Indian Kitchen: Meet the Mandoline

Today marks the debut of another great blogging event called the "Indian Kitchen", a brain-child of Indira. In this event, Indira suggests that we focus on the tools of the trade for making Indian cuisine, as well as unique ingredients that we use. What a great idea!
Just yesterday, I made meshed potato chips so for this episode, I decided to show off the little mandoline that helped me make them:

I have to confess that I don't even know the Indian word for "mandoline", I think they are just called "slicers". On my last visit to India, my mom and I went shopping and ended up in a kitchen supply store. I love these stores...filled from floor to ceiling with pots and pans and so many interesting kitchen tools. This is one thing we bought at the time, for the princely sum of Rs.65 (about US $1.50). I love this mandoline and use it very often. There are two blades on it, one straight and one crinkled. Made of metal, I think this sturdy mandoline should serve me for quite a few years.
The two most common uses of a mandoline in the Indian kitchen are:
1) To cut potatoes into plain, crinkled or meshed slices, dry them in the summer sun and store the dried slices for use throughout the year. VKN of "My Dhaba" has written a very informative post about this.
2) To cut cucumbers, radishes and beets into slices that are arranged decoratively on a platter to serve as a salad.
Thanks Indira, for thinking of this event, and I know I will be an eager participant!