Looking for knives (Nakiri, Santoku, Gyuto) for home cook with good edge retention

[Kumar]

I've always wondered about the knives in India. Ancient country with a huge population. There must be some traditional patterns there but I certainly haven't found any mention of them.

The ones you get from regular shops suck big time. Plus, most Indian homes are used to just having a paring knife for all their work.

Sorry DP.

Thanks for the suggestions, keep em coming

[daveb]

Too many vegetarians in India to have a wide spectrum of knives. Not a fan of Santoku but Nakiri and short Gyuto are good choices. Diamond plate(s) may help meet your weight and cube requirements. And Maxim will ship knives, stones, just about anywhere.

BTW, $300 nakiri on b/s/t for $200 right now. (Hope shameless plugs ok)

[Kumar]

Too many vegetarians in India to have a wide spectrum of knives. Not a fan of Santoku but Nakiri and short Gyuto are good choices. Diamond plate(s) may help meet your weight and cube requirements. And Maxim will ship knives, stones, just about anywhere.

BTW, $300 nakiri on b/s/t for $200 right now. (Hope shameless plugs ok)

Which one? I think they all sold out

[Pensacola Tiger]

Which one? I think they all sold out

This one:

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/sh...rt-Ealy-Nakiri

[Seb]

Watching episode two of 'Rick Stein's India' where he uses what he calls 'my 40-rupee Indian knife' which to me looks like a KU-clad carbon nakiri with a curved blue plastic handle.

[Kumar]

Got that Ealy Nakiri, suggestions on Santoku/Gyuto welcome!

[mikemac]

Weight is going to be a big issue, I have been in the US for 10.5 years now, moving back home. 2 bags, 23 pounds each. Every 0.5 lb counts
....

Way under budget, but either the Hiromoto G3 or Carbonext for the santoku & gyuto. I have a G3 gyuto and I'm always amazed at how great a knife & value it is. I'm not much of a fan of the santoku & nakiri combo...so similiar in profile. But I do like the "half height" cleaver in place of the nakiri. JCK has one that's 220 x 83 for around $100.

For sharpening, you can get a whole lot of wet-dry for not much cash and it won't weigh much, but I'd recommend the Norton 1k/4k combo stone. It's big (8x3), got good grit combo, and not a lot of money.

Seriously, 3 knives and a stone for about one-half your intended budget - who says 12 step programs don't work!

[Seb]

Every country in the world with anything close to free trade including Japan has racks of Chinese knives. But before those, there must have been some traditional patterns in India.

Say, what are those ones they use in the villages called where the cutting edge is mounted to a stand or pot?

Oh, here we go...



Aha... 'Bonti':

http://www.indiacurry.com/faqapplian...iankitchen.htm

Holy Moley!

http://ishouldcocoa.files.wordpress....pg?w=455&h=302

[Amon-Rukh]

For the santoku I would check out maksim's zensho line at jns.

[Noodle Soup]

I knew about bonti's but squatting on my heels with that big curved blade between my legs isn't something I'm really interested in doing. If you look close at that photo there also seem to be a large number of other types of knives behind the bonti's. Thanks for the photo Seb.