Tips& Tricks

Tips on Cutting, Peeling, Storing

•  Soak almonds in a boiling water for 10 minutes to peel off  the skin easily.
•  Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them .This will help them to stay fresh for long.
•  Keep coriander leaves in a muslin cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer  time.
•  Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water soluble vitamins.
• For fresh flavor in orange juice add the juice of one lemon
• If  lemon has turned a little harder due to storage for a longer time then just keep it in warm water for sometime which helps to get more juice.
• Soak garlic in water for few minutes,it peels easily.  
• Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.
• Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh for long.

Tips on Frying

• Use olive oil for cooking when appropriate. It adds to the taste of the dish and is healthy for you.   
• To make pooris more crispy add a little rice flour / rava to the wheat flour while kneading.
• For  crisper pakodas add  a little corn flour to the gram flour while preparing the batter.
• If dosas stick to the tawa, cut an onion into half. Clean tawa with the cut side of the onion and a little oil

Tips on cooking 

• As Vitamin C is destroyed quickly while cooking , cook vegetables with Vitamin C using less amount of water possible and for a short amount of time. 
• To keep cauliflower white while cooking -add a little milk to the water. 
• Adding salt to onion when frying, will make it  brown fast and turn soft soon
• Adding salt to tomato while frying make it mushy easily
•  While making pulav or biriyani add a tsp of lemon juice, a tsp of oil /ghee, pinch salt to rice before boiling which helps to separate each grain.
• Never discard the water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies or soups.
• If you forget to soak chana overnight, just soak the it in the boiling water for an hour before cooking.
• While rolling chappatis sprinkle rice flour instead of wheat flour which avoids sticking.
•  When adding curd to curries, always remember to beat the curd. Remove the masala from fire when adding the curd or milk to the masala.
• kasoori methi  (dried fenugreek leaves) added to gravies enhances the taste but a little extra may turn the gravy bitter
• If your curry turns out a bit oily and pungent, take two bread slices and crumble them coarsely. Add this to the curry and mix well. Bread absorbs the excess oil and spice.
• While frying onion for garnishing pulav , biriyani etc., add a pinch of sugar. Onion will  get brown faster.
•  For getting crisp coating on cutlets , dip the prepared snack in egg white and then roll in fine bread crumbs. If you are vegetarian, dip them in a thin batter of rice flour/rava and water and then roll in bread crumbs. Fry till well browned.  
•  If your cutlets fall apart, dip some bread slices in water for a second, squeeze it and add to the cutlet mixture.
•  Always add hot water to the gravy to enhance the taste.  
• Add a tsp. of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chili, along with salt to make it last longer and taste fresher.
•  To add more flavour to dosas, add a few fenugreek seeds to the batter
• Use the leftover dal water to make rasam or sambar. 
•  Never discard water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies, soups, rasam

• Add a few drops of oil while cooking dals to reduce the cooking time and frothing.
  
  Miscellenous Tips