Quick Fix Tips for Cooking

    Tomato paste or sauce can be used instead of fresh tomatoes. This saves a lot of chopping time.
    Soak chik peas in boiling water if you forget to soak it ahead of time. In this way only 1 hour of soaking in needed.
    Make ginger garlic paste in bulk and put it in the fridge. Similarly, make green chilly paste and keep in the fridge. This saves a lot of cooking time.
    You can also make a big batch of chapatti dough using your grinder atta attachment or food processor. Divide into smaller portions, put in ziploc bags and freeze it. Whenever you need, take one bag, thaw it and use. This stays good for more than a month.
    While chopping vegetables, chop in a bulk, use what is needed and put the remaining in the fridge for later use. Chopping a vegetable at a stretch saves a lot of time.

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    Have lots of peeled garlic in an air tight box in the refrigerator.
    Grate a whole coconut at a time and refrigerate/freeze it so it can be used easily whenever needed. You can use the grater attachment in the wet grinders to get it done easily. I prefer freezing as it stays fresh longer (upto 3 months). Thaw it for 5 minutes before each use.
    Fry grated coconut in bulk with curry leaves and store it in the fridge. This can be used easily whenever gravies have to be made.
    Whenever you boil potatoes or cauliflower make some extra and put it in the fridge. This can be used to make stuffed parathas, cutlets etc.
    Use the microwave to saute onions, tomatoes and to cook up the vegetables.

Top 10 General Tips for cooking

    To make softer chapattis, take the flour, add warm water and some warm milk and knead the dough. Let it rest for 15 minutes before making chapattis.
    Use heavy bottomed vessel  for boiling milk and for preparations using milk like kheer. Before adding the milk, a little water can be added to the vessel to avoid the milk from sticking to the bottom and getting burnt.
    Toasting nuts, rice, rava and dal (lentils) before cooking with it increases its flavors considerably.
    Adding few drops of oil to the rice before cooking it will prevent it from becoming sticky.
    Use the excess dal water from boiling dal to make rasam. Similarly, after boiling vegetables if you do not want the extra water, the liquid can be used in gravies or for making chapatti dough.
    Rub your hands in a stainless steel sink or vessel to remove the strong smell of onions or garlic.
    When boiling potatoes or eggs, add a pinch of salt to the water. This will help peel the skin easily later.

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    To separate each string of noodles or any thin pasta, run it under cold water immediately after boiling and draining the water.
    Curd in winter - Set in a ceramic container and place it on the voltage stabilizer of your refrigerator. Other options are keep in a hot box, inside the oven (switched off) or keep it wrapped in a blanket. The idea is to give a warm place to speed up the fermentation.
    For making softer idlis, add some sago or cooked rice while making the batter.