Cooking Tips

• Soak whole pulses overnight and other dals for one hour before cooking. Always add hot water to the gravy to enhance the taste.

• Always use heavy bottomed vessels to make desserts, in order to avoid burning. 

• Never discard the water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies or soups.

• While boiling milk, always add a little water at the base of the vessel to avoid the milk from sticking at the bottom.

• You can leave a spoon in the vessel in which the milk is being boiled at low heat so that it does not get burnt at the bottom 

• Add a tsp. of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chili, along with salt to make it last longer and taste fresher. 

• Store raisins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for much longer. Pour very hot water over them if they had harden, after that drain them immediately, and spread on a paper towel to dry.

• Immediately after boiling noodles put them in normal cold water to separate them each. 

• If you forget to soak chana/Rajma overnight. Just soak the chana/Rajma in the boiling water for an hour before cooking.

• Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes will bake more rapidly. 

•  Put tomatoes in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave it for about 5 minutes. Take out one by one, piercing them with a sharp knife, the skin will peel off easily.

• After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying.

• Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water-soluble vitamins. 

• Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh for long.

• Add some hot oil and 1/2 tsp of baking soda in batter while making pakodas. 

• Always use ghee or vanaspathi instead of oil, which gives a good flavour to the gravy. If oil alone is used, it does not get separated easily from the ground mixture, as ghee separates from it.