Friday, August 13, 2010

Tips for easy cooking

  • Add sugar to fresh green vegetables before cooking to improve the flavour.

  • Apricots bruise easily and decay. So keep them away from heat and direct sunlight.

  • Fresh eggs are best for poaching, as they hold their shape.

  • To serve better, the poached eggs should be served as soon as they are pulled from the water.

  • Quickly stir in a tablespoon of butter or cream when the scrambled egg is likely to be overcooked.


  • To check whether the cake is fully baked or not, insert a knife. It is fully baked if the knife comes out perfectly clean. Also when fully baked, the cake shrinks slightly away from the sides of the tin.

  • To retain the freshness of nuts, store them in freezer.        

  • Use milk instead of water to knead puri dough. Puris will become soft and luscious.


  • Use skimmed milk while making paneer (fresh cheese) to obtain a lot of proteins and very low fat.

  • When whisking egg whites, greater volume can be achieved if the eggs are a little old. 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Cooking Tips / Samaiyal Kurippukal

  • Avoid cooking at high temperatures; this may destroy some of the vitamins due to oxidation.

  • Avoid foods that are typically sprayed with pesticides.

  • Avoid using copper vessels. It destroys vitamin content.

  • Boil potatoes and beetroots with the skin.

  • Do not soak fruits for more than 15 minutes in water.

  • Do not strain the starch water from rice.

  • Don’t add too much of salt to your food.

  • Instead of frying, boil or bake.

  • Limit intake of pickles as pickles contain lot of salt.

  • Limit intake of salty processed meats.

  • Select lean meat cuts and trim the fat.

  • Steam or microwave the vegetables instead of boiling them.

  • Steaming is the good cooking technique. It retains more nutrients than boiling.

  • Store the vegetables in a refrigerator to retain vitamin content.

  • To prevent excess oil absorption, remove and drain on kitchen napkins.

  • Try to boil vegetables as whole and then cut. This will retain nutrients.

  • Use boiled vegetable water and lentil water for soups and gravies.

  • Use fat free chicken broth.

  • Use lemon juice, vinegar or spices to reduce need for salt.

  • Use less soda or baking powder as it irritates intestine.

  • Use low fat cooking methods like steaming, baking, poaching, broiling or grilling.

  • Use low fat milk instead of full cream milk.

  • Use low fat yoghurt or skim milk.

  • Use neat and clean tools for cutting, especially the knife and cutting table.

  • Use non stick cookware while you cook so that you use less oil.

  • Wash vegetables before you chop them.