat or a combo of one or more of these,
- Roti Flour and others: Wheat flour, Bajra, Jowar, Ragi, Makai(corn), besan, maida etc
- Daals: toor daal, Urad daal, masoor daal, chana daal, moong daal, Kabuli chana, Kaala chana etc,
- Millets if you use them.
- Peanuts, Roasted chana etc
- Spices:
Again, every region has different Spices that are used for the regional/local cuisines. We are also now a global citizen cooking Thai to Italian, Mediterranean to Lebanese. One may cook a variety more often than others so again prepare the list from regularly used masalas to not so frequently used ones which are easier to be deleted for that month. Always advisable to make fresh batch of spice powders/mixes at home which will not have any preservatives or artificial colours or flavours added. But however, if you are one of those with a time crunch, do go for store bought powders n mixes.
In this list include
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- Seasoning items like Mustard, cumin seeds, Carrom seeds(ajwain), Hing, etc, and
- Spice Powders like Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Dry ginger powder, cinnamon powder,
- Readymade mix masala powders: Garam Masala powder, Rasam Powder, sambar powder etc, Snacks masala: Pav bhaji masala, pan puri masala powder, Chaat masala etc,
- Whole Spices: Coriander, Cloves, elaichi, nutmeg etc. Also include your Salt, Chilli Powder, jaggery, Sesame, poppy seeds,tamarind etc.
3. Nuts and Dry fruits:
These provide a healthy option for our body’s fat requirements. I Include these as monthly items and consume at least 2 types of nuts a day. Cashew, Almonds, Dates, dry coconut etc.
4. Breakfast Items:
Sabudana, Poha, Wheat/ Bansi Rava, Bombay Rava, Oats, Murmura/Puffed rice, Semiya/ vermicelli etc. Again, I am not including Cornflakes, ready-made oatmeal or porridge mixes as I prefer to eat a fresh cooked meal vs eating from a package.
5. Oils and Ghee:
I have been using cold pressed organic peanut oil regularly and also use virgin Coconut oil along with mustard oil for certain Kerala and Bengali recipes. With my recent interest in Baking coconut oil comes handy and gives a great flavour to cookies and cakes. Ghee: again, we use home-made ghee regularly and our ghee shopping is restricted to one odd small bottle which is used for making prasadams.
6. Dairy products:
Keep a Tetra pack of milk as a backup use when your daily supply milk may not be available. Usually these Tetra packs have a shelf life of 6 months so you can order these once in 6 months and use it up before the expiry date. You can also stock up your Butter and cheese for the month.
7. Beverages: Coffees, Tea powders, Health drinks like Bournvita, Boost, Honey etc
8. Toiletries:
Include all your cleansing liquids like floor cleaners, bath room cleaners, sanitisers, hand wash refill packs, glass cleaners, etc. Also include your monthly supply of toilet papers. Always ensure you order that extra bit, so as to ensure you don’t run out of supplies towards the month end.
Please explore Bio enzymes, Chemical free natural cleansers now available in the market. As I type it here, I am also in the process of starting to learn and use natural and sustainable options. e.g. You can use Soap nut cases for your washing machine loads instead of Washing powder. It is a long journey and I am taking one step at a time.
9. Personal Care/ Hygiene:
List your Soaps, face washes, scrubs, deodorants, tooth pastes, sanitary pads, wet wipes, hair oils, etc. Many people have specific brand choices and hence it is better to manage this category separately. I recommend to Explore natural chemical free options. Invest time to read and research about products it will be worth it. Ear buds, Tooth brushes, can also be included in this list. We do have lot of natural alternatives coming up for these, do look out for Bamboo tooth brushes, natural tooth powders, scrubs etc
10. Pet Care:
Most houses now have a Pet member with them. Its good idea to include their supplies and accessories into the monthly shopping list as well. We don’t have one yet, but eventually will have one as my daughter is very very fond of furry friends.
11. Gardening:
It’s a good idea to start your garden be it a balcony garden or terrace garden or a proper ground garden. I strongly recommend that one’s garden should be 100 % sustainable; but to reach there one would, initially, need regular supplies including seeds, compost manure etc. If you order your monthly grocery supplies from a local supermarket, it is a good idea to order for these as well.
12. Stationeries:
Have you ever been in a situation where it is post dinner time and your kid comes up to you and asks for a spare pen or chart paper or eraser or glue stick for a project work submission due next morning. This happens to me regularly, and over a period of time I have learnt to keep a stock of these art supplies and stationeries with me.
So while the above may look too elaborate, believe me once you have your Master key err Master copy it is just a matter of copy paste to a new month’s list, delete individual items or sections which are not required for that month, update quantities and send it out to your local shop guy or supermarket. Even if you shop on Amazon keeping this list will be handy so that you may not miss an item.
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Oota ayita 