Recipes
Some Tips in cooking
- To reduce fat in the chicken by about 10 grams per serving, remove the skin before marinating it.
- If you have forgotten to soak pulses like chana overnight, just put the chana in a flask full of boiling water for an hour. They are ready for cooking.
- To make a soft fluffy omelet heat a non-stick pan and add a little more butter than usual. Now beat the egg and stir briskly (even while frying) with a fork. This way more air goes in your omelet, making it light and fluffy. Cook till done and serve hot.
- Coconut milk when kept overnight in the fridge forms a white layer on top. This layer can be used as fat instead of oil for frying mutton or chicken.
- Add a little oil and turmeric powder to the dal before placing it in the cooker. It will get done in ten minutes flat.
- Adding a cupful of grated carrot or beetroot to the coconut while making coconut burfi will give you natural colouring and nutritional benefits.
- To refresh stale bread, sprinkle it with water, wrap it in a foil and heat it in the oven on 200 ?C for about five to ten minutes.
- Adding a spoonful of curd to ladyfingers while cooking will ensure that they do not stick to the vessel or turn black.
- Sprinkle a bit of salt in the frying pan before adding chicken. It will cut down on the amount of grease splattering.
- Peel and cut potatoes and boil them in water to which a little vinegar is added. They will be done in no time and will retain the texture as well.
- While grinding the batter for idlis replace 1/5 quantity of rice with pressed rice (poha). This will make the idlis fluffier.
- Place rolled puris in the fridge for ten minutes before frying them, they will consume less oil and will be crisper.
- To make dosas more crisp, add a little fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking.
- Rather than using food colors, use a mixture of limewater and turmeric to get (almost) tandoori color.
- Always add salt to the water while boiling vegetables. This enhances their natural flavour and diminishes the need to add salt at the table.
- Add a pinch of salt to the oil while frying "pakodas" or "koftas" and you will use up less oil.
- To preserve the white colour in cauliflower and cabbage, add a teaspoon of milk or milk powder while cooking.
- When soups or stews get slightly burnt you can renew the taste by transferring it gently and carefully into a clean pan and flavouring with curry powder or mustard to camouflage the burnt taste.
- The art of making good naan khatais lies in beating of the mixture till it becomes light and fluffy. Also only vanaspati should be used to make them.
- When boiling potatoes for cutlets add the salt to the water itself as potatoes absorb salt better this way.
- Onions will brown faster if half a teaspoon of salt is added to the onions while frying.
- While cooking ladyfingers (okra) add a few drops of lemon juice or a spoonful of yogurt to avoid becoming sticky.
- Use crushed vermicelli to coat your cutlets for a change. The cutlets will have a nest-like appearance.
- Onions will boil faster if you make X-shaped cuts in the root ends.
- A pinch of turmeric powder and a teaspoon full of ghee added to dal before pressure-cooking it will give it a better flavour.
- To roll out the perfect bhatura, roll out small portions of he maida dough into small puris, cover with a damp cloth. Roll them out to the desired size just before frying. The dough will be elastic, makes rolling more efficient.
- Curry leaves used in any dish are usually discarded. To prevent this, here is a simple idea. In about one to two teaspoons of oil, fry washed curry leaves till crisp. Now, crush with hands or coarsely powder in a mixie. Store this curry powder in an air-tight bottle and use it to flavour gravies, chutneys, idli batter, etc.
- If you are making an apple and banana fruit salad, add a pinch of crushed mustard seeds. It will prevent the fruits from turning black and also help retain their flavour.
- Add a small piece of beetroot while making tomato puree, it will give it a bright red colour.
- If you have stale ghee do not throw it away. You can freshen it by boiling it with a little yogurt ? two tablespoons of yogurt to half a kilo of ghee. Cool, strain and use it again.
- If brown sugar has hardened, do not despair. Just place it in a bowl, cover it with a clean, damp cloth and leave overnight. Next morning you will find it softened.
- If you want your yogurt firm and thick, place a small slit green chilli in warm milk while setting it.
- The best way to clean cauliflower florets before cooking is to soak them in water mixed with a little vinegar for about fifteen minutes. This not only removes the dirt but also kills the insects. Rinse in fresh water and use for cooking.
- If you want to store eggs without refrigeration just keep them immersed in lime water.
- To freshen up shriveled vegetables, keep them immersed in cold water to which drops of lemon juice have been added for about an hour.
- To make peeling of boiled potatoes easy, add a little bit of salt to the water before boiling.
- It is healthier to garnish soups with popcorn in place of fried croutons.
- You can replace sweetened, condensed milk or mawa with skimmed milk thickened with wheat flour or arrowroot powder to make desserts less calorific.
- If using desiccated coconut in place of fresh coconut, soak it in a bowl with equal proportions of warm milk and water for about half an hour and then grind. It will taste as good as ground fresh coconut.
- Add a few pieces of raw mango while cooking bitter gourd. It will not only remove the bitterness but also add to the flavour of the curry.
- Do not throw away the syrup from canned fruits. Add some cornstarch to it and cook till it thickens, add some flavouring and use it as a sauce with cakes or puddings
- Grate the rinds of lemon, grapefruit and orange and store in the freezer. They make excellent flavouring for muffins, cakes and frostings.
- If after halving a jackfruit you find it has not ripened enough wrap the halves tightly in a muslin cloth and keep it in a dark place. It will ripen in a few days. And you will know it is ready when you get the strong flavour of a ripened jackfruit.
- If you use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar to sweeten whipped cream, it will make the cream fluffy
- If you add one teaspoon of glycerine to every half kilogram of flour, it will help make the cakes light and spongy.
- If you add a little boiled tur dal to the besan batter it will make the batata vadas crispier
- Add a little malai (cream) to the dholkla batter to make them softer and richer.
- Left over coconut milk can be frozen in ice trays and used whenever required.
- While making bread, warm the ingredients in the oven before kneading the dough. It will help make the dough softer and the bread too will have a better texture.
- Add a teaspoon of condensed milk while preparing the icing for a cake in order to prevent it from cracking.
- In the winter if you add a little fruit salt to the idli batter it will help ferment faster and also make the idlis softer
- If the curd has not set well place the bowl of curd in a bowl of warm water and it will set within fifteen minutes
- Drop raw banana and brinjal slices into water mixed with curd .This will prevent them from turning black
- If you add a carrot to tomatoes while making soup, it will not only reduce the sourness but also increase the nutrient value.
- If the potato chips you brought for your party turn soggy, simply pop them in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds . they will turn crispy again.
- Add a little boiled toovar dal to the besan batter for batata vadas. They will be crisper.
- Add a little malai (cream) to dhokla batter to make them softer and richer.
- Left over coconut milk can be frozen in ice trays and used whenever required
- Add a teaspoon of condensed milk while preparing glace icing. This prevents it from cracking
- When the curd is not set well, place the bowl in a pan with warm water. It will set within fifteen minutes.
- In winters, adding a little fruit salt to the idli batter helps it ferment faster and also makes idlis softer.
- Adding a carrot to tomatoes while making soup reduces the sourness and also increases the nutrient value.
- Drop raw banana and brinjal slices into water mixed with curd. This prevents them from turning black.
- Add a little sugar to the dosa mixture to make them brown nicely and become crisp.
- You can make delicious ?makki ki rotis? without breaking them by adding some wheat flour while kneading the dough.
- To make thick curd, add one teaspoon of milk powder to the milk while setting the curd.
- If cream does not whip properly, add some white of egg and it will beat up really fluffy. One egg white is enough for two cups of cream.