Kitchen hacks
Exploring My Kitchen Hacks -
Not your typical food post today, but I'm excited to share some personal kitchen hacks that I might turn into a detailed blog post later. These tricks help streamline my cooking process, and I'm jotting them down here not just to share with you, but as a reminder to myself too! 😄 I'd love to hear your own kitchen tips and tricks, so please drop them in the comments below.
Switching Rice for Millets: As many of us move towards millets for health reasons, remember that millet flour can thicken gravies, sambars, and kootus just like rice flour. Millets are a great substitute in all rice-based recipes, often using the same ratios but with more soaking and quick grinding time required.
Custard Powder for Desserts: To thicken and enhance the flavor of payasams and other desserts, opt for custard powder over plain cornflour or rice flour.
Quick Dosa Batter Hack: If you're short on time, grind urad dal in a mixer with cold water. Let it ferment for just 4-5 hours for a slight rise. Then, mix in rice flour and a tablespoon or two of semolina for super crispy dosas. Udad dal grinds well with short soaking time .
Utilizing Leftover Urad Dal Batter: Transform leftover vada batter into dosa batter by adding rice flour and letting it ferment for a few hours.
Simplify Coconut-Based Dishes: Use coconut milk powder instead of grinding fresh coconut, especially for dishes like arachavitta sambar, where adding coconut powder directly to premade sambar powder saves time.
Instant Avial: Combine avial powder and coconut milk powder with any mix of vegetables for a quick, no-prep avial. I have ready to make avial mix too in my blog .
Quick Sambar Solution: For a rapid sambar, add 1-2 tablespoons of powdered fried gram instead of cooking dals.
Prepared Kesari Ingredients: Store a mix of pre-roasted semolina, wheat, or millet powder, along with fried cashew nuts, raisins, cardamom powder, and powdered sugar. This allows for quick kesari preparation, needing only a bit of ghee.
Mor Kuzhambu from Coconut Chutney: Transform freshly ground coconut chutney into delicious mor kuzhambu by adding extra green chillies, some veggies, and whisked yogurt.
Stocking Up on Flours: Keep a variety of flours and powders like besan, rice flour, and dal powders on hand for quick dosas or uthapams.
Enhancing Dosa Color: A little sugar in the dosa batter and splashing salted water on the hot tava can enrich the color of your dosas.
Tomatoes Over Tamarind: Keep tomatoes ready to substitute tamarind in recipes when you're out.
Pulikaachal for Tamarind-Based Dishes: Use pulikaachal paste as a versatile, seasoned substitute for tamarind paste in sambar, rasam, etc., due to its longer shelf life and enhanced flavor.
Pepper Rasam and Vattalkuzhambu Pastes: Make and store pastes for pepper rasam and vattalkuzhambu for easy mixing with rice and ghee.
Crisp Dosas for Guests: Maintain crispness by stacking prepared dosas on a separate, low-heated pan, allowing you to serve many guests efficiently.
Preparations for Quick Cooking:
Sambar and Rasam Pastes: Ready-to-use mixes with included tamarind and dal powders.
Rice Mixes: Various flavored mixes for instant rice dishes, ideal for lunch boxes.
Spice Mixes: Custom spice blends for instant seasoning of dry curries and other dishes.
Dry Spice Powders: For North Indian gravies, offering a longer shelf life than pastes.
Dehydrated Mixes: Innovative mixes with dehydrated vegetables for upma or khichdi, perfect for travel.
I'm eager to expand this list with more tips and perhaps detail these hacks in a future blog post. Your contributions and comments are highly welcomed and valued!
Puzhukku is a traditional South Indian dish made with a variety of vegetables like pumpkin, yam, or raw plantain, cooked with coconut, spices, and sometimes lentils. It's typically served with rice or as an accompaniment to meals. It's hearty, flavorful, and a staple in many households in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.