kitchen tips

►For soft Dosas, add some boiled rice to white gram and rice, while grinding
►. Put some neem and turmeric pieces or garlic flakes in the container where you store rice or grains, in order to keep away insects.
►To adjust salt in curries add roasted rice powder.
►If the curd is too sour, add 4 cups of water to it. After half an hour, remove the water collected on top.
►When you cook dal add some refined oil or garlic. It will reduce gas trouble.
►Keep rice flour and basin in a polythene cover in refrigerator when you want tem stored for a long time
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► Add some vinegar in the boiling water before steaming potato.
► For crispy dosas, add a teaspoon of tur dal gram) and some fenugreek seeds while soaking rice

►Add a pinch of corn flour to the jar of salt to prevent it from getting damp.
►While chopping raw bananas and potatoes, put the pieces in a bowl of water to avoid it from turning black.
►A bay leaf added to the flour container will keep the flour free from moisture.
►To peel garlic flakes easily, wash and soak them in cold water for about an hour.
►Green peas will retain their original colour, if you add a pinch of sugar while boiling.
►Leafy vegetables will remain fresh longer, if wrapped in news papers when you are storing.
►If you don't have any cream to add in the so
►Apply some oil on the sides of the vessel in which you boil milk, in order to avoid it from overflowing.

►After extracting butter from milk cream, add a little milk or curd to the residue and boil. You will get soft 'Paneer'.
►For thick cream, cover the milk vessel with a thin muslin cloth and refrigerate over night.
►Barley powder will increase the taste of meat and vegetable curries.
►You can make tasty chappathi by mixing equal proportion of wheat flour and barley.
►While boiling eggs, put a hole with a pin on the rounded portion of the egg so that the shell won't break when boiling.
►Keep boiled eggs in cold water for 5 minutes, this will make removal of the shell easier. up or gravy, add a mixture of butter and milk.
►Cut boiled eggs with a knife dipped in hot water to avoid breaking.
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►Boiled eggs will last longer, if you store the shelled eggs in a bowl of cold water in a refrigerator.
►If the bread is too soft to cut into pieces, hold the knife close to a flame and then slice the bread with it.
►If you need only the egg white, for storing the remaining yolk, cover the yolk with water or milk and keep in a cool dark place. Just drain off the liquid before using the yolk.
►Add a little powdered lemon rind to puddings or deserts to avoid the smell of egg.
►If you want to make crispy potatoes or banana chips, sprinkle salt water over them while frying.

►Soak almonds in warm water for a minute, if you need to peel them quickly.
►If a curry turns out too salty, garnish it with some grated coconut mix with cumin powder.
►Add a pinch of sugar while cooking spinach, it will retain its green colour.
►Dal will cook well, if you add a little sesame oil while cooking.
►To make the 'poori' more tastier, add one tablespoon semoline for each 100g wheat flour.
►Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda while mixing the dough for 'chappathi' to make it soft.
►For making soft sauce, add some paneer.
►Adding turmeric will help pickles from getting spoilt.
►To remove the skin of almonds easily, soak them in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
► Putting 3-4 cloves in sugar container will keep the ants at bay.
► If you keep a piece of blotting paper at the bottom of the container, it will keep biscuits fresh for a longer time.
► Avoid the use of butter. It it is essential to use, use a butter containing low saturated fat or with plant stanols (which avoid absorption of cholesterol by our body) or similar substitutes.

► Apply some lemon juice on the cut surface of the apple to avoid browning. They will look fresh for a longer time.
► Apply mashed banana over a burn on your body for cooling effect.
► Apply a mixture of 1 pinch of chewing tobacco and 1 drop of water. Mix and apply directly and immediately to the sting; cover with bandaid to hold in place. Pain will go away in just a few short minutes.
►Slit karelas at the middle and apply a mixture of salt, wheat flour and curd all round. Keep aside for ½ hour and then cook.
► To keep celery fresh for a long time, wrap it in aluminium foil and place in the refrigerator.
► Place some chopped onion in the vessel having burnt food, pour boiling water in it, keep 5 minutes and then clean.
► Keeping a small piece of hing (asafoetida) in the same container will store chili powder for long time.

►Use a wooden board to chop. It will not blunt the knife. Don't use a plastic board, small plastic pieces may go with the vegetables.
►You can use dried coriander and mint leaves in coarse powder form in vegetable curry or chutney, if fresh ones are not available. To keep them fresh for longer time, wrap them in a muslin cloth and keep in a fridge.
► Put some boric powder in kitchen in corners and other places. Cockroaches will leave your house.
► Immerse coconut in water for ½ an hour to remove its hust
► To chop dry fruits, place them in fridge for half an hour before cutting. Taking the fruits out and cut them with a hot knife (dip it in hot water before cutting).
► If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, place it in freezer for a few minutes.
► Make a small hole in the egg by piercing a pin before boiling it. You will be able to remove its skin very easily.

► Immerse the egg in a pan of cool salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh; if it rises to the surface, it is certainly quite old.
► Garlic skin comes off easily if the garlic cloves are slightly warmed before peeling.
► Avoid the use of ghee. If it is necessary, substitute it with canola oil. Even for making halwa, you can partly substitute it with oil.
►. To keep the chillies fresh for a longer time, remove the stems before storing.
►To preserve green peas, keep them in a polythene bag in the freezer.
►Place a betel (paan) leaf over the leftover idli and dosa batter to prevent them from becoming sour.
► Do not beat idli batter too much, the air of which has been incorporated during fermentation will escape.

► If you add half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds to the lentil and rice mixture while soaking, dosas will be more crisp.
►To ripen fruits, wrap them in newspaper and put in a warm place for 2-3 days. The ethylene gas they emit will make them ripe.
► Avoid deep frying. Substitute deep frying with stir frying or even bake. Don't pour the oil, but make a habit of spraying the oil in utensil for cooking. Heat the utensil first, then add oil. This way oil spreads well. You will use less oil this way.
► Don't throw away of the foods left over. Store them in fridge. Use them in making tasting dishes.
► If the lemon or lime is hard, put it in warm water for 5-10 minutes to make it easier for squeeze.
►Hang a peacock feather, lizards will leave your house.
► Moisten the base of the vessel with water to reduce the chances of milk to stick at the bottom.
► Keep spoon in the vessel while boiling milk at medium heat. It will avoid sticking the milk at the bottom of the vessel.
► Adding half of teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in the milk while boiling will not spoil the milk even if you don't put it in the fridge.
► Grind some common salt in your mixer/grinder for some time every month. This will keep your mixer blades sharp.
►Put a few camphor tablets in a cup of water and keep it in the bed room near your bed, or in any place with mosquitoes.
►When the noodles are boiled, drain all the hot water and add cold water. This way all the noodles will get separated.
► 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 a long time.
►Watch from the oven window to conserve energy because the oven temperature drops by 25 degrees every time its door is opened.
► Apply 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.


► 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.
► Bake in microwave ovens. Wrap the papads in polythene sheet and place with dal or rice will prevent them from drying and breaking.
► 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.
► Keep the maize/corn seeds in the freezer and pop while still frozen to get better pops.
► 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.
► To prevent formation of ice, rub table salt to the insides of your freezer.

►Add a few drops of lemon juice in the water before boiling the rice to make rice whiter.
► Add a teaspoon 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 5gm 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.
► 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 temperature.
► Put 2-3 cloves in the sugar to keep ants at bay.
► 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.