Top 10 Cooking Tips for Indian

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- submitted by Dahlia on 12-07-2007

1.

When frying, the oil should be in the correct temperature. If its too hot, the outside will get browned up too
quickly before the inside gets cooked. If its not hot enough, the fried food will absorb too much oil before
getting cooked.

2.

To make crispier puris, add a little rava to the wheat flour while kneading.

3.

To make crispier bajjis add a little corn flour to the gram flour to make bajji batter.

4.

Use a deep vessel to fry chicken to avoid the splashing of oil and juices all around the place.

5.

To knead chappattis, add 1/3 cup of warm water for 1 cup of flour approximately. To make softer chapattis,
add warm milk or curd while kneading.

6.

Use heavy bottomed vessel to make upma, kheer etc to prevent burning.

7.

Toasting nuts, rice, rava and dal before cooking with it increases its flavors considerably.

8.

Adding few drops of oil to the rice before cooking it will prevent it from becoming sticky.

9.

Do not wash the mushrooms with water. Clean it with a damp cloth. Add salt to the mushroom only after it
has browned.

10. Similarly adding salt to the chicken also slows up the browing.

Top 10 General Cooking Tips:

1.

To peel the skin of almonds, tomatoes or peaches, simply soak in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. The skin
can be easily removed.

2.

To remove the corn from its cub, hold it straight with one end on the bottom of a big vessel. Then strip the
corn with a knife. This will prevent messing up of the entire place.

3.

When cutting raw banana, potatoes or eggplant, soak it in water to avoid discolouration. Similarly, to prevent
apples, bananas or peaches from browning, add lemon juice.

4.

Use the excess dal water from boiling dal to make rasam.

5.

While adding curd to gravies or biriyani, break it nicely before adding.

6.

While boiling milk, a little water can be added to the vessel before adding the milk to avoid the milk from
sticking to the bottom.

7.

Store nuts in the refrigerator to increase their shelf life.

8.

To separate each string of noodles or any thin pasta, run it under cold water immediately after boiling and
draining the water.

9.

Curd in winter - Set in a ceramic container and place it on the voltage stabilizer of your refrigerator.

10. To cut meat easily, freeze it for some time before cutting.

Top 10 Quick fix Tips:

1.

Tomato paste or sauce can be used instead of fresh tomatoes. This saves a lot of chopping time.

2.

Soak chik peas in boiling water. In this way only 1-2 hours of soaking in needed.

3.

Make ginger garlic paste in bulk and put it in the fridge.

4.

Similarly, make green chilly paste and keep in the fridge. This saves a lot of cooking time.

5.

While chopping vegetables, chop in a bulk, use what is needed and put the remaining in the fridge for later
use. Chopping a vegetable at a stretch saves a lot of time.

6.

Have lots of peeled garlic in an air tight box in the fridge.

7.

Grate a whole coconut at a time and refrigerate it so it can be used easily whenever needed.

8.

Fry grated coconut in bulk with curry leaves and store it in the fridge. This can be used easily whenever
gravies have to be made.

9.

Whenever you boil potatoes or cauliflower make some extra and put it in the fridge. This can be used to
make stuffed parathas, cutlets etc.

10. Use the microwave to saut onions, tomatoes and to cook up the vegetables.

Top 5 Healthy Tips:

1.

Do not wash the vegetables after peeling or chopping. This will wash out all the water soluble vitamins.

2.

Whenever vegetables or dal is cooked in water, many nutrients are left back in the water. So do not throw it
away. Instaed use it when making some gravies or soups.

3.

Potatoes have their nutrients in their skin. So try using potatoes without peeling it.

4.

Eat fruits like apples along with its skin.

5.

Tamarind can be substituted with raw mango powder.

Top Refrigeration tips:

1.

Keep coriander leaves in a ait tight plastic box in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for a long time.

2.

Remove the stem of the chilly while storing them whole. Another method is to make chilly paste and store it
for a long time.

3.

To store fish longer and freasher, clean it, apply turmeric and salt and put it in the freezer.

Indiafoodforever.com

COOKING TIPS

Tips On Cutting & Peeling :

Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water soluble vitamins.

 Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.

Soak potatoes and eggplant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.
If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it tomake gravies.
To avoid browning of apples after cutting, apply a little lemon juice on the cut surface. The apples will stay
and look fresh for a longer time.

Keep coriander leaves in a muslin (cheese) cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer
time.

Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them .This will help them to stay fresh for long.
After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying.
Soak almonds in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes .The skin will peel off easily.
Chopping vegetables can be done in different ways using a sharp knife and a wooden chopping board.
Cutting on a marble slab will blunt your knives.

Remove the outer leaves and husks from the corn (bhutta). Holding the corn upright with the flat end firmly
in a board, take a sharp knife and run it down between the kernels and the cob to strip them away.

Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh for long.
Chopping dry fruits - Freeze them first for one hour & then dip the knife into hot water before cutting them.

Tips On Frying :

Heat the oil thoroughly before adding seasonings or vegetables.

Fry the seasonings until they change color, to get full flavour of seasonings.
If masala sticks to the pan that shows quantity of fat included is not enough.
Add some hot oil and 1/2 tsp of baking soda in batter while making pakodas.
When coconut is used in grinding masala, do not fry for a longer time.
If you are making patties or tikkis of potatoes, always make sure that the potatoes are boiled well in
advance and cooled before you use them. It would be better if they can be refrigerated for a short time.
This helps the starch in the potatoes to settle down and the tikkis will not be gooey.

 Smoke Mustard oil first before using for preparing vegetables etc.. by heating to a point till light white smoke
emerges from it. This would remove the potency from the oil.

Poori can be rolled and place between well-rinsed wet muslin cloth at least an hour ahead and can be Fried
before serving.

To make pooris more crispy add a little rice flour to the wheat flour while kneading.
Pakodas will turn out crisper if a little corn flour is added to the gram flour (besan) while preparing the
batter.

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. Fry till done and serve
hot.

Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all
over.

When browning meat in fat, choose a large, deep pan. This will enable you to fry quickly, without splashing
the stove with fat and meat juices.

Tips For Gravies:

Always use ghee or vanaspathi with or instead of oil, which gives a good flavour to the gravy. If oil alone is
used, it does not get separated easily from the ground mixture, as ghee separates from it.

Fry the ground masala in reduced flame, so that it retains its colour and taste.
Little plain sugar or caramelised sugar added to the gravy makes it tasty.
When tomatoes are not in season, tomato ketchup or sauce can be successfully used in the gravies.
To retain colour in the gravy always use ripe red tomatoes. Discard green portions if any.
Good variety chillies and chilli powder also gives colour to the gravy. As far as pos sible try to use long
variety red chillies. Dry it under sun for few days and powder coarsely at home. Always the coarse powder
gives good taste in gravies and pickles.

 While using ginger and garlic paste in curries, always use garlic at 60% ratio and ginger at 40% as ginger is
very strong and may make your dish sharp and pungent.

Tips On Cooking :

To make 1 cup of dal, add atleast 2-3 cups of water, depending on the type of dal.
Soak whole pulses overnight and other dals for one hour before cooking.
Always add hot water to the gravy to enhance the taste.
Add 1 Tbsp of hot oil to the dough for making Kachories or Kulchas.
Always use heavy bottomed vessels to make desserts, in order to avoid burning.
Make desserts with full cream milk, to get thick creamy texture.
Whenever curd is to be added to the masala, it should be beaten well and add gradually.
Chop some extra vegetables, for next day stir fry.
Use the leftover dal water to make rasam or sambar.
Never discard water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies, soups, rasam or kolumbu.
Onions and masala are fried in the cooker body itself, raw vegetables are added to that with enough salt and
water. Cook under pressure according to the cooking time of the vegetable. This method helps us minimise
our cooking time, use of utensils and nutrients are also preserved.

If poppy seeds are used in grinding, soak it in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, if you are grinding it in a
mixie.

While boiling milk, always add a little water at the base of the vessel to avoid the milk from sticking at the
bottom.

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.

Store raisins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for much longer. Pour very hot
water over them if they had harden, after that drain them immediately, and spread on a paper towel to

dry. You can also leave a spoon in the vessel in which the milk is being boiled at low heat so that it does
not get burnt at the bottom

Add a few drops of lemon a tsp of oil to rice before boiling to separate each grain.
Never discard the water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies or soups.
Put tomatoes in a large bowl and cover with boiling water Leave it for about 5 minutes. Take out one by one,
piercing them with a sharp knife, the skin will peel off easily.

Immediately after boiling noodles put them in normal cold water to separate them each.
If you forget to soak chana/Rajma overnight. Just soak the chana/Rajma in the boiling water for an hour
before cooking.

Curd in winter - Set in a ceramic container and place it on the voltage stabilizer of your refrigerator.
Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes will bake more rapidly.
Roasting is a dry heat method of cooking - it does not use water. The flavors roasting draws forth result from
the process of browning. As the surface of the meat browns, and its juices and fats drip down and brown
on the surface of the hot roasting pan, it adds to the flavour of the meat.

Tips On Leftover Food:

If you are making pasta or rice, cook some extra and store in refrigerator for the next meal.
Keep some boiled potatoes in fridge, to make quick sandwiches for breakfast.
Use left over rice for next day meal, use your imagination and cook something new.
Keep some extra dough in fridge to make chapatis for breakfast.
Use leftover sukhi dal to make stuffed paratha.