As a novice investor, I'm curious whether one should start with ETFs or MFs?

Depends on if someone is a saver or a spender by nature.

For savers, an ETF serves best.

For spenders, a Direct MF is preferred.

The best Equity mutual funds are Nifty50 index funds. They have low expense ratio and also no exit load. Besides these are safe cause Nifty50 can never crash over a long term and these funds follow Nifty50 index. I prefer UTI Nifty50 index fund cause it has low tracking error. SIP in index funds are a good option. Also Nifty Bees ETF is a good option. Nippon Nifty Bees are very popular and trade with high volumes. Remember to always accumulate instead of panic selling during market crashes