Tricks And Tips

Cooking 
  • To peel garlic slice them in centre vertically, the skin comes out easily.
  • Add the herb of your choice (coriander, curry leaves etc) to the oil along with onions etc. to have a stronger flavor to the recipe
  • If your dosas or pancakes are not getting lifted easily then cover the pan with a lid. Due to the vapor vacuum it will start leaving the corners of the pan.
  • Add a spoonful of curd while cooking rice for biryanis and pulav. The rice will be fluffy and also have a nice white color.
  • Always stack the scraps in kitchen - vegetable peels, herb stems etc in a zip lock freezer bag. Use them to make vegetable stock.
  • Use the stems of coriander for making gravy pastes or chutneys. The taste , flavor and nutrition are same or better than the leaves
  • Rub the lemon between your palms or on a flat surface before cutting and squeezing juice out. This will yield more juice
  • Keep orange/ sweet lime in luke warm water for couple of minutes before using the fruit. This will yield better juice and also makes it less acidic
  • Wash the ginger peels well under the running tap water until it is clean. Dry it for a few days under sun or in microwave until dry. Grind and use in tea
Baking
  • Never open the door of the Oven/ OTG/ Microwave before the cake completes half of the recommended time even to check for the doneness. This will sink the cake in the centre.
  • Never add excess baking powder or leavening agents as this inflates the cake way too much which will make it sink later on
  • To prevent the cake from burning at the edges while it is still uncooked in the centre, you can wrap a foil paper or parchment paper around the side walls of the baking dish.
  • Always use a toothpick or wooden skewer instead of metallic skewer to test whether the cake or other dish is cooked. You can also use a spaghetti.
  • Creaming the sugar along with butter and eggs helps to absorb and wet the dry ingredients better
  • While whipping the egg whites, cream  always use a clean bowl. Any grease in the bowl will not aide the whipping better
  • If you use granulated sugar in cakes it may not get dissolved in the cake and also make the cake denser. It is always better to powder the sugar well.
  • When using store bought Vanilla extract (especially Indian) always double the quantity than recommended in the recipe for right flavor


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