Cooking Tips

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To reduce fat in the chicken by about 10 grams per serving, remove the skin before marinating it.

If you have forgotten to soak pulses like chana overnight, just put the chana in a flask full of boiling water for an hour. They are ready for cooking.

To make a soft fluffy omelet heat a non-stick pan and add a little more butter than usual. Now beat the egg and stir briskly (even while frying) with a fork. This way more air goes in your omelet, making it light and fluffy. Cook till done and serve hot.

Coconut milk when kept overnight in the fridge forms a white layer on top. This layer can be used as fat instead of oil for frying mutton or chicken.

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 coconut while making coconut burfi will give you natural colouring and nutritional benefits.

To refresh stale bread, sprinkle it with water, wrap it in a foil and heat it in the oven on 200 ºC for about five to ten minutes.

Adding a spoonful of curd to ladyfingers while cooking will ensure that they do not stick to the vessel or turn black.

Sprinkle a bit of salt in the frying pan before adding chicken. It will cut down on the amount of grease splattering.

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.

Place rolled puris in the fridge for ten minutes before frying them, they will consume less oil and will be crisper.

To make dosas more crisp, add a little fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking.

Rather than using food colors, use a mixture of limewater and turmeric to get (almost) tandoori color.

Always add salt to the water while boiling vegetables. This enhances their natural flavour and diminishes the need to add salt at the table.

Add a pinch of salt to the oil while frying "pakodas" or "koftas" and you will use up less oil.

To preserve the white colour in cauliflower and cabbage, add a teaspoon of milk or milk powder while cooking.

When soups or stews get slightly burnt you can renew the taste by transferring it gently and carefully into a clean pan and flavouring with curry powder or mustard to camouflage the burnt taste.

The art of making good naan khatais lies in beating of the mixture till it becomes light and fluffy. Also only vanaspati should be used to make them.

When boiling potatoes for cutlets add the salt to the water itself as potatoes absorb salt better this way.

Onions will brown faster if half a teaspoon of salt is added to the onions while frying.

While cooking ladyfingers (okra) add a few drops of lemon juice or a spoonful of yogurt to avoid becoming sticky.

Use crushed vermicelli to coat your cutlets for a change. The cutlets will have a nest-like appearance.
Onions will boil faster if you make X-shaped cuts in the root ends.
A pinch of turmeric powder and a teaspoon full of ghee added to dal before pressure-cooking it will give it a better flavour.

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