Kitchen starter checklist for a new home in Kenya
A new Kenyan kitchen can start with a 5-piece sufuria set, a 28 cm frying pan, a 24-piece cutlery set and a 2 L flask. Add a pressure cooker when beans become a weekly pot.
People over-buy dinner sets and under-buy pots. You can eat off enamel plates from the first night. You cannot cook ugali in a frying pan for a week without hating the house.
The first four pieces
| Piece | Why it is first |
|---|---|
| 5-piece aluminium sufuria set | Sauce through gathering pot, with lids |
| 28 cm frying pan | Eggs, fries, a quick chapati |
| 24-piece cutlery | A table of six without borrowing |
| 2 L vacuum flask | Tea that lasts the morning |
Those four are the aluminium sufuria set, the 28 cm frying pan, the 24-piece cutlery set and the 2 L vacuum flask.
Add in the first month
A 7 litre pressure cooker if you cook beans or ndengu often. A ladle and serving spoon set so you stop using the cooking spoon on the table. A 24 cm baking tin only if you have an oven you actually switch on.
What can wait
A 47-piece dinner set can wait. A 60 cm degchi can wait. A triple chafing dish can wait unless you cater. Storage drums and crates belong with Kamukunji Plastics, not on this first list.
Gifts
If you are buying for a wedding or a new house, send the couple this page and ask which heat they have. Gas, coil and jiko change the pan, not the sufuria. We can pack a starter as one WhatsApp order and deliver in Nairobi the same day when stock allows.
A chama gift is different from a couple gift. A chama can share a 36 cm pot. A couple in a bedsitter needs the 24 cm and 28 cm more than a hotel ladle. Say how many people live in the house. We will not upsell a 50 cm pot into a studio.
All of this sits on kitchen starter sets and in the shop. Compare sizes on the size guide before you add a second pot you will not lift.