Useful everyday cooking tips..
- While cooking Biryanis, its important to wash n soak the rice grains in excess of water for atleast 30 mins but while cooking Vegetable Pulao, Ghee rice n jeera rice, wash the rice n drain water completely, set aside for 15-20 mins
- To retain the bright green colour of all leafy veggies, make sure to cook without covering at any point of cooking because when covered, certain volatile acids cannot escape from the vessel thereby fades the bright green colour . Example- Spinach, dill leaves, cilantro leaves etc
- Getting the Dosa n Idli batter to ferment in colder countries is often a problem. Best solution to tackle this is topreheat the baking oven to 50 deg C (112 deg F) for maximum 5 mins, turn off the oven and leave the batter in the oven for 10 hours or overnight
- Alternatively, if you do not have an oven, like for Masala dosa after grinding and mixing, whip the entire batter thoroughly from top till bottom with hand for 2-3 mins, as the heat from hand transfers into the batter. Set aside for 10-12 hrs
- Make sure to fill the batter only upto 60% of the vessel as after fermentation the batter expands. A plate can also be placed underneath to avoid spilling of the fermented batter
- Add salt after the batter is fermented or half way through the fermentation (i,e after abt 10 hrs) as it slows down the process
- Adding a tablespoon of sugar to poori dough, makes poori get beautiful brown colour
- If you face difficulty in washing pressure cookers, simple throw in 2 to 3 used up lemon slices at the bottom while cooking. Food gets cooked at the same time the cooker vessel also gets cleaned up
- To eliminate odours from refrigerator, place a piece of charcoal or halved lemon in any corner. They help remove the odour by adsorbing bad adour
- Place a whole onion in freezer for 10 mins just before chopping them. You wont tear out a single drop
- To bring out the nice aroma to your cooked rice, Pulao's or Biryani's, add a tablespoon of ghee/clarified butter to the hot cooked rice
- Adding a pinch of turmeric powder to lentils fastens the cooking process
- While preparing dough for rotis n parathas, add leftover curds or cream to the flour. Rotis n paranthas will turn out very soft
- Adding a teaspoon of oil while cooking daal helps it to cook faster and using Ghee/clarified butter to give tadka/ temporing to the daal brings forth a nice aroma
- Wash the vegetables thoroughly in the water but never soak them in water longer as vitamin C is water soluble and will dissolve in water
