Kitchen Tips

1. While cooking curries instead of using only butter or only oil, if a mix of butter and oil is used, it gives a good flavor and taste plus the fear of burning the butter is reduced too.
2. Breadcrumbs come very handy. These not only provide crunch by coating cutlets and tikkis but can also be used to thicken sauce.
3. This was a tip passed on to me by my granny. While we 'bhuno' the masala and wait for the oil to release in the corners, if a pinch of sugar is added, the oil releases faster.
4. While cooking the onions, to speed up cooking add a pinch of salt.
5. While cooking Okra/ Bhindi to reduce the slimy strings squeeze some lemon juice or put a few spoons of buttermilk.
6. Whenever you are using mold always grease it so that nothing sticks on it and things come off easily.
7. While cooking lentils add two three drops of oil, this fastens cooking.
8. I use all the parts of the coriander. The maximum flavor is in the roots, then the stem and last is the leaves. While cleaning separate all the parts. Wash the roots thoroughly, these can be added to boiling lentils and curries and later removed and discarded. Stems can make to grinding as well as in fillings. Leaves can be ground into chutneys as well as used for garnishing.
9. While making pickle, roast the salt and cool, before mixing.
10. If you keep a piece of blotting paper/kitchen towel at the bottom of the storage container, it will keep biscuits fresh for a longer time.
11. How to know if the eggs are still fresh?
    a. Take a bowl of water and place the egg, if it sinks completely, it's fresh as it can be.
    b. If it starts to stand up, it's still good.
    c. If it floats on water, it's spoilt, just discard it.
12. To prevent the idli/dosa batter from souring, place a betel leaf over it.
13. To avoid spilling over of milk when boiling it: If you see yourself standing in front of the stove guarding it till the milk boils, here’s what you need to do. Before you pour milk into the pot for boiling, rub butter along the top edge and the inside lip of the pot. Due to this, the milk won’t overflow when it foams up.
14. To prevent potatoes from budding, keep an apple along with them in the storage packet.
15. To keep lemons fresh without a dry skin, for a longer time in the fridge, apply them with coconut oil and keep them in an open container.
16. At times it happens that we land up burning the rice while cooking it and the burnt smell makes it difficult to consume the rice. In that case spread 1-2 bread slices over the rice and leave for 10-15mins. The bread slices absorb the smell. Before serving remove the burnt portion.
17. To keep green chilies fresh for long , remove the stem before storing them.
18. To ripen fruits, wrap them in newspaper and put in a warm place for 2-3 days. The ethylene gas they emit will make them ripe.
19. To set ice cubes faster, fill in the ice tray with warm-hot water. Hot water freezes faster as compared to water at room temperature.
20. To reduce excessive salt in curries add grated/cubed potatoes else add balls of wheat dough, this absorbs the excess salt. Later one can remove the wheat dough balls. Also if the salt added is slightly high one can add sour things like tamarind, curds or lemon to balance the salt.
21. While making spinach/palak recipes always add lesser salt as the spinach has natural salts in it.
22. When you want to store empty airtight containers, throw in a pinch of salt in them to avoid getting smelly or stinky.
23. While blanching greens add a pinch of soda bicarb to the boiling water. This helps retain color. Also, the blanched vegetable should be immediately immersed in cold water to stop the cooking process.
24. While using paneer take some precautions; if you over fry the paneer it turns chewy, best is to soak the paneer in warm water before using, this keeps the paneer soft.
25. While adding dry herbs like oregano or basil, always crush them lightly using both the palms or finger tips. This helps release the flavor and the fragrance.
26. Lemon peel after squeezing out the juice from the lemon can be used to clean the pressure cooker stains. At times we see white deposits, marks inside the pressure cooker. To remove these marks, put lemon peels with 3-4cups water and put the lid of the cooker and give one whistle. Later cool the cooker and wash it with soap. Stains disappear.
27. When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to the water to bring out the corn's natural sweetness.


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