What to Bring from America

So, this blog is about learning to cook American food using ingredients available in India. But let's face it...you HAVE to have a few things from America in order to really make American food.

Thankfully, before we moved to India, some friends already living there were able to give me some suggestions of things to bring over from America that aren’t available in India. Like deodarant - yeah, someone figure that one out. Or fitted bedsheets. Did you know those were a luxury, Americans? They just wrap a flat sheet around the bed here and it never stays on straight. 

But I digress; that has nothing to do with cooking.

Here’s my list of what I’d recommend bringing with you from America - a lot of this is purely based on preference though. If you don't ever use something that's listed, then you don't need it! What’s available varies greatly from city to city, and obviously in smaller villages nothing Western is going to be at your fingertips. This is based on my experience in Kolkata, but I know places like Delhi have a few more imported items readily available. Some of these spices may not be things that you normally use, but if so, you can’t find them here.

**August 2015 edit - before you pack anything from America, hop onto Amazon.in and search to see if they have it. Amazon.in has totally changed the ballgame on what's available in India. I've seen vanilla extract on there, I've seen liquid measuring cups - almost anything is available on there now. But a lot of things are still really expensive. So maybe check out your list on Amazon, see what the price is, and then decide if you want to purchase it here or pack it from America.

Baking items:

*Chocolate chips. In abundance, if you’re like me and put them in every baked good possible.  **EDIT: We've actually recently found mini chocolate chips in Kolkata at one random bake shop. No guarantees on availability on these though! 

* Vanilla extract (or peppermint/almond, any other kind you enjoy).
* Dream Whip packets - we have actually found one kind of cream here that is a high enough fat content to whip into whipped cream, but if this is a major need for your pies, you might bring some just in case.
* Crisco - if you're particular about using it for pie crusts, cookies, etc. However, Indians have a version of shortening called "Dalda" that works the same if you can find it.
* Sprinkles (Christmas sugar cookies, anyone?)
* Marshmallows, if that's your thing. Or I guess for sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving (they do have sweet potatoes here! The outsides are purple and the insides are white, but they taste just similar to the orange American ones).

Spices:

* Chili powder – if this is a spice you cook with frequently, I’d recommend bringing some from America. The chili/chile powder they sell here is UNBELIEVABLY hot. I am not joking. The first time I tried it I had to rinse the chicken off with water and it still made my eyes tear up.

* Onion powder

* Garlic powder – they have garlic paste and fresh garlic in abundance, but not garlic powder
(**EDIT: Just this past month, July of 2015, our grocery store started carrying onion powder and garlic powder, so you may not need these).

* Taco seasoning packets – you can obviously make your own if you bring the spices needed, or else stock up on some premade packets.

* Any kind of Mexican/fajita type seasonings. 

* Dry Ranch/Italian dressing powder
* Pumpkin pie spice (I highly recommend Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus Spice blend - larger quantity and smaller price than the little jars at the grocery store!)
* Corn Syrup, if you like to use it (I didn't personally bring any)
* Cream of Tartar (again, if you use it, I didn't)
* Powdered Gravy packets, for Thanksgiving or whenever

Miscellaneous:

* Bacon bits – if you like adding that bacon flavor to foods  like green beans (who doesn’t?) I’d recommend tossing in a bag of store bought bacon bits, the real bacon kind. Because many Hindus are pure vegetarians and Muslims also don’t eat pork, pork products can be hard to find or low in quality when you do find them. I love having the bag of premade bacon bits to sprinkle into dishes.

* Grated parmesan cheese, if you like cooking with it. Once, again, it's expensive if you find it here.
* Jello and Pudding packets
* The french fried onions, if you want to make green bean casserole for Thanksgiving
* Cream of mushroom soup - for green bean casserole

* Decaf coffee – Don’t waste your suitcase space on normal coffee, because we discovered the most amazing website ever, www.bluetokaicoffee.com where you can order amazing, great quality coffee that they deliver right to your door in a matter of days. But decaf is very expensive, so pack a bag or two if you enjoy the taste without the punch sometimes.

* Drink packets, like Crystal Light etc.
* A good chef's knife - good knives here aren't as easy to come by, so I'm thankful for a friend's advice to pack my own chef's knife when I'm chopping veggies
* A liquids measuring cup. You can find the measuring cups for dry ingredients here, but the only liquids measuring cup I found was in mL, and that was too annoying to convert all the time. (now available on amazon.in, but expensive)
* Cooling racks for cookies/muffins
* Wax paper for baking etc. Or you can just use parchment paper from Amazon.in

Just For Fun:
Here are some of our favorite things to pack just for fun, when you need a taste of America
* Velveeta
* Cans of Rotel
* Summer Sausage
* Jiffy cornbread & yellow cake mix
* Pepperoni
* Quick baking mixes - cornbread, muffins, garlic biscuits, etc. These aren't essential, but just fun to have every now and then!