Despite of being a regular hand in the kitchen some times practical difficulties are faced. This blog has taken shape from the experience of my elders passed on to me when i was a new bee in the kitchen and saved me from many difficulties. I dedicate this blog to my granny, mother and all those ladies who taught me the finer points of kitchen.
- Make puree of tomatoes when less expensive and store in fridge as cubes. Handy and easy to use for one and all.
- While making the gravy for any vegetable, chicken, mutton, Rajama, Chana .
- Do not make paste of onion, garlic, ginger and then fry.
- Instead, first cut the onions, garlic and ginger to pieces.
- Shallow fry them using little oil in a nonstick thick bottom wok.
- Once the mix of onion, garlic, ginger is golden brown allow it to cool and then grind.
You will save time, energy and of course the oil required will also be reduced. Thus making the food less oily!!!
- Instead of buying garlic, ginger pastes from market make it at home.
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| Home Made Ginger-Garlic Paste |
- For working ladies and mothers with very small children it is really helpful to store the cooked paste of onion, garlic and ginger in the fridge
The cooked paste can be stored in deep freeze for a month without
getting spoilt. Just take the required amount, thaw it and use.!!!!!!!!!:)
- If by mistake salt is added in excess then
- Take a medium size potato.
- Wash, peel and cut it to 4 big pieces,
- Add it to the vegetable along with little water and cook the vegetable gravy to required thickness.
- Potato will absorb the salt and save you from trouble.
This can be done for vegetables with gravy, not to dry vegetables.
- If during cooking food gets stuck to the bottom of the container and starts getting burnt,
- Do not scrape it immediately.
- Remove the lid and allow it to cool so that the burnt smell escapes.
- Once cooled remove the food layer by layer without disturbing the burnt part.
- Old bread from the fridge should not be discarded but can be cut to 2 cm. pieces and added to Poha.
- Old bread can be dried and powdered to use as crust for making cutlets/ fish fry.
- To maintain green color of spinach in Palak Paneer,
- Dunk the cleaned and washed spinach in salted boiling water and remove after 2-3 min.
- Grind it to thick and added the paste to the paneer masala and cook for just 2 min.
- Added 1 tea spoon of coriander leaves paste just before removing from gas
Vegetable will come out of beautiful green color.
- To increase the shelf life on Semolina (Suji), Ground nuts,and sesame seeds :, palak Paneer,
- Roast them before storing.
- While making vegetable of Okra (Bhindi),
- Do not add salt in the starting.
- Add all spices except salt, cover and cook on low flame.
- When all sliminess of bhindi disappears then add salt and mix gently and cook till done.
This way the okra vegetable will always come out nice and dry.
- As far as possible cook food in nonstick pans,
- This ensures less oil consumption.
- Least possibility if food sticking at the bottom.!
- For those who are weight conscious and so purchase toned milk,
- Instead get full cream milk.
- Heat it 10-12hrs. Before required time and keep in fridge.
- All cream (Malai) will get deposited at the top.
- Remove the cream and collect it in a bowl.
- After a week take it out and beat nicely using your fingers/fork/egg beater.
- Remove the butter use it or heat it on low flame to convert it to Ghee.
- Add some curd to the left over milky liquid and keep it overnight, fat less butter milk is ready for consuming.
- Else heat the milky liquid, paneer will separate which can be used to make stuffed paratha/paneer bhujji.
Do not keep the cream in the fridge for more than 10 days else it will start getting rancid.
- Try to dry and store Methi, Palak, during season when it is less expensive.
- Just clean (do not wash) and shade dry.
- It comes handy when vegetables are either very expensive or leafy vegetables are not available in market.
- Just take handful of dried vegetable soak in water for 10min., sieve wash with running water in a sieve.
- Cook with potato pieces and make tasty vegetable/add it to dough of whole wheat flour and make tasty puri, parathas.
- Kasoori Methi is nothing but dried methi leaves and is very expensive in market, so you will have home made Kasoori methi !!
- While cleaning chicken rub it with lemon it will not smell.
- While making chicken biryani do not discard the skin. Boil it with 2-3 cloves, 1cm. cinnamon stick, and pinch of nutmeg powder. Filter and use the stalk for cooking the rice instead of water, it will enhance the flavor of biryani.
- To the marinade of mutton add 2 tea spoons of raw papaya paste.
- Mutton with cook better and fast.
- Do not add papaya paste to chicken
