200th Blog - Tips & Tricks from my Kitchen!

I am all excited to announce that this is the 200th blog that I am posting today.... Thanks to all my family members / friends / readers / followers / well wishers /critics for all their support & feedback!!!

Recently, I had posted a blog on making Soft Sabudana Kitchdi and the views for this recipe was 10,000 plus.... Few readers also shared their tips on this post...

This has motivated me to jot down all the small and simple tips and tricks that has been passed on to me by my Mom, Mom-in-law, relatives & friends... I am sure these tips will definitely be useful to you in your Kitchen :)

In case you have any tips & tricks to share... do share it with me!

1.  While making Pudina & Coriander Chutney, add a dash of lemon juice to enhance the taste and maintain the colour.

2.    While storing dry fruits like Cashewnuts & Almonds, drop 2 to 3 cloves in the air tight container to keep away from insects.

3.    Sabudana can be washed in hot water, and soaked for 3 to 6 hours ...this helps to make soft sabudana khichdi.

4.    Soak sabudana in half water & half milk mix . The soaking period is overnight & water & milk mixture level upto sabudana level.  This also helps make soft sabudana khichdi.

5.    Use leftover sweets i.e. barfi, peda, ladoo etc. by adding them in milk to make Kheer or add bread in milk with the sweets to make pudding.

6.  If your Udid Wada batter gets watery, you may add some quantity of fine Semolina (Rava) to this mixture.  The Wada will become crispy too!

7.   Instead of cooking Cabbage, try eating it raw.  This will ensure you get your quota of Calcium.  You can also make Koshimbir out of Cabbage.

8.    Using left over Idli's you can make Upma (like Semolina / Rava Upma).

9.    Keep the tomatoes in a glass container or basket in the open.  Avoid keeping it in the fridge as it will not retain its taste.

10. You can deep freeze the tomato puree in fridge and use them later.

11. While making curd (yoghurt) at home, drop 2 or 3 curry leaves... this enhances the taste of the curd.

12. Do not keep the Onions and Potatoes in one basket.  The potatoes tend to spoil quickly.

13. To make your Dosa Crispy, you may add powdered Poha (flattened rice) to the batter.

14. You may store eating soda in a small bag in your Fridge.  This will ensure that there is no odour.

15. In case there is an odour in the sprouted beans / moong etc, you may add some salt to the sprouts and wash them thoroughly.

16. For soft and fluffy Idli's add a bowl of cooked rice or soaked poha while grinding the batter.

17. While making Sandwich, use a scissor to cut the crust so that there is no wastage. The crust can be dried in the sun and powdered which can be used while making cutlets.

18. To ensure that the cut apple does not change it's colour, you may add lemon juice to the cut apple.

19. To ensure that the coconut oil does not thicken during winter, add a drop of castor oil to the coconut oil and shake the bottle well.

20. While making the Puran for Puran poli add a handful of rice in the dal while cooking to ensure that the Puran is thick.