Cooking tips - Part 2

There are several such tips which i myself was surprised to see when i started writing it down.

To check More, Click Cooking tips - Part 1
                                   

21) Save grated coconut in ziplock bags in freezer. Grated coconut keeps well for more days.

22) If using frozen coconut for curries or chutneys, grind it with warm water or milk to make smooth and soft paste.

23) While frying onions or any vegetables, add a pinch of salt or sugar to quicken the cooking.

24)  To retain the color of green vegetable like spinach, peas or evn to retain the white color in cauliflower, add 1/4 teaspoon sugar while boiling or blanching. You can follow the same while blanching tomatoes too.

25) To avoid okra or ladies finger slime make sure the okra is washed and dried thoroughly.

26) Add 1 teaspoon curd while cooking okra to remove slime.

27) To thicken vatha kuzhambu or any sambar (when making for more people) dissolve 2 teaspoons rice flour in 1/4 cup water and add to the boiling sambar.

28) To thicken gravies or curries, dissolve corn flour in water or milk and add to the boiling gravy.

29) If you have excess water after cooking dal use it for making rasam or soup.

30) Oil temperature is very important for deep frying. Always deep fry in hot oil in medium flame while making snacks like murukku,mixture etc. If you fry in very high flame the snack will turn dark very soon and remain uncooked from inside.

31) While frying gulab jamuns, keep the flame low and deep fry till the balls turn dark golden brown.

32) Place a small piece of blotting paper / paper towel / parchment paper in the container used for storing deep fried snacks. This will keep the snacks crispy and fresh for long time.

33) Use good quality home-made ghee for making sweets and add generously.

34)  To soften  butter faster for cakes or snacks, cube the butter and place near a warm vessel(pressure cooker) or hot water pot.

35) Add few spoons of hot oil to the dough to make snacks like murukku,pakora to make them more crispy.

36) Adding 1/8 teaspoon of omam/carom seeds to muruuku dough or bajji batter will increase the flavour as well as aid in digestion.

37) Add 1 tbsp of fruit jam to a glass of cold milk, blend well and a quick delicious fruit shake is ready in no time.

38) Add 2 tbsp pickle masala, 2 tbls pickle oil and a pinch of salt to a cup of wheat flour to make delicious achari poori's for breakfast and as a travel food.

39)Add 1 tbsp leftover pickle masala to regular subzi to make achari aloo, achari bhindi, achari brinjal or any dry curry of your choice.

40) Add kiwi fruit, green apple, oranges, berries or any sour or over-ripe fruit to make coriander chutney more nutritious.


 To check More, Click Cooking tips - Part 3
                                   Cooking tips - Part 4
                                   Cooking tips - Part 5

Cooking tips - Part 1

Some of the tips i had been following, learnt from my mistakes, from my grandmother, mother, mother-in-law, husband (yes, you heard it right), and online friends.

1) When making tea, always simmer the flame after adding tea leaves. Never let boil, that will reduce the taste and flavour of tea.

2) Always make tea fresh and use it immediately. Do not store tea decoction, it is not advisible.

3) To make filter coffee very tasty and flavourful add a very very tiny pinch of salt to the decoction before adding the milk.

4) If you excess have decoction add 1/2 teaspoon sugar and mix well. You can store the decoction for few hours and make coffee later. But filter coffee always tastes great with freshly made decoction and boiled milk.

5) Add few drops of oil while cooking rice to make rice non sticky. This works well especially if the rice is new and starchy.

6) While making mixed rice varieties like lemon rice or coconut rice, take the cooked rice and spread it on a plate. Add few drops of oil, 1/4 tbsp of trumeric and fluff up with a fork or back of a spoon. Cool thoroughly before using in the recipe.

7) While making pulao or biryani, make sure to wash the rice very well till it runs clear of starch,soak the rice for at least 20  minutes, drain and spread on a plate for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.

8) While purchasing toor dal, make sure it is not shiny. Shiny dal will take forever to cook and you cannot mash it easily. Similarly purchase only if the dal is small and flat.

9) While pressure cooking toor dal, add a small pinch of salt (optional) and turmeric powder. This helps in cooking the dal very well and easy to mash. Soaking the toor dal in water for 20 minutes before cooking reduces the cooking time.

10) If you want to heat the leftover rice, sprinkle some water over the rice and simmer in pressure cooker for 5-7 minutes. The rice will be fresh and soft.

11) Soak channa dal atleast for 30 minutes before pressure cooking. This reduces the cooking time.

12) While cooking potatoes, add water to the pressure cooker and place potatoes in a vessel without water. By this method, potatoes do not turn mushy and crumbly after cooking. If the potatoes are very big, cut them into half and pressure cook for fast cooking.

13) Place the chopped potatoes / chopped eggplant (Brinjal) in water until use. This will stop the Oxidation process.

14) Try to steam cook the vegetables as far as possible to preserve the nutrients.

15) Cut vegetables in uniform shape and size for any recipe. This will help in quick cooking and also save gas.

16) Cooking vegetable in high flame for brief time will seal the nutrients and also save fuel.

17) Keep chopped Raw banana / Plantain in buttermilk until use to avoid discolouration. Do the same with banana flower too.

18) Sometimes brinjal or eggplants will be bitter. You can keep the chopped eggplants in water and squeeze slightly before using.

19) To remove bitterness to an extent from bitter gourd, sprinkle some salt over the chopped bitter gourd, mix well and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze and discard the secreted water before cooking.

20) To break open the coconut easily, place it in cold water for 15 minutes.



To check More, Click Cooking tips - Part 2
                                  Cooking tips - Part 3
                                  Cooking tips - Part 4
                                  Cooking tips - Part 5

Tricks to identify the plastic rice

Here are some tricks to find out yourself about the fake and real rice.

1) Water test

Take a glass og water, drop a spoon of raw rice inside and still well. If it is plastice / fake rice it will float at the top, but if the rice goes to the bottom, it is the real rice and good for consumption

2) Fire test

Take some raw rice and burn it using match or lighter. Fake rice will certainly release the plastic smell.

3) Boiling test

Boil the rice in a open pan and observe while boiling. if its fake it will start forming a thick layer at the top of the pot.

4) Fungus test

Take a spoon of cooked rice and leave it for 2-3 days in a closed container. If mold forms then its good and not fake.

5) Hot oil test

Take a spoon of raw rice and drop it in very hot oil. if its fake it will melt and stick together at the bottom.

Karnataka’s amazing Maddur vada turns 100

The Maddur vada was invented by accident on a railway platform in the non-descript town of Maddur

There’s so much to see and experience on the road between Bengaluru and Mysuru. However, between the cocoon market of Ramnagaram, the toy shops of Channapatna, the palace of Mysore, and the heritage monuments of Srirangapatna, it would be a tragedy to miss out on the culinary treat that Maddur has become famous for – the eponymous Maddur vada.

The aroma of vada wafted the air as soon as we reached Maddur, a non-descript town in Mandya district 80 km from Bengaluru. We passed by vendors hawking packets of vada at traffic stops and several eateries stocking mounds of this piping hot snack at their counters. But we had only one destination in mind, the Maddur Tiffanyss – the customary halt for travelers on State Highway 17.

The genesis of the vada can be traced back to Ramachandra Budhya, an entrepreneur who started Vegetarian Tiffin Room (VRR) in Maddur railway station in 1917 to sell pakoras and idlis. For decades, he ran a roaring business as every passing train run on meter gauge tracks stopped at Maddur to fill up their water tanks.

Savouring nibbles of crisp vada at Tiffanyss, we listened in rapt attention to DN Chathura, (a fourth-generation descendant of HD Hebbar, who managed VRR at the station from 1948 to 1973) as he shared the story of the vada.

As Chathura narrates it, it was a culinary catastrophe on a railway platform that led to the birth of the Maddur vada. Budhya used to prepare pakoras and sell them to train passengers. One day, a train reached the station much in advance of its arrival timings. Budhya’s pakoras weren’t ready but he didn’t want to lose out on customers. So, he hit upon an idea.

Instead of wasting time attempting to make his snacks in the shape of pakoras, which would take longer to cook, he hurriedly flattened the pakora dough between his palms, turned them into vadas and fried them.
The ‘new snack’ was christened as the Maddur vada. It became popular among the local populace and also the British passengers who used to travel between Mysore and Bangalore.

Hebbar’s son, D Gopaliah, decided for the first time to sell the vadas outside the station. Identifying the highway as a potential market for his product, his son, Jayaprakash, started the eatery called Maddur Tiffanyss in 1987. Unfortunately, the original canteen at Maddur station closed down in 2017 – in the centenary year of the iconic snack – due to the invasion of unauthorized vendors peddling vadas, and an exorbitant escalation in rent.

Made with rice flour, semolina, cashew nut, sliced coconut, curry leaves and masala, the Maddur  vada continues to be a big hit in the region. The ubiquitous Maddur vadas on the Mysuru-Bengaluru train and highway are popular not only among regular passengers, but have even been the snack of choice among top politicians like former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna, former Railway Minister Jaffer Sharief and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A number of NRIs also carry back to their overseas homes packets of vadas specially packed for international travel – with most of the oil extracted to keep the vadas from going stale.

At Tiffanyss', we were ushered into a small kitchen to watch the workers in action churning out vadas with an awesome efficiency. 1000 vadas are made in two shifts. It was an absolute delight to watch the entire process unfold – from slicing onions into thin pieces, to flattening the dough and frying the vadas

“What makes Maddur vada unique is the ingredients used – Venugopal sooji, Nandi maida, rice flour, semolina, sliced coconut, curry leaves, refined sunflower oil.  The onions are sourced from Nasik and Pune. It is the right amount of water content that gives the vada its special taste. The main fragrances come from the onions which are sliced long and thin.  There’s also a special limited version made using cashew, khus khus, Nandini ghee and butter,” explained Chathura.

In 1948, the price of a vada was 50 paise. Now it is priced at Rs 15 per vada, with special vadas costing Rs 20. So if you are heading to Mysuru from Bengaluru, do make sure to stop off en route at Maddur to savour the crispy, light and heavenly flavor of the authentic Maddur vada.

Source: By a fellow blogger

Potato Palya

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 medium
Onion - 1 medium 
Salt - As required
Chilly powder - 1/4 tbsp
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Mustard - 1/4 tbsp
Jeera- 1/4 tbsp
Chana dal- 1/4 tbsp
Urad dal - 1/4 tbsp
Hing - 1/4 tbsp
Curry leaves - few
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Coriandar leaves - 1/4 cup (Finely chopped) 
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1) Boil washed potatoes in water, peel it and keep it aside.
2) In a pan, add oil, mustard, Jeera, chana dal, urad dal, hing and curry leaves.
3) Add finely chopped ginger and green chillies. saute for a min.
4) Now add finely chopped onion and fry until done.
5) Now mash cooked potatoes roughly and add to the fried onion and saute for a min.
6) Now add turmeric, salt, chilly powder and mix well.
7) Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice and mix well.

Garnish with coriandar leaves and serve with roti, chapathi, puri or as side dish with rice.

Note:

1) Lemon juice can be avoided.

Cheese masala dosa

Ingredients:

Dosa batter - 4 cups

Mozarella cheese - 1/4 cup (Grated)

Chutney pudi - 1/4 cup

Potato Palya - 1 cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1) To make potato palya, Refer - http://princessncooking.blogspot.ca/2017/06/potato-palya.html

2) Spread the dosa batter on a pan.

3) Sprinkle some pudi on top of it immediately.

4) When dosa's are almost done, Spread palya and sprinkle grated cheese.

Yummy Cheese pudi dosa's are ready to be served.

How to cook Sona Masoori Rice

Ingredients:

Pressure cooker
Sona masoori rice - 1 cup  
Water - 2 or 3 cups

Method: 

1) Wash sona masoori rice well to remove all the starch.
2) Drain the water completely.
3) Add water in the ratio 1:2 ( ie) For 1 cup of rice, add 2 cups of water  and pressure cook for 3 whistles and switch it off .
4) When the pressure subsides, open the cooker and fluff the rice gently with a fork so that the grains do not break.

Serve this with curry or to make any masala rice.


Note:

1) For some brands of rice, soaking is necessary for around 30 mins.
2) 1/2 tbsp of oil can also be added to rice before cooking.