Kitchen skill 1 of 15

Andaz and measures

Andaz: measuring by eye

Bhatia kitchens have always run on andaz: a pinch of this, a handful of that, judged by eye. The recipes on Vaghar write it down in spoons and cups instead, so a dish turns out the same every time. Learn these few measures first and every recipe reads the same way.

How the measures work

A teacup (cup) holds 240 ml, a tablespoon (tbsp) 15 ml and a teaspoon (tsp) 5 ml. A pinch is about 1 ml.
Spoons of dry ingredients are heaped unless the recipe says “level”; spoons of liquid are filled to the brim.
Cups are filled to the brim, for flour and rice as well as for water and milk.
By weight, a cup of rice or dal is about 200 g, and a cup of flour about 150 g.
“To taste” means start with a little, taste, and add more if it needs it.

You’ll know it’s right when

Use the same teacup and spoons each time, and a dish comes out the same each time.

Watch out for

Levelling spoons that should be heaped: the dish comes out under-spiced.
Packing flour down into the cup: it holds more than the recipe means.

Tips

Every recipe can be made at half, double or triple the amounts, and the Grams switch shows cups as grams.
The kitchen guide has the full table of measures and weights.