Tips & Tricks

• While making vegetable fries such as beans fry, avarakkai poriyal etc, zap the vegetables in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes in a bowl of water. Add a pinch of turmeric and salt to the water. This helps in retaining the color and reduce the cooking time. After zapping it, add it to your pan and fry as you normally do. The poriyal will be crunchy and will be done in a jiffy. This is especially useful when you are multi-tasking in the mornings before leaving for work.

• If you are using UHT milk for setting curds, the results are not always satisfactory. Try mixing equal parts of Full Cream and Fresh for better curds.

• Okra tastes better when left outside for couple of days before using them. There is a huge reduction in the gooey stuff and results in a great taste.

• Lots of Ginger and Garlic at home??? Grind equal amounts of ginger and garlic together with 1/2 a cup of water. Pour into icecube trays and freeze them. Remove and store in ziploc bags for upto 6 months. When required pull out couple of cubes and leave them in a bottle/box in the fridge compartment for hassle free Ginger Garlic paste.

• Do you love usili but the thought of the elaborate process puts you off?? The next time you make usili, triple the quantity. Steam them in idli moulds and store the cooled idlis in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Defrost required quantity in the microwave with a bit of water sprinkled for usili in a jiffy.