Kitchen Tips

Popcorn: Keep the maize/corn seeds in the freezer and pop while still frozen to get better pops.

Noodles: When the noodles are boiled, drain all the hot water and add cold water. This way all the noodles will get separated.

Onions: To avoid crying, cut the onions into two parts and place them in water for 15 minutes before chopping them.Wrap the onions individually in a newspaper and store in a cool and dark place to keep them fresh for long time. 

Oven: Watch from the oven window to conserve energy because the oven temperature drops by 25 degrees every time its door is opened,

To clean the oven, appl a paste of sodium bicarbonate and water on the walls and floor of the oven and keep the oven on low heat for about half an hour. Dried food can easily be removed.  Paneer: To keep paneer fresh for several days, wrap it in a blotting paper while storing in the refrigerator.Do not fry paneer, immerse it in boiling water to make it soft and spongy.

Papad: Bake in microwave oven.Wrap the papads in polythene sheet and place with dal or rice will prevent them from drying and breaking. 

Pickles: To prevent the growth of fungus in pickles, burn a small grain of asafoetida over a burning coal and invert the empty pickle jar for some time before putting pickles in the jar.

Potato: To bake potatoes quickly, place them in salt water for 15 minutes before baking.

Use the skin of boiled potatoes to wipe mirrors to sparkling clean.Don't store potatoes and onions together. Potatoes will rot quickly if stored with onions. 

Refrigerator: To prevent formation of ice, rub table salt to the insides of your freeze. 

Rice: Add a few drops of lemon juice in the water before boiling the rice to make rice whiter.Add a tsp of canola oil in the water before boiling the rice to separate each grain after cooking.Don't throw away the rice water after cooking. Use it to make soup or add it in making dal (lentils).Add 5g of dried powdered mint leaves to 1kg of rice. It will keep insects at bay.Put a small paper packet of boric powder in the container of rice to keep insects at bay. Put a few leaves of mint in the container of rice to keep insects at bay.Rice pulao and other recipes.

Samosa: Bake them instead of deep frying to make them fat free. Don't fry the filling potato masala. Preserve the samosas in freezer. For eating, take out of the freezer two hours in advance and bake them over low temp. 

Sugar: Put 2-3 cloves in the sugar to keep ants at bay. 

Tadka: Use sprouted mustard seeds (rayee) and fenugreek (methi) seeds for your tadkas. Both of them when sprouted  have more nutritional values. Also this add flavour to the dish and can be more beneficial, besides giving decorative look to the dish. 

Tomato: To remove the skin of tomatoes, place them in warm water for 5-10 minutes. The skin can then be easily peeled off. When tomatoes are not available or too costly, substitute with tomato puree or tomato ketchup/sauce. Place overripe tomatoes in cold water and add some salt. Overnight they will become firm and fresh.