Going to the grocery store, smelling the fresh produce, walking down the different aisles is my retail therapy. I always found my trips to the grocery store therapeutic and calming.

Although I prefer cooking seasonal food and shop based on the availability, I have a list of constants in my pantry. I have categorized the necessities into 7 groups.

• Fresh produce: Vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage can be stored longer. So I prefer cooking them towards the end of a meal cycle, whereas eggplant/brinjal or spinach are cooked earlier. I have always found keeping a box of mushrooms and peppers makes it easier to prepare a quick meal. You can either make an omelet, stuffed crepes, quesadillas, or fried rice. Other than that, green chilies and coriander leaves are a must in my stock. I always remove the chilies stems, chop the leaves and store them in air containers in the refrigerator so that they remain fresh for a longer time. Other vegetables like potatoes (stored in a dark, dry place), red onions, ginger, garlic, and limes are always kept in stock. Although a bag of frozen peas cannot be included in the fresh produce category, it is convenient. You can make peas pulao by adding a little garam masala, ghee/butter, salt, and peas while cooking plain rice. Coming to the fruits, I love berries and bananas as you can make smoothies, have them with yogurt, or use as dessert toppings.
• Dry and bulk purchase: As rice is part of my staple diet. I always have a bag of basmati rice in stock. Along with it, I have masoor dal (red lentils), moong dal (yellow lentil), noodles, flour, semolina, chickpea flour, and cashew in stock. A handful of cashew or cashew paste can give any dish a richer taste. Dal is an integral part of Indian cuisine, and we can cook many different recipes with a single type of dal.
• Diary/ Oil: This list includes vegetable oil, mustard oil, ghee, butter, cheese, and cream cheese. Other essentials are yogurt, milk, and fresh cream.
• Protein: One thing that you will always find in my refrigerator is a carton of eggs. You can make breakfast, bake a cake, or make egg curry. A bag of shrimps can come handy. It can add a flavourful note to a stir fry, a cauliflower roast, or cabbage sabzi. Other than that, I also keep a pack of chicken, beef/goat meat, fish, pork chops, and paneer in the freezer. I prefer using pork chops for Asian dishes or for a quick mid-week dinner like pork chops in mushroom sauce. I also keep a pack of ground meat for dumplings or meatballs.
• Spices and condiments: Although Indian cooking may require a wide range of spices and that might seem intimidating. Adding spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, red chili, and garam masala powder to the pantry can be a good start. If you prefer making your own spice mix like me, you can buy cinnamon sticks, green and black cardamom, star anise, nutmeg, mace, and bay leaves. Other spices include poppy seeds, mustard seeds and panchforon (Bengali five spice), black pepper, baking powder, cocoa powder, and vanilla essence.
• Bakery: A loaf of bread and bag of garlic toasts for breakfast, and packets of naans and frozen parathas can be used for quesadillas, rolls, and wraps.

Although these are the essentials from my kitchen, I hope it helps you to plan your grocery trips. You may be new to the adulting thing, someone who does not like grocery shopping or always miss something at the store; I hope this list helps you.

Image courtesy: Aditi Nair