Cooking Tips

• Any salad tastes better and crisp if the vegetables have been soaked in chilled water for a while.
  
• A little lime juice added to beetroot will make them a brilliant red colour.

• Add a handful of rice flour to bhajia batter for crisper and less oily bhajias.
  
• Drain and keep any extra channa dal aside after cooking. Chill and then add chopped onions, chutneys, coriander, salt, chopped cucumber and tomatoes. Serve chilled as bhel with cups of steaming hot tea.
  
• If batter of any bhajias tends to become too thin, wet a slice or two of bread, press out all excess water, and mash it into the batter. This will help greatly in thickening the batter.
  
• Paneer crumbs, bread crumbs and some melted butter, tossed together form an excellent topping if you run short of cheese, for any baked dishes.
  
• Use tissue papers for reheating fried snacks. Eg. Samosa, vada, kachori, bhajji, etc. The paper will absorb the excess oil and moisture and keep the snack crisp. Reheat on high for 1-1 1/2 minute.
  
• Always use the back of a perforated spoon to make the frying puris puff up. Use the non-puffed ones to make chat, bhel, etc.
  
• To pep leftover farsan which is not getting over, add finely chopped onions, coriander, green chilli and salt, lemon juice, chaat masala. Toss and serve with afternoon tea as a spicy muchy.
  
• Always use a clean pair of kitchen scissors to trim edges of bread. Much neater and less messy edges as compared to those trimmed with a knife.
  
• Always keep a couple of boiled potatoes (skins intact) handy in the fridge. They are very useful when in a hurry. Either bake them, or make a quick curry, or fry them. Eat them in a sandwich, or just plain with salt and pepper. Stir fry and add spices or make a quick paratha.
  
• Use a pizza cutter to cut rounds into strips for fried noodles, instead of a knife. It is faster and less messy.
  
• For a quick chaat, fry leftover pieces of bread in ghee till crisp. Arrange the pieces in a plate. Pour curds, salt, red chilli and cumin powders, coriander leaves and green chillies on them. Top with tamarind and jaggery chutney.
  
• To make whiter and crisper potato wafers add some alum crystals and salt to the water in which you drop the wafers for soaking.
  
• To make samosas crisper add some corn flour to the Maida for dough.
  
• Use cornflakes as a substitute for sev or papdis. It is available everywhere and give the same crunchiness to a dish, eg. Bhel.

• Simple sandwiches can be turned to attractive eats by decorating with simple things like shredded cabbage, tomato slices, carrot juliennes, thinly chopped salad leaves etc.
  
• If bread is too dry to make good sandwiches, just hold the bread in the steam over a pan of boiling water for a few seconds.
  
• Spicy green chutneys, salsa dips, yogurt dips, etc. make very tasty in between for sandwiches. A change from the same old bread and jam.