Healthy Cooking Tips

Indian cooking can be an intimidating and time consuming affair. It does utilize many fresh ingredients, sauces and spices. By introducing a few tips and techniques into your process, Indian cooking can be a fun endeavour. We have provided a compilation of kitchen/cooking tips to help you get faster and efficient in the kitchen. Here is a sample listing of some of these kitchen tips.

Banana Tips

You can salvage over-ripe bananas by freezing them as banana puree. Puree the fruit, add some lemon juice or sour cream to prevent browning and store them in the freezer. You can use them in smoothies, cereals, etc. Read more. .

Bread Tips

Don't discard stale bread, convert them into bread crumbs and croutons. Bread crumbs can be used on thicken gravies, as a coating for frying cutlets, pakodas, etc. Bread croutons can be used in soups, pulaos, etc. Read more. .

Rice Tip

There is a pot luck dinner and you volunteered to make the rice. When you cook a large quantity of rice, opt for vessels with a wide bottom. Avoid using a tall, narrow pot because, if the rice is layered too deep, the bottom layer will turn to mush before the top layer cooks through. If you don't have a large pot with a wide bottom, use 2 saucepans. Read more. .

Freezing Tip

You can conserve freezer space by storing food in freezer bags rather than rigid containers. Use thick zipper lock bags meant for the freezer. Poor quality bags are gas permeable and will allow oxygen into the bag, deteriorating the food. Label the bag for its contents and expiration date. You can create a 'vacuum pack' by suck the oxygen out of the bag by closing the bag with a straw tucked in one side. Remove the straw and quickly seal all the way. Read more. .

Legume Tip

Wait till the Dal is completely cooked before adding acidic ingredients like tomatoes, vinegar or tamarind. Acids react with the starch in the beans and prevent it from swelling. Add the salt and the acids after the lentil has softened and cook for a few minutes more so that the flavors can all blend. Read more. .