Useful Kitchen Tips

Frozen Tomato Puree Cubes

•  While making Medu vada/Urad daal vada add 1-2 teaspoon ful of Rice flour. This makes the vadas crisp.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar to the dosa batter to get crispier and golden color dosas.
• When making stuffed Bhindi, Baigan, Sponge gourd etc. stuff the vegetables and keep at least for 6-8 hrs. in fridge . This will ensure that all the spices of stuffing gets seeped in the vegetable. The vegetable will tastes amazing.
• While making coconut or ground nut chutney add 2 teaspoon roasted urd daal. The chutney will taste super and texture will become silky.
• When making halwa add 2-3 teaspoon ghee after halwa is cooked. Switch off the heat and cover. This will give halwa a great flavor.
• While making cluster beans after cleaning break them into big pieces or cut into small pieces then boil them in salted water for 10 minutes. This will remove the bitterness of beans and the vegetable will also become softer and tastier.
• While making the dough of puri/samosa/gujiya use chilled water to make the dough, let the dough rest for an hour or so. The puri/samosa/gujiya will come out crisp but soft.
• Add salt in Bhindi/Lady finger sabzi add salt only after 5-10 minutes of cooking. By then the slimy thing dries up.
• Soak the garlic in water for 1 hr. before peeling them. This will ease the peeling of garlic.
• While making sambhar add 1 teaspoon rice to daal. It will give the sambhar a silky texture.
• While making paneer tikka add little corn flour or rice flour to the marinade. This will make the paneer tikka crisp.
• To store paneer, cut it to required pieces and in a no-stick pan sear it on both side to light brown color. Paneer will remain soft and nice for longer time in fridge.
• In season when tomatoes, lemon are available in plentiful and are less expensive, store them by freezing their puree/juice. 
• Lemons can be stored whole afetr good wash and drying them up.

https://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-to-preserve-lemon-juice.html

https://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2013/03/preserving-whole-fresh-lemons.html
http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.in/2014/02/how-to-preserve-tomato-puree.html

• While cooking onion for gravy or any vegetable add little salt to it , Onion wll take lesser time to cook.
• Place a folded tissue paper on the container base  and one on the top of the chopped onions, while storing chopped oinions. Strong smell and moisture will be absorbed by tissue paper. Change the top tissue paper after every two days if stoting chopped onions in the fridge for longer time.
• While storing peeled garlic place tissue paper on the base of container and on the top of peeled garlic. Sulphurish strong smell will be absorbed by the tissue. 
• Make gravy/gravy masala and store in freezer. It comes very handy when short of time or energy.
• When rice and urad daal is being soaked for #Dosa/#Idli add 1teaspoon of fenugreek seeds and grind them to paste along with soaked rice and daal. This will make idlies fluffy and dosa crisp.