/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>18669730
You've got two options if you want Indian food anywhere near the ballpark of what you get at the restaurant. The first is you just nut up and buy like 15 spices. There's no "basic spice set;" you genuinely need all that shit. For example, my saag paneer recipe requires: cumin seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, black onion seeds, garlic and ginger paste, and I fry it in seasoned oil which is a byproduct of my base curry sauce which is made from a bunch of shit like coriander, fenugreek, fennel seeds, cardamom pods, cassia leaves, etc. The good news is that most of this is fairly cheap in bulk at an Indian grocer; you can get all set up for like $100.
Your other option is to get the little premixed spice packets like pic related. These are blends of many of the aforementioned spices, and will tell you on the back what other ingredients you need, plus instructions to make the dish. This might be a good option for you if you aren't ready to commit to a whole new spice rack.