• Cooking Tips 
• Tips on Frying
• Tips on making Gravies
• Kitchen Beauty Tips
• Tips for Naans & Rotis
  

Cooking Tips

• When you soak rice and urad dal for idlis and dosas, wash everything thoroughly before soaking. Later use the soaked water while grinding. If you wash rice and dal after soaking you will lose most of the vitamins.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Keep coriander leaves in a muslin (cheese) cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer time.
  
  
• Excess salt in any dish can be brought down by adding diced potatoes, tomatoes or a teaspoon of sugar.
  
  
• When you are making vadas, if the batter is watery - you will have the problem of oil splattering when you fry it. Add a tablespoon of ghee to the batter and your problem will be solved.
  
  
• Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water-soluble vitamins.
  
  
• Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.
  
  
• To make one cup of dal, add atleast 2-3 cups of water, depending on the type of dal.
  
  
• Always use heavy bottomed vessels to make desserts, in order to avoid burning.
  
  
  
• To make one cup of dal, add atleast 2-3 cups of water, depending on the type of dal.
  
  
  
• Don't salt meat before you cook it. Always  salt meat halfway through cooking. (little less than what is required). Then taste the meat when it is done and then add salt as needed.
  
  
• Soak potatoes and egg plant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.
  
  
• To thicken any gravy or soup add corn flour to it. It is an excellent thickening agent. Remember to mix it in good water before adding to avoid lumps.
  
  
• Make desserts with full cream milk, to get thick creamy texture.
  
  
• Whenever curd is to be added to the masala, it should be beaten well and added gradually.
  
  
• If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it to make gravies.
  
  
• Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them. This will help them to stay fresh for long.
  
  
• While making any pasta add salt to the boiling water in which you are cooking it. That will be the only chance you get to salt it. Add salt after the water boils. If you add it before , it will take a longer time to boil.
  
  
• To avoid sticky rice, soak washed rice in water for at least ten minutes before cooking. A teaspoon of oil can be added to get separate grains of cooked rice.
  
  
• Soak almonds in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes .The skin will peel off easily and so there is no need to soak them overnight.
  
  
• Never discard water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies, soups, rasam or kolumbu.
  
  
• After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying.
  
  
• While make any deep fried dish, if the hot oil starts foaming and rises in the pan, add a small piece of tamarind to the oil. This will prevent foaming and spill over.
  
  
• Onions and masala are fried in the cooker body itself, raw vegetables are added to that with enough salt and water. Cook under pressure according to the cooking time of the vegetable. This method helps us minimise our cooking time, use of utensils and nutrients are also preserved.
  
  
  
• If you want to have soft idlis, do not beat the batter before pouring idlis. The air bubble sin the batter helps you to get soft idlis. Beating the batter removes these air bubbles.
  
  
• If poppy seeds are used in grinding, soak it in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, if you are grinding it in a mixie.
  
  
• While boiling milk, always add a little water at the base of the vessel to avoid the milk from sticking at the bottom.
  
  
• Chopping/Cutting on a marble slab will blunt your knives. So use a wooden cutting/ chopping board.
  
  
• Chill onion is refrigerator before cutting to  avoid tears. One other way to avoid tears is to soak peeled onion is water before cutting.
  
  
• To get crisp, golden dosas add a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds to the urad dal and grind it.
  
  
• To make a healthy chicken dish remove the skin from the chicken. This will remove the major fat content on the chicken.
  
  
• Add a pinch of sugar while cooking any green leaf vegetables. This will help maintain the bright green color.
  
  
• For maintaining the bright color of any vegetable don't forget to put it in ice cold water as soon as you blanch them.
  
  
• To keep apples from turning brown, add little citrus juice like the juice of a lemon or orange and toss apples in it.
  
  
• Add a tsp. of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chili, along with salt to make it last longer and taste fresher.
  
  
• A pinch of turmeric powder added to all kinds of dal when cooking hastens the cooking process.
  
  
• Remove the outer leaves and husks from the corn (bhutta). Holding the corn upright with the flat end firmly in a board, take a sharp knife and run it down between the kernels and the cob to strip them away.
  
  
• Immediately after boiling noodles put them in normal cold water to separate them each.
  
• Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh for long.
  
  
• Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes will bake more rapidly.
  
  
  
• Remove the stems from chilies before storing them. This will keep them fresher for a long time.
  
  
• Never discard the water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies or soups.
  Put tomatoes in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave it for about 5 minutes. Take out one by one, piercing them with a sharp knife, the skin will peel off easily.
  
  
• Chopping dry fruits - Freeze them first for one hour & then dip the knife into hot water before cutting them.
  
  
• It is better to use round dishes in the microwave oven rather than square or rectangular dishes as round dishes spread heat faster.
  
  
• Oil applied to dal before it is cooked helps it to cook faster by softening the proteins.
  
  
• Roasting is a dry heat method of cooking - it does not use water. The flavors roasting draws forth result from the process of browning. As the surface of the meat browns, and its juices and fats drip down and brown on the surface of the hot roasting pan, it adds to the flavour of the meat. Add a few drops of lemon a tsp of oil to rice before boiling to separate each grain.