Tips On Fruits & Vegetables Storage

How to store chilies for long days?

Place the green chilies into airtight container and kept it in fridge.

How to stop tears while cutting/Peeling onion:

Peel the onions under the water.
Put one candle in front of u and cut.
Keep the onions in the refrigerator for sometimes before cutting.

How to store Mushrooms

Cover the mushrooms with a soggy cloth or use paper bag with holes in the cloth/bag for ventilation. This will keep them dry and refrigerate for long life.

Fruits life extension

To extend the life of the fruits it is necessary to select the fruit depending on their various level of ripeness. Then use them as they ripen

Weekly shopping

If you have the habit of weekly shopping then choose the vegetables and fruits that will last long. For example potatoes, carrots, root vegetables, onion etc.

Avoiding discoloration of vegetables:

Some green leafy vegetables start to discolor after they are chopped. To prevent this you can add a pinch of common salt and sugar to the vegetable while cooking.

Storing Green Leafy Vegetables:

To keep the green leafy vegetables fresh for a long time you need to wrap them in a newspaper before placing them in the vegetable tray.

South Indian Cooking Tips by my grandma

Curry turned out a bit oily and pungent:

No problem take 2 bread slices and make it like a powder. Now add to curry and mix well. Bread absorbs the excess oil and spice.

Want to make a fluffy omelet:

Heat the pan add some oil or butter, then beat the egg and pour into the pan and stir with a fork. The air goes inside omelet, making light and fluffy. Serve hot.

How to make idly soft:

While you make urad dal paste, in a hot water add half cup of rava (semolina) and rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Now compress it and add into urad dal paste. Next day you get soft idly recipe.

How to preserve ginger-garlic paste:

Before grinding ginger garlic fry them in oil and store in the same oil.

To avoid sticky rice:

1. Soak the rice in water 10 mins before cooking.
2. Add a teaspoon of oil to the cooked rice.

To avoid foaming hot oil:

During any deep fry some times oil foam and rise up in the pan, For that add small piece of tamarind to the oil.

Reducing fat in chicken:

Before marinating the skin of the chicken has to be reduced this will decrease the fat in the chicken by 10 grams per serving.

Forgot to soak chana:

If you forgot to soak chana overnight, no problem soak the chana in a flask filled with boiling water for an hour. The chana will be ready for cooking.

To fry onions faster:

While frying the onions if you add ½ tsp of salt it will become brown faster.

To remove garlic skin easily:

The skin of garlic can be easily removed if the garlic's are warmed little before you start peeling.

Oil safety cooking:

When cooking with oil you need be very careful sometime the boiling oil stars foaming rising out of the pan. You can avoid this by adding a small size of tamarind ball to the oil.

How to make soft chapati:

To make chapati soft there are two steps do be done.

1. While making dough use milk or yoghurt instead of water.

2. The more pressing the dough by your hand gives more smother.

Finally cover with a soggy cloth and set sideways for half an hour before using.

Easy Mash Potatoes:

Mash potatoes while it is hot, because mashing is easy and fine mash will done.

Cooking vegetables in microwave:

While cooking in the microwave to maintain the fresh green colour add pinch of soda bicarb to green vegetables

Peel Tomato Skin:

To easy peel skin of tomato place tomatoes in hot water for 5-7 minutes before use for peeling.

Simple and Easy Cooking Tips

Sharpen the blender blades

Grind some salt in blender or mixer well to make the blades sharp.

Add more flavor to kheer

Wash the rice, drain excess water and then fry the rice in butter for 1-2 mins on medium flame. Then add the milk. Frying the rice in butter adds flavor to the kheer

To get golden color for dosa

To get golden color for dosa just add some rice (cooked) while you are grinding.

To make your Biryani very Tasty

Separately fry the onions in the oil until crispy golden brown. Add these onions to your prepared biryani, tightly cover the lid and keep it on the stove on a lowest minimum flame for about 5-10 mins. Then for sure you will taste the tasty and different biryani....

Making curd faster

If you want curd to settle fast after adding little curd to the milk you just put a green chilly which is coated with salt

Grandma Kitchen Storage Tips – Part II

To keep carrots fresh for longer, cut the tops off and place them in a plastic bag in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator.

Fresh soft dates should be kept in plastic bags in the refrigerator. They will keep fresh for weeks.

Put leftover soup or soup stock in ice cube trays and freeze. The frozen soup cubes can be wrapped and stored in the freezer. This makes it possible to serve small amounts of soup or use the entire batch for another meal.

A pinch of salt added to ginger-garlic paste will help increase its shelf life though it should be stored in the refrigerator. Butter is best kept in the refrigerator, but as it easily absorbs other flavours, it should be well wrapped and kept away from strong smelling foods.

If leaving white sauce to stand for an hour or two, spread melted butter on the surface so that it forms a thin film thereby preventing formation of skin.

To prevent fresh coconut milk from turning rancid add a pinch of salt to it. This will help preserve it for a few hours. Store leftover fried papads in a polythene bag. They will remain crisp.

To increase shelf life of coffee powder, store it in an air-tight container and place it in the refrigerator.

To keep cottage cheese fresh, wrap it in a muslin cloth that has been dipped in lemon water.For a sweet and spicy flavour, place a small piece of star anise in the cavity of the chicken or duck before roasting or braising.

You can use the leftover royal icing to pipe clusters and stars. Put them on a sheet of waxed paper to dry and then store them for use when required.

Do not waste egg whites if you have recipes which call for yolks only. They freeze very well and can be stored in batches of 3 or 4 egg whites at a time. In fact when thawed, frozen egg whites make much better foam.

If leaving white sauce to stand for an hour or two, rub the surface of the sauce with a lump of butter so that it melts to form a thin coating.

Fresh coconut milk turns rancid fairly quickly, to prevent this, add a pinch of salt to the coconut milk to help preserve for a few hours.

Butter is best kept in the refrigerator, but as it easily absorbs other flavours, it should be well wrapped and kept away from strong.

Lemon halves shrivel in the fridge when unused. Hence freeze them in polyethylene bags so that they are handy for making cold drinks whenever the need arises.

The egg shell is covered with a protective coating that aids in maintaining the freshness of the egg by covering the many small holes in the shell, if this mucin layer is removed by washing or buffing, the holes are exposed for bacterial penetration and dehydration, thus hastening deterioration of quality. So don’t wash the eggs for storing.

An open packet of tomato puree may get a mould or fungus. To store the puree for longer, pour it into an ice tray and freeze. This serves the dual purpose of storing as well as, a few cubes can be removed at a time as required.

Freshly cut fruits can be kept for a longer period by adding a little limejuice or a small dose of vitamin C tablet.

Tomatoes can be kept longer if kept in the freezer, this also helps, when the skins of the tomatoes have to be peeled, as it comes off naturally when the tomatoes thaw.

All ground, dry spices should be stored in a dark place as they tend to lose their flavour in the light.

Before storing spices like coriander, cumin, chilli powder, keep them in the strong sun for few hours or lightly roast them in a frying pan.

When storing cheese in the fridge remove from tin, wrap in cellophane or foil and place in covered container to prevent it from hardening.

Place green fruits in a perforated plastic bag. The holes will allow air to circulate while retaining the ethylene gas that fruits produce during ripening.

Cheese will stay fresh longer if wrapped in Clingfilm once seal is broken. Take care to refrigerate in the chiller tray section of the fridge to keep it good for days.

Olive oil oxidizes easily, which results in the loss of its delicate flavours. It should therefore be stored in tinted glass bottles or in tins or cans to protect it from light and air.

Make crumbs of day old chapatis, dry for two to three hours in a wide plate, bottle and refrigerate. Use later like breadcrumbs or as required, will keep for four to five days in refrigerator.

Store banana leaves like a roll, wrapped in a moist muslin cloth, then placed n a polythene bag. They will stay fresh for a week, if refrigerated this way.

Grandma Kitchen Storage Tips – Part I

After bananas have ripened, store in the refrigerator to help slow down ripening. The skin will turn dark brown, but this does not damage the fruit inside.

Put two to three cloves in the container or jar of sugar to keep the ants at bay.

Set lemon juice with sugar and a little salt in ice trays to make cubes which can be used to make instant lemonade.

Dry fifty grams of mint leaves, powder them and add to ten kilograms of rice. Not only will the mint leaves keep insects at bay, they will also impart a delicious flavour to the rice when cooked.

Put chips and biscuits in a polythene bag and store them in a refrigerator to keep them fresh for a long time.

Tie the shelled green peas in a cloth and dip in boiling water for three minutes. Then dip in chilled water for three minutes. Dry under the fan till the extra moisture is removed and then pack into airtight jars or sealed packets. Freeze and use when peas are out of season.

Coriander leaves will stay fresh if placed in a polythene bag and stored in the fridge.

If you have peeled extra potatoes, keep them dipped in water and store in the refrigerator. They will remain for a couple of days. Storing flour in an airtight container and refrigerating it doubles their storage time.

Put two to three cloves in the sugar to keep ants at bay. To prevent ice-trays from sticking to the freezer surface sprinkle a little salt on the surface of the freezer before placing the ice-trays.

While storing green chillies, remove the stems. This will help the chilies to stay fresh for a longer time.

Potatoes rot quickly if stored near onions therefore store them separately.

Store eggs in a carton and place in the refrigerator itself rather than on the door.

Stale bread should not be discarded, instead toast the bread and powder it in a mixer. Store these breadcrumbs in an airtight container. It can be used for coating food items that are deep-fried to give a crisp outer covering.

To make vinegar last twice as much, divide the vinegar in two bottles and add water, which has been boiled. After a week it will come up to full strength again.

To ripen bananas quickly keep them wrapped in a paper bag in a dark place.

When putting meat joint in the fridge cover it with foil to prevent it from drying.

Sandwiches will keep fresh and moist if put in a polyethylene bag or wrapped in waxed paper or in aluminum foil.

Fresh yeast should be stored in the refrigerator or should be frozen or else it will lose its effectiveness with age.

Salad dressings should always be kept at room temperature and not in the refrigerator as chilling deadens its flavour.

If fish is to be stored for more than a day, clean it thoroughly, rub it with salt and turmeric powder before freezing. You can also use vinegar if you like its flavour.

Mix in fifteen to twenty cloves with every kilogram of dal while storing to prevent it from being attacked by insects. The same cloves can be reused.

When chilling puddings in the refrigerator, cover the containers with cling film or plastic sheet to protect from water and crystal formation in the dish.

Always store aamras and other mango desserts in non-metal containers, because when stored in metal containers they may get discoloured.

Cut off the roots and pack fresh coriander leaves in two to three sheets of newspaper and refrigerate. In this way they remain fresh upto a week or two.

If instant coffee kept in a bottle hardens due to humidity, pour some hot water to dissolve it. Cool and refrigerate. Use as desired but not keep for too many weeks, as it may ferment.

To prevent insects from forming in plain flour store it in clean zip lock bags in a refrigerator. This way the flour will stay fresh much longer.

To retain the crispiness of leftover fried poppadums while refrigerating, keep them in a plastic polythene bag.

To increase the shelf life of dry masalas store them in airtight containers with a cube of asafoetida.

Add a teaspoon of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chilli, along with salt to make them last longer and taste fresher.

Keep roasted chapattis wrapped in a cloth in a closed container. This will help keep them from sweating or getting soggy or getting dry. They will remain soft for a long time.

One may cut and keep vegetables, beans, carrots, etc. previous night for an early meal next day. But put them in a bowl, not tightly packed and slip the bowl into a polythene bag, knotting the mouth loosely. This way the chopped vegetables will stay crisp and fresh till used.

Wrap half-cut raw mangoes in cling film before storing in refrigerator. The mango will stay fresh longer.

Moisture causes baking powder to deteriorate faster. To prevent this store baking powder in airtight containers. Anyway it should not be stored for too long as it loses strength over time.

Grandma Kitchen Cleaning Tips

To clean copper pots, sprinkle a little salt, rub with the cut side of a halved lemon and rinse with water.

Fish smell tends to linger on the pots and pans long after the cooking. Brew some tea (for ten to fifteen minutes) in the pot/pan in which fish has been cooked. Discard tealeaves and water. Fish smell will disappear.

Used milk glasses should be rinsed with cold water instead of hot water before washing, as hot water cooks the milk and makes them harder to clean.

For cleaning vessels add a handful of common salt to the washing powder for better results.

Soak burnt pans in a solution of ammonia and water, for an hour. Clean with used lemon and then with soap and water. They will sparkle again.

To remove tea or coffee stains from pots or cups, rub the stained area with a little salt and rinse afterwards.

To remove unpleasant odours from the oven, place a wide pan with warm water to which used tealeaves have been added and leave it to stand in the oven for some time. Even a bowl of warm water with vinegar or lemon juice does the trick.

To cut grease and odour on dishes, add a tablespoon of vinegar to hot soapy water.

You can clean darkened aluminum pans easily by pouring in two teaspoons cream of tartar mixed in some of water. Place on heat and boil for 10 minutes.

To unclog a drain, mix a cup of salt with a cup of baking soda. Pour these into the drain, and then add a pot of boiling water.

If you drop an egg on the floor, cover it with salt an let it remain like this for a couple of minutes. You will be able to easily clean the mess with a paper towel.

Grandma Cooking Tips

Peel and cut potatoes and boil them in water to which a little vinegar is added. They will be done in no time and will retain the texture as well.

If you have forgotten to soak pulses like chana overnight, just put the chana in a flask full of boiling water for an hour. They are ready for cooking.

Add a little oil and turmeric powder to the dal before placing it in the cooker. It will get done in ten minutes flat.

While cooking ladyfingers (okra) add a few drops of lemon juice or a spoonful of yogurt to avoid becoming sticky.

To preserve the white colour in cauliflower and cabbage, add a teaspoon of milk or milk powder while cooking.

The art of making good naan khatais lies in beating of the mixture till it becomes light and fluffy. Also only vanaspati should be used to make them.

When boiling potatoes for cutlets add the salt to the water itself as potatoes absorb salt better this way.

Never beat idli batter too much because the air which has already incorporated during fermentation is lost.

To reduce fat in the chicken by about 10 grams per serving, remove the skin before marinating it.

Grandma tips on frying

Heat the oil thoroughly before adding seasonings or vegetables. 

Fry the seasonings until they change color, to get full flavour of seasonings.

 If masala sticks to the pan that shows quantity of fat included is not enough. 

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

When coconut is used in grinding masala, do not fry for a longer time. 

If you are making patties or tikkis of potatoes, always make sure that the potatoes are boiled well in advance and cooled before you use them. It would be better if they can be refrigerated for a short time. This helps the starch in the potatoes to settle down and the tikkis will not be gooey. 

Smoke Mustard oil first before using for preparing vegetables etc.. by heating to a point till light white smoke emerges from it. This would remove the potency from the oil.

Poori can be rolled and place between well-rinsed wet muslin cloth at least an hour ahead and can be Fried before serving.

To make pooris more crispy add a little rice flour to the wheat flour while kneading.

Pakodas will turn out crisper if a little corn flour is added to the gram flour (besan) while preparing the batter.

Heat a non-stick pan and add a little more butter than usual. Now beat the egg and stir briskly (even while frying) with a fork. This way more air goes in your omelet, making it light and fluffy. Fry till done and serve hot.

Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all over.

When browning meat in fat, choose a large, deep pan. This will enable you to fry quickly, without splashing the stove with fat and meat juices.

Grandma tips on cutting and peeling the vegetables

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

Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.

 Soak potatoes and eggplant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.

If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it to make gravies.

To avoid browning of apples after cutting, apply a little lemon juice on the cut surface. The apples will stay and look fresh for a longer time.

Keep coriander leaves in a muslin (cheese) cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer time.

Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them .This will help them to stay fresh for long.

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

Soak almonds in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes .The skin will peel off easily.

Chopping vegetables can be done in different ways using a sharp knife and a wooden chopping board. Cutting on a marble slab will blunt your knives.

Remove the outer leaves and husks from the corn. Holding the corn upright with the flat end firmly in a board, take a sharp knife and run it down between the kernels and the cob to strip them away.

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

Chopping dry fruits - Freeze them first for one hour & then dip the knife into hot water before cutting them.

Quick Pulao with left over gravy

Ingredients 

• Oil
• Ghee
• Rice
• Salt
• Lemon Juice

Preparation Method

Heat oil and ghee in a pan

Add chopped onion, remaining gravy (veg or non-veg), rice, salt, lemon juice

Cook till the rice is done

Serve hot with raita