Anand Natrajan
In the following sections, I will describe some ingredients used in Indian cooking. A general usage of the item is described under the Notes heading. The Quantity heading describes typical quantities you could use if you wish to bring out the flavour of that item in your dish. Naturally, you may wish to change the quantities as per your taste. The suggested quantities are meant so that you do not use ridiculously large or ineffectually small quantities of the item. Of course, multiple items may interfere with or enhance the flavour of each other, and the only way to discover that is by experimentation.
The Miscellaneous section may give hints on what items go well with each other, where you may encounter a taste of the item or any tidbit I find interesting. The Preparation heading is meant to give hints on how to best use the item. The Caution section is meant to warn you about pitfalls with the item or its preparation. I suggest Alternatives ingredients, but I am not usually fond of using the alternatives. Typically, if there is more than one alternative, they are listed in decreasing order of preference.
I encourage you to experiment. Maybe a few dishes here and there will be inedible, even to your pet, but eventually you will get a feel for cooking well. A few words of advice: It's difficult to screw up a dish.