Kitchen, Cooking, Baking & Cleaning Tips

• ALWAYS soak powdered gelatine in cold water for a few minutes before dissolving over a pan of simmering water.
• GRATE off the rind of lemons and oranges with a fine grated and blend with castor sugar. Store in an airtight glass jar and use the flavoured sugar when needed for special cakes, puddings and so on.
• TO peel tomatoes quickly, place the tomato on a fork and hold it over the gas flame till the skin bursts. Keep turning it for a few moments, and then peel without any trouble.
• FOR a quick snack or unusual breakfast dish, cook fresh mushrooms in butter; add salt and pepper and a dash or cream and heap onto hot toast.
• WHEN making a lot of sandwiches, one has all the crusts from the sides leftover. You can make use of these by drying them in the sun till they are hard and then crushing them into bread-crumbs with a heavy rolling pin. They can be used for coating fish, chicken, cutlets, and so on.
• FOR light, fluffy omelettes, add half an eggshell filled with water to the eggs before beating them.
• VERY sour curd can be made to taste more palatable by mixing it with a few spoons of fresh cream or even milk and a bit of sugar. You can lessen the sourness further by making it into a tasty raita by adding boiled potatoes diced small, or putting in finely chopped onion, tomato, cucumber or capsicum, depending on what you have at hand. However, add the tomato, salt, pepper and spices just before serving. 
• GET rid of all the insects hidden in a cauliflower by immersing the whole vegetable in a big pen or pail of cold water with a tablespoon of salt mixed in it. Leave it soaked for ten to fifteen minutes before taking out. Rinse well under running water before cutting.
• FOR keeping lettuce and other green masala in the refrigerator use paper bags, not plastic ones, if you do not want it to go mouldy.
• ONE can also add a pinch of cooking soda when boiling vegetables so that they retain their color. However, do not make this a regular practice as cooking soda is supposed to reduce the vitamin content of most vegetables.
• ADD flavouring or essence to puddings or ice creams only after they have cooled. If put into hot food they are not so effective.

Useful Tips

• To avoid teary eyes when you chop the onion, put a piece of the outer skin of the onion on your forehead before you start cutting. Another option is to put a dish with water next to you and rinse the knife every time you make a cut. Yet another solution is to put the onion in the freezer for 20 minutes before you start cutting.
• If you cooked a meal and it is too salty,cut a potato in half and drop it in with the food for 20 minutes. The potatoes will absorb the salt.
• To tell if an egg is fresh,put it in a glass of water. If the egg sinks, it is fresh. If it floats, it’s old.
• To avoid bad smells in the refrigerator, place an uncovered plate with coffee. Another option is to place an open box of baking soda.
• If you want the bananas or avocados to ripen faster, wrap them in newpaper.
• To unclog the sink, pour in some baking soda and vinegar, and let sit for several hours. If it is still clogged, try it two or three more times.
• For burned pots pour enough vinegar to cover the burned area, set to boil, and then rinse. It will look like new.
• Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water and boil the potatoes faster.
• To a plain carrot soup add a touch of ginger and it becomes really tangy.
• Peel the onions and cut the in half. and soak them in water for a few minutes,  it will stop your eyes from watering.

Kitchen Tips

• Reduce the burning sensation after cutting green chillies by keeping the fingers in a bowl of cold milk added with some sugar!
• Never use metallic bowls to marinate meat - the acids (vinegar or lemon) can react with the metal bowls!Add a small amount of sugar when cooking carrots, peas, beets or corn - this will keep the flavour! 
• Add a pinch of salt while frying Puris or Pakoras - this will help absorb less oil! 
• Keep the Karela in water and add a pinch of salt in it for 1/2 hour to remove the bitterness of it! Add a piece of coconut shell to a mutton dish while it is getting cooked, the meat remains tender and gets cooked much faster!
• For soft idlies like a sponge do not stir the batter after it has got fermented.Pour the batter as it is!
• Cleaning your grater after shredding cheese can be made easy by grating a raw potato after the cheese. The potato clears the gummy cheese out of the holes!
• Placing Potatoes in salt water for 15 minutes before baking make them bake quickly. Salt also adds taste!To keep the chilies fresh for a longer time, remove the stems before storing!
• Do not fry paneer, immerse it in boiling water to make it soft and spongy! 
• When the noodles are boiled, drain all the hot water and add cold water. This way all the noodles will get separated!
• Add a pinch of sugar while cooking spinach and green leafy vegetables, it will retain its green colour!
• A bay leaf added to the flour container will keep the flour free from moisture!
• Never cook mushrooms in aluminum pans because the mushrooms will darken!

Kachey Gosht ki Biryani

INGREDIENTS

• BOIL RICE 1/2 kg
• ONION 250 gm
• MEAT 750 gm
• YOGURT 375 gm
• LEMON 4 slices
• TOMATOES 2
• GREEN CHILIES 6
• MINT LEAVES 1/2bunch
• OIL 1cup
• MILK 1/2cup
• TURMERIC 1/2 tsp
• CORIANDER POWDER 1tsp
• YELLOW COLOR 1/2 tsp
• RED CHILI POWDER 2 tsp
• KEVRA WATER 1 tbsp
• WHOLE SPICE 1 tbsp
• GINGER GARLIC PASTE 1 tbsp
• PAPAYA 2 tbsp
• SALT to taste

DIRECTIONS

Marinate 750 gm meat with 2 tbsp papaya, 375 gm yogurt, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 2 tsp red chili powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp all spice and salt to taste for 30 minutes. Now heat 1 cup oil in a pan, fry 250 gm chopped onion till it turn to golden brown in color. Add the marinated meat, 6 green chilies, 1 bunch of mint leaves, 4 slices of lemon and 2 chopped tomatoes. Fry well. Now add 1/2 kg boiled rice, also add 1/2 tsp yellow color dissolved in 1/2 cup of milk. Lastly add 1 tbsp kevra water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Mutton keema curry white

Ingredients

• Mutton mince 750 gm
• Almonds 1 table spoon
• Cardamom powder ½ tea spoon
• Cashew nuts 1 table spoon
• Cooking oil 4 table spoon
• Garlic, chopped 1 table spoon
• Green chilies, whole 4
• Onions, chopped 1/3 cup
• Poppy seeds (khus khus) 3 tea spoon
• White pepper powder 1 tea spoon
• Yogurt 1 cup

Preparation:

Soak and peel almonds. Soak cashew nuts and poppy seeds for an hourBlend all above three with a little water to a fine paste. Heat oil in a kadhai and sauté onions and garlic on low flame without letting them turn brown. Add mince and sauté over gentle heat. Whisk and add the yogurt, cardamom powder, white pepper powder and whole green chilies. Simmer gently till mince is cooked and gravy is reduced by half. Pick out and discard the green chilies. Add the nut paste and stir well. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. To Serve: Serve hot with paratha or chapati.

Parchae Kabab

Chicken Noodles

Chicken Finger

Fish Chargha

Dum ke Kabab