Cooking Tips

To avoid sticking masala

To avoid sticking masala at the bottom of pan add some amount of salt in masala.

TO Thicken the Cutlet Mixture

By mistake if the cutlet mixture is very loose or watery, don’t add any flour instead add bread crumbs till the recipes come to correct proportion.

Boil Potato Faster

To boil potatoes faster add a pinch of turmeric powder.

To Avoid Extra Salt in Curry

To avoid extra salt in your dish, better add some brown sugar to it, so that the excess of salt might disappear.

An easy way of setting curd

Boil the milk and let the milk cool down until lukewarm. Pour some curd into milk and stir with a spoon. Take a red chilli and tear it into pieces and place 2 to 3 pieces on top of milk. Place the container inside the oven. Curd will be formed within 1/2 day!!!!

Boiled rice for pilaf

At the time of boiling of rice, add little amount of lemon juice, that will reduce the excess strain and will make the rice very smooth.

Okra fry

When you are frying okra add one spoon of curd in to it this will remove the stickiness.

Almonds

To remove the skin of almonds easily, soak them in hot water for 15-20 minutes.

Healthy Oothappam

Add bean sprouts to the onion & tomato oothappam for a richer texture, crunch & flavor.

Soft Puries

To make soft puries, add milk while making dough and keep for 5-10 minutes

Thicken Gravy

If your gravy is thin; grind few cashews & almonds and mix it with the gravy. It not only thickens but also gives a very rich flavor.

Boiling Eggs

Add little oil when you boiling eggs. This will makes your job easy while removing the outer layer

Perfect boiled eggs

Put the eggs in cold water to boil, once the water starts boiling, boil the eggs for just 1 min and switch of the flame. Cover and let it stand for 18mins. You will have perfect eggs without any grey ring in between the whites and the yolk.

Soaked Peas

If you want green peas and chick peas ready to put in curries, We can soak them whole night and store in the fridge for 1 month. Whenever want we can use immediately.

Pulav

While cooking pulav wash the rice and spread it on a cloth or paper for drying. Leave it for around 15-30 minutes. This makes the rice grains separate.

Soft Bhatura

To keep Bhaturas soft for a long time add smash and add a boiled potato to the flour and then mix it well. This will keep Bhatura for long time and also enhance its taste.

Fluffy and Soft OmeletTo make omelet very fluffy and soft add little milk at room temperature to the eggs and then whisk it thoroughly with the egg beater. This will make the omelets really soft and melt in mouth types. Kids love these soft omelets.

Crispy vadas

For crispy vadas, mix a quarter cup of rice for 1 cup of urad dal ,soak them and grind.

Ginger Garlic Paste

Fill in ginger garlic paste in ice cube trays. Once done save frozen ginger garlic paste cubes in a zip lock bag. Use cubes when necessary.

Paneer/ Cottage cheese in 10 mins

Boil the milk in microwave and add vinegar to it and boil again for few minutes till it curdled. Add ice if you are making Rasmalai at this time. Even for rabdi, boil milk in microwave and then heated it on stove which actually reduced the cooking time very much.

Cooking green veg without losing its color

Cook veg in micro for 6-7min with little sugar. Now cook in pan with required oil and whole masala. Do not add red chilli powder, instead add chopped green chillies.

To avoid milk from spilling while boiling

Apply butter to the dish edge and inside top of the pot and then pour milk and leave it to boil, Milk will stop from spilling when it hits the butter part.

White Cauliflower

Add a little milk to the water to keep cauliflower white in color.

Mushroom

Mushroom should not be washed. Wipe them with clean and damp cloth.

Crispy cauliflower

Cut cauliflower into small florets. Do not ignore the stem. Cut them into small pieces too.

Place them in a casserole and sprinkle some salt on it. Keep this in the oven for 15 minutes at 500 degree.

Take two chillies and cut it into fine round pieces.

Heat a Tawa, add olive oil, and then, add the chilies and ginger paste (add more say two teaspoons).If you desire, you can add garlic pieces to it. Sprinkle red chilli powder just very little and then add soy sauce and tomato sauce and keep frying.

Again put this in a casserole and keep it in the oven at 300 for 10 minutes.

Place them in a plate and insert tooth picks on the florets and serve. 

Note: Soy sauce gives good color to cauliflower. Since we add tomato sauce rather than adding tomatoes, crispness is retained and time is also saved.

Deep-Frying Tips

The oil must reach a good temperature to brown the exterior of the food quickly while cooking it. That temperature is almost always between 350F and 375F degrees. To be sure the oil is right use a frying thermometer.

Use canola oil for frying. It is low in saturated fat, has a high burning point, and does not detract from the flavor of the food you are frying.

Avoid crowding food that is deep-fat-fried. The food must be surrounded by bubbling oil, and you must keep the temperature from falling too much. If you add too much food to a small amount of oil, the temperature will plummet, and the food will wind up greasy and soggy.

Never fill the pot more than halfway with oil; this will prevent bubbling over when the food is added.

Dry food well with paper towels before adding to the pot; it helps reduce splattering.

Damp Cloth

If a recipe calls for straining through muslin, and it is not available, you can use a clean damp cloth.

Mushroom

The color of gills on a mushroom is an indication of the age of the mushroom. Pink gills generally mean young mushroom, dark gills are an older mushroom. The darker the gills, the darker the sauce and the stronger the flavors.

Dry ingredients

Before using dry ingredients, smell and taste them for freshness as 'dry' doesn't mean they have an indefinite shelf life.

Using tomatoes

Place tomatoes in hot water for 5-7 minutes before using. It would be easier to peel and better to taste in any recipe where tomatoes are required to be cooked.

Papad in Microwave

Apply oil in papad . Microwave for 1 minute or less. It will be like papad deep fried in oil.

Biscuits

While baking biscuits, don't place biscuits in an even row. Place them diagonally on the tray so air circulates better and enhances the cooking.

Hotdogs or hamburgers

Cut a groove into the bun and squeeze tomato sauce and/or mustard into the groove to prevent the sauce from running out of the bun when eating.

Grilling salmon

Place baking paper onto flat plate grill; lightly oil the paper and cook salmon this prevents sticking and any old flavors coming through on the grill plate.

Wine

Wine is used in a lot of cooking because it adds flavor, without making the sauce too runny. During the cooking process the alcohol evaporates, therefore there's no need to worry about any alcohol content. Cooking also removes some of the harsh 'hot' alcohol fumes.