Thursday, March 11, 2010

FEW COOKING TIPS FOR OUR DAILY LIFE

1.Cooking Dosa’s:

Apply oil to the pan the night before to avoid the dosas from sticking to the pan.

2.Cooking Meat:
When cooking meat, do so at a low temperature for a long time. This will keep the meat tender and also retain all the juices.

3.Cooking Wheat Products:
Noodles, spaghetti or pasta won't boil over if you coat the inside of the pot with vegetable oil.

4.Cooking Cauliflower:
To keep cauliflower white while cooking, add a little milk to the water.

5. Cooking Sea Food:
Do not over-cook prawns.

6. Left over batter:
keep idli and dosa leftover batter fresh, place a betel leaf over it.

7. Dough solutions:
Place the rolling pin in the freezer for a few minutes to avoid the dough from sticking to it.

8. Fresh Apples:
To keep apples looking fresh for a longer time and avoid browning, apply some lemon juice on the cut surface of the apple.

9. Extra Salt:
To reduce excess of salt put in curry, simply add potatoes to it.

10. Crispy Potatoes:
Add salt to the oil before frying in order to make the fried potatoes crispy.

11. Crispy Dosas:
To make dosas crispy, add soaked fenugreek seeds to the ingredients while grinding.

12. Microwave Safe Dish:
Put the dish in the microwave with a measuring cup filled with water. Heat for one minute at the highest power. If the dish is cold and the water hot, then it’s safe to use as a microwave dish.

13. Boiling Eggs:
To keep eggshells from cracking whilst boiling, add a few drops of vinegar to the water.

14. Substituting Egg:
You can try using two tablespoons of mayonnaise for a large egg.

15. Raw to Ripe:
You can ripen fruits quickly by wrapping them in newspaper and keeping them in a warm place for 2-3 days.

16.  Wood Is Good:
You can avoid kitchen knives from getting blunt by using a wooden board while chopping.

17. Sweet Corn:
When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corns natural sweetness.

18. Extra Lemon Juice :
To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing.

19. Soup Scoops:
To make your soup thicker, add corn flour to it.

20. Boil milk without constant stirring:
while boiling milk you need to stir constantly, otherwise it tends to burn at the bottom of the pan. To avoid this, especially when thickening it, simply place a tiny porcelain/stainless steel bowl inverted in the pan before pouring in the milk. This will do the job of stirring by creating light ripples in the milk and will prevent it from burning at the bottom of the pan.

21. Extra Salt:
If the food comes out too salty, add a little lemon zest. It will help balance out the flavour.

22. Boiling Eggs/Potatoes Without Cracking:
Add a pinch of salt to the water you will be boiling the eggs or potatoes in. This will prevent them from cracking

23. Hardboil Eggs:

To hardboil eggs, put them in a pan in a single layer. Add enough cold water to just cover them. Using high heat, bring to a rapid boil. Immediately remove from heat. Cover and let stand only 15-20 minutes. Extra-large eggs will need about 20 minutes, no more. When time's up, pour out the hot water. Run cold water over them or cool them in ice water. Cool eggs quickly and don’t overcook them. Do this and you won’t have that ugly greenish ring.

24. To Make Soft And Fluffy Idlis:
Soak the Ural dal and Rice separately for about 5 hours. Grind separately too for 10 mins. Mix well and add salt to them. Place in room temperature for about 10-12 hours until the dough ferments.

25. To Make Soft Chappathis:
To make soft chappathis or rotis, add fresh yogurt to knead the dough instead of water, and cover the dough with a light moist cloth. Even after rolling the dough into chappathi’s cover them with a soft cloth.

26. Baking Times:
A good cooking tip is to always set your timer 5 to 10 minutes earlier than what the recipe calls for. Oven temperatures vary. Leaving your dish in for too long could cause it to overcook.

27. Separating Eggs:
To separate egg whites from yolks, break the egg into a funnel. You'll find that the white goes through and the yolk stays behind

28. To Make Upma’s Tasty:
To enhance the taste of upma, add curds or tamarind water instead of plain water.

29.STICKING TO THE PAN:
Add a bit of gram flour (besan) to fish before frying it will make the fish crispy and nice. Also this will prevent the fish sticking to the pan.

30. Quick Cooking:
Cooking in pressure cookers and flat-bottomed pans also helps in saving time. Besides, using non-stick ware for cooking is also a good idea as these utensils ensure that less oil is consumed.

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