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In this page I'll include some of the tips and tricks to make cooking easier and your food taste better.
Feel free to contribute your own cooking tips -- I'll post the best ones so everyone can see them. Tip 1: Baking with Eggs When baking, always bring eggs to room temperature first. Cold eggs may cause the batter to curdle, which could affect the cake's texture. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, let them soak in a bowl of warm water for about a half hour. Tip 2: Making Dosa:
To prevent dosa from sticking to the dosa pan, smear little powdered salt and wipe well just before making dosa. Tip 3: Adding Salt While Grinding: Dry roast powdered salt before putting them in shakers for easy flow. Tip 4: To Store Dhals: To avoid worms or other pests in dhal or rice keep neem leaves in that container. Tip 5: Washing Burnt Pans: When pans are badly burned and crusted, fill them with soapy water and let it boil for 15 minutes. This will help to remove burnt marks while washing. Tip 6: Cleaning Stove: To clean dials on stoves and other hard to reach surfaces in any glass ornamental ware use a cotton swab dipped in liquid detergent. Tip 7: Doubling Recipe: When a recipe is doubled never double the salt and other seasonings. Use little more than mentioned. Taste and then add more if necessary. Tip 8: Storing Rava: To prevent worms in rava dry roast it in a deep curved pan over medium flame till it becomes warm. Cool down and preserve in air tight container. Tip 9: Storing Salt: Line the jar in which salt is kept with blotting paper to keep the salt dry always. Tip 10: Storing Flours: To keep dampness from affecting flour while it is stored, tuck a bay leaf inside the container. This helps to absorb the moisture. Tip 11: To Prevent Stains In Cooker: To prevent stains inside pressure cooker put squeezed lemon peels at the bottom while cooking. Tip 12: Storing Legumes: Smear few drops of castor oil to legumes and pulses to prevent pests in it. Tip 13: Cooking Cauliflower: Add a teaspoon of sugar while cooking cauliflower to prevent discoloring. Tip 14: Preventing Flasks From Odor: Wash flasks with vinegar solution to prevent bad odor in it. Tip 15: Cooking Thoor Dhal: A teaspoon of oil or ghee added to thuar dal while cooking helps the dal to cook faster. Tip 16: Removing Kerosine Smell: To remove kerosine smell from hands apply little curds and then wash well. Tip 17: Making Sprouted Greengram: To make sprouted green gram soak whole greengram in water for 10 hours. Drain water and tie in muslin cloth. Hang for one day till it sprouts. Tip 18: Cooking Mint Leaves: Do not keep ground mint leaves for a long time. Mint leaves becomes bitter if kept for a long time after grinding it. Tip 19: Using Masala: Remove whole masala spices like cinnamon, cloves, bayleaves, etc before serving any pulav. Tip 20: Preserving Green Chillies: To preserve green chillies, select long variety green chillies. Wash well with stem and wipe with a cloth. WIth a thin knife, put a slit in each chilli. Make buttermilk with sour curd. Add enough salt to that. Squeeze lemon juice a few to that. Soak this chillies in that for 24 hours.( Add buttermilk just enough to soak the chillies). Remove chillies and dry in hot sun for one day. Again put in the curd. Repeat the process till the curd is over. At the end dry for few more days and store in air tight containers. Use whenever needed. Tip 21: Making Powdered Asafoetida: If powdered asafoetida is not available, dry roast a small piece of asafoetida for a minute or two. Then powder it. Tip 22: Washing Keerai: To remove excess mud from keerai, pluck and take leaves and tender stalks alone. Take water in a broad vessel and put keerai in it. Stir with hands to remove excess dirt. Take it out from water directly with hands and put in a colander. After few minutes chop finely and use as required. Tip 23: Using Left Over Sambar: Any left over sambar or rasam can be used to prepare delicious chapatis. Stain the sambar to remove onion, vegetables, etc. Heat till luke warm and mix with wheat flour with little salt. Knead well like dough and make chapatis as usual. Tip 24: Using Dry Yeast: Whenever using dry yeast check for their expiry date. Do not use when the granules have become fine powder. If yeast is kept in an airtight container in refrigerator, it can be used for one or two months. Tip 25: Making Rava Roti: For all rava based rotis use fresh rava. Do not use roasted rava. Tip 26: Making Idlis: While making idlis, always salt should be added at the end of grinding. If salt is added before, idlis may become harder. |
