13 Kitchen Secrets For Smart Home-chefs

When I discovered my love for cooking, I found Cooking is such a bliss full thing and preparing food is no more a daily chore now, it’s a new hobby – a new passion and it can be more fun if we know the secret and knack of how to do it “THE RIGHT WAY”.

Once you land up in kitchen, the mystery unfolds & everything looks super exciting. You start playing around with things & you discover “oh this is super cool” and you call it a ‘TIP’

So here are 13 of those fun secrets which if you follow in your day-to day Kitchen life, you will not only enjoy cooking but also would get appreciated as a smart Cook by your friends and family. And Yes, you can always share these tips with your friends to be Popular  🙂

#1 If you want to enjoy lemon for entire summers, squeeze in lemon juice, strain and refrigerate the extract in glass bottle with some salt in it. You can enjoy this lemon juice throughout the season without worrying about the lemon price hike 🙂

#2 Always cook pasta a min or two less than the time mentioned on the pack so as to avoid the sticky texture. Cook rest of the time with sauce.

#3 If you want your kababs to be soft & easily chewable. Marinate them for longer time & avoid over cooking them.

#4 Instead of using vinegar for sweet and salty flavour in gravy, use dry mint leaves. Crush them and mix them in half cooked gravy to add flavours.

#5 Always use hing while boiling or frying arhar(toor daal), adding hing will aid digestion and you will not feel bloated. It also enhances the taste.

#6 If you want your leefy vegetables to have that beautiful green color, dont cover them while cooking and never overcook. You will get the natural green color of the leaves in your dishes.

#7 If you want a healthier alternative, instead of frying the paneer in oil, You can immerse paneer cubes in boiling water. The paneer cubes will become soft and spongy, and you save a lot of calories by not frying.

#8 You can keep rice from becoming sticky by cooking it in water with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. It will also give your rice a nice white colour and a light zesty flavour.

#9 If you want to have that crunch in your lettuce salad for long. Dry chop lettuce & drape a paper towel over salad & cover the bowl with plastic wrap to keep it fresh for whole week.

#10 Add a pinch of sugar while frying onions for garnishing biryanis and pulaos, so that they will brown faster & would be crispier.

#11 Store mushrooms in paper bags rather plastic bags or trays. This stops them from becoming ‘slimy’ and prolongs their life.

#12 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.

#13 Do not discard water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies, soups, rasam etc.