Essential Spicing Tips
Herbs and spices are some of your best friends and allies in the kitchen. Learn how to treat them right so they’ll bring their best flavors to all your recipes.
Always add salt to the water while boiling vegetables. This enhances their natural flovour and diminishes the need to add salt at the table.
- A pinch of turmeric powder and a teaspoon full of ghee added to dal before pressure-cooking it will give it a better flavour.
- when boiling potatoes for cutlets add the salt to the water itself as potatoes absorb salt better this way.
- Onions will boil fastr if you make X-shaped cuts in the roots ends.
- While cooking ladyfingers add a few drops of lemon juice or a spoonful of yogurt to avoid becoming sticky.
- Onion will brown faster it half a teaspoon of salt is added to the onions while frying.
- To preserve the white colour in cauliflower and cabbage, add a teaspoon or milk or milk powder while cooking.
- Add a pinch of salt to the oil while frying “Pakodas” or “Koftas” and you will use up less oil.
- If you have forgotten to soak pulses like chana overnight, just put the chana in a flask full of boilling water for an hour. They are ready for cooking.
- Add a little oil and turmeric powder to the dal before placing it in the cooker. It will get done in ten minutes flat.
- Adding a cupful of grated carrot or beetroot to the coconute while making coconut burfi will give you natural colouring and nutritional benefits.
- Adding a spoonful of curd to ladyfingers while cooking will ensure that they do not stick to the vessel or turn black.
- Peel and cut potatoes and boil them in water to which a little vinegar is added. They will be done in no time and will retain the texture as well.
- While grinding the batter for idlis replace 1/5 quantity of rice with pressed rice [poha]. This will make the idlis fluffier.
- To make dosas more crisp, add a little fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking.
- Rather then using food colors, use a mixture of limewater and turmeric to get [almost] tundoori color.
- Place rolled Puris in the fridge for ten minutes before frying them, they willconsume less oil and will be crisper.
