My experiences in the kitchen-Part 1
July 18, 2014 by admin
Filed under How to make...for beginners, Kitchen tips & tricks
Working in the kitchen is fun. If the day is hot and not going good you will end up with more mess. Here are few special tricks that I have learnt along with the art of cooking . I started off with great experiences and at times disastrous ones too during experimentation in the kitchen. I wish to share these tricks and kitchen tips to the beginners and newbies experimenting in the kitchen.
Indian cooking involves lots of masalas, powdering and grinding in the cooking process You can save time and effort, also learn from experiences rather than inventing the wheel again.
Frying papad at home:
- Prick at least two holes to avoid papad bulging. Store in tight containers to avoid fried papad becoming soft.
- Place unfried papad in the refrigerator. To prevent stiffening and breakage of the papads once the cover is opened, place the unfried papads in a polythene cover this will prevent stiffening and breakage.
Boiling milk:
- Dispense packet milk into container and only then place on the stove. If not the milk catches at the base leaving a burnt smell. Low or Medium flame should be maintained while boiling milk.
- While boiling milk at medium heat stir the milk with a spoon. It will avoid milk sticking at the bottom of the vessel.
Handling hot oil:
- While frying puris in oil, immerse in oil and then press with a flat spoon such that the puri will puff like a ball. Do not leave the dough for a long time, it’ll absorb oil. Instant frying is the key to avoid oil absorption for puri.
- To check oil is hot, put a small piece of the dough / batter. If it comes up boiling, the oil is hot enough to fry. If the batter is lying at the base, oil needs more heating.
- To cool the oil and avoid fumes after frying activity, switch off flame and put 8-10 cooked rice into the oil. It will absorb the heat.
- Fry papad in medium flame. To retain color of fryums while frying, heat the oil sufficiently, lower the flame completely and then add fryums to avoid the deep brown color
Cake baking tips:
- Weigh and add quantities while you plan to make a cake. Measuring can be tricky and the cake baking will not be accurate.
- If you plan to add soaked nuts and raisins while baking. Coat them with All purpose flour (maida) and then add when the baking is half way through. This will avoid the nuts and raisins reaching the bottom.
- After applying butter on the cake tin, sprinkle maida and then pour the batter. The baked cake will come off easily.
Making soft idli and crispy dosa
- If you add half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking, dosas will be more crisp, idlis will be soft.
- Apply ghee in the idli tray prior to dispensing the batter. The idlis will come away freely without sticking at the base.
- To check tawa has become hot , sprinkle few drops of water. If it sizzles with steam coming out it indicates tawa is hot.
- Rub slices of onion on dosa tawa (griddle) before spreading dosas. This will avoid the dosa from stubbornly sticking to the griddle or tawa.
Preparing cutlet with a crispy covering
- To prevent oil foaming while frying cutlets- use only egg white. Make a small hole on one end of the egg. Let the egg white flow freely into a bowl. Whisk the egg white thoroughly and the process will not be messy.
- To get a crispy covering for your cutlets, powder fresh bread. Dip the cutlet balls in egg white (pepper and salt included) and finally coat with powdered fresh bread.
- If you have to make cutlets in a hurry and have no breadcrumbs use semolina for coating them.
There is a popular saying, “ The best way to win a man’s heart is thru’ his stomach”. You can also win the hearts of your family members by cooking good and healthy food.
Remember to cook as per the need. Avoid wastage as there are thousands of people going without a meal every day.
Related reading:
How to Prepare Garam Masala at Home
