Basic Tips

Tips On Cutting & Peeling :

1.Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water soluble vitamins.

2.Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.

3.To avoid browning of apples after cutting, apply a little lemon juice on the cut surface. The apples will stay and look fresh for a longer time.

4.After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying.

5.Soak potatoes,Brinjal and eggplant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it to make gravies.

Tips On Frying :

1.Heat the oil thoroughly before adding seasonings or vegetables.

2.Fry the seasonings until they change color, to get full flavour of seasonings.

3.If masala sticks to the pan that shows quantity of fat included is not enough.

4.Add some hot oil and 1/2 tsp of baking soda in batter while making pakodas.

5.When coconut is used in grinding masala, do not fry for a longer time.

6.To make pooris more crispy add a little rice flour to the wheat flour while kneading.

Pakodas will turn out crisper if a little corn flour is added to the gram flour (besan) while preparing the batter.

Tips For Gravies:

1.Always use ghee or vanaspathi with or instead of oil, which gives a good flavour to the gravy. If oil alone is used, it does not get separated easily from the ground mixture, as ghee separates from it.

2.Fry the ground masala in reduced flame, so that it retains its colour and taste.

3.Little plain sugar or caramelised sugar added to the gravy makes it tasty.

4.When tomatoes are not in season, tomato ketchup or sauce can be successfully used in the gravies.

5.To retain colour in the gravy always use ripe red tomatoes. Discard green portions if any.

6.Good variety chillies and chilli powder also gives colour to the gravy. As far as possible try to use long variety red chillies. Dry it under sun for few days and powder coarsely at home. Always the coarse powder gives good taste in gravies and pickles.

7.While using ginger and garlic paste in curries, always use garlic at 60% ratio and ginger at 40% as ginger is very strong and may make your dish sharp and pungent.

General Tips:

1. Add salt while saute onion. Because it speed up the process.

2. While flaten roti using dusting as maida flour. It wont allow to stick the dough in rolling bin.