Kitchen Hacks Which Life Taught Me – Zindagi Seekha Gayi

I was not  an expert in cooking before my marriage. I used to prepare simple recipes only. After my marriage, I was in traditional joint family. Once on janmashtami fast my mother in law asked me to prepare some fasting sweet for family. Although. i was nervous, but I tried-Meeng paak (A type of fasting sweet). I prepared Meeng paak mixture (A type of fasting sweet).

I greased a tray and kept mixture  to set. It (Meeng paak) was not setting  even after 6 hours. An idea came to my mind, I roasted 1 cup buckwheat flour and mix it well with roasted Meeng paak (FASTING SWEET) mixture. I also added some powdered sugar also. Kept it in greased tray, Topped with roasted melon seeds pressed lightly. It was fully set and tasty too. Now I always prepare Vrat meeng paak with this method. Thus I learned with experience many things. Cooking is all about learning through one’s experience and so one has to keep learning and sharing . so this is what I am doing now.

Sharing here some tips.

Tips

An easy way to make pomegranate juice is to first cut the fruit into two horizontally, squeeze out the juice using a citrus juicer, like you do with orange, mosambi and sweet limes. This way, you get only the juice without the seeds and without the hassle of straining it. 

 To preserve mint leaves, wash and grind to a paste. Add a few drops of sour limejuice. Fill it in an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator. The colour and aroma will stay fresh for a week.

If your curry becomes too oily or watery, sprinkle a little kurmura powder (puffes rice ) It will absorb the extra oil and water, and make the curry delicious.

To remove sourness from curd, tie it in muslin cloth and wash it three to four times with plain water.

Roast groundnuts and sesame seeds and powder them. This powder can be used to thicken the gravies.

To make Urad dal Kachoris easily & quickly, mix three-teaspoon Urad dal Atta(dehuked blackgram lentil flour) with 1 tsp Saunf (Aniseed), a pinch of asafetida, & red chili powder & salt according to taste to 250g of the wheat flour & make soft dough. Make Kachoris with this dough

A little rice flour added to bhajia batter will not only make the bhajias crisper but also less oily.