My experiences in the kitchen-Part 2
July 28, 2014 by admin
Filed under How to make...for beginners, Kitchen tips & tricks
For a beginner in the kitchen all the activities will feel like a huge task. As you experience with cooking several dishes you start gaining confidence and the tasks start looking simpler and less complicated. Here are a few tips from my experiences in the kitchen in continuation to the previous posts that was shared.
Watch out for the tips and tricks that has to be managed while working in the kitchen.
Cutting or chopping vegetables
- Sharpen your knife with a stone. Soak the stone in water and then rub the knife in an angle to get a better finish. Avoid the electric sharpener as much metal will be rubbed off in the process.
- To avoid crying while cutting onions refrigerate and then cut. If you have not refrigerated then place an onion on the tip of the knife you use to cut the onion. No shedding of tears.
- To avoid itching after cutting elephant foot take a small piece and place it on flame using a pincer. Your itching will minimize and gradually stop.
- Vara pindi / Banana stem dish is tasty. While chopping banana stem you need to remove the fibers that is present between the stem. Ideal method cut the inner white stem in ½ inch circular pieces. While segregating you will observe long hairy threads along with the circular piece. Roll this hairy threads on your finger and proceed to cut another circular slice. This way unwanted threads can be removed and finally hold 4 to 5 circular slices and chop them fine.
- Do not throw away the water in which rice is washed prior to cooking. Raw banana , banana stem , banana flower chopped for torran i.e a dry vegetable dish: can be soaked in this water. This will avoid becoming black. Drain water and squeeze the ingredients well prior to cooking.
- Add chopped Potato, brinjal (egg plant) ,elephant foot in water to avoid blackening. The actual color of the vegetable is retained.
- To keep the green chillies fresh for a longer time, remove the stems before storing.
- Wash and dry ladies finger prior to chopping. This will relieve you of stickiness.
- Reduce bitterness of Karela. Slit karelas ( bitter gourd) length wise and apply a mixture of salt. Keep aside for ½ hour and then cook.
Cooking tips:
- While boiling pasta and noodles, use some oil in the water to avoid sticking. When the noodles are boiled, drain all the hot water and then add cold water. This way all the noodles will get separated.
- To prevent the growth of fungus in pickles, burn a small grain of asafoetida over a burning coal and invert the empty pickle jar for some time before putting pickles in the jar.
- Before cooking cauliflower florets soak them in warm salted water for a while to get rid of any tiny insects that may be present deep inside the florets and not visible to the eye.
- A little rice flour added to bhajia batter will not only make the bhajias crisper but also less oily.
- Always warm dry spices like cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, etc. on a griddle before powdering. They will grind faster and the powder will be finer.
- If you want the onion to change color during sautéing on a low flame, add ½ tsp of sugar and you will see a coloration appear .
Safety tips:
- If you are not using a chopping board, then it is advised to use finger gloves while cutting vegetables.
- Fry the fat of chicken in a kadai on a low flame. The oil that is collected can be stored in a clean and dry bottle. This oil is ideal to apply on minor burns in the kitchen. It gives cooling effect and heals faster too. Shelf life: 3 years
General tips:
- If the lemon or lime is hard, put it in warm water for 5-10 minutes to make it easier for squeeze. Also lemon can be used while washing chicken, fish, meat to remove that raw blood smell, cleansing properties too.
- To remove fish and meat odor from your hands rub with lemon rind.
- Always keep dough (atta/ maida flour) covered with a moist cloth to avoid a dry crust from forming on it.
- Crust removed from bread for making sandwiches etc., can be sun dried or oven dried and powdered in a mixer to form fine breadcrumbs. Refrigerate and use as required. You can make tikkis or use in cutlets.
- Commonly observed that jam bottle cap does not open as it is seal locked. Make a small dent on the cap with a knife to remove the vacuum and you will be able to open the cap.
- Soak and cook dhals ,you can save cooking gas. For more tips on gas saving methods check out- Great tips to save LPG in your kitchen.
- Keep a scissor, bottle opener, stone for sharpening knives handy in the kitchen to avoid delays.
An organized kitchen is the key to work efficiently. Once a week organize the racks to ensure you get your containers and spoons on time.
Related reading:
My experiences in the kitchen-Part 1
How to Prepare Basic Garam Masala at Home
