Some useful tips in Cooking -1.
Some of the tips mentioned below may be known to you or you may know a better tip in a particular situation. If you have better options, you are invited to share with all, under 'Comments'.
# 1) Preserving Cooked Rice Idlies: This is a useful option when your daily needs are few numbers but you can cook much more at one time or have some extra batter for another occasion. Cooked Idlies are cooled, removed from the moulds, and kept in plastic boxes, maybe enough numbers in one box or 2 for use at one time. If you need 10 idlies, keep all 10 in a box or 5 in 2 boxes. If you are alone and need only 3 at one time keep 3 in each box. It can be frozen for 3-4 weeks, maybe longer, but I have not tried it. When needed, keep the box out for an hour or so and then transfer to another container for reheating in a microwave or I prefer to reheat it in a rice cooker with very little water in it just to generate steam for few minutes.
Idlies for one time use in box. Idli box in Freezer Reheating (Ragi Idli) in a rice cooker.
# 2) Preserving some root vegetables: Carrots, Radish and Beetroot become soft and flaccid if kept in the veg. compartment of frige. But after thoroughly washing and drying, it should be peeled, ends trimmed and preserved in a plastic bag and all the three varieties can kept in a larger plastic or a thick brown paper bag. This can be kept in the vegetable compartement and will keep fresh for 2-4 weeks. For re-use, take it out, peel lightly once more and it is as good as fresh.
Vegetables peeled & trimmed. Preserved in double plastic bags
From the peels only the inner white part is shaved off and used, although some use full thickness.
Removing pesticides from Vegetables and fruits and Leafy vegs.
Most of the items we buy are all coated with pesticides which are harmful for health and could be even carcinogenic. Leafy vegetables, cauliflower, grapes etc are amomng the dirty dozen having plenty of pesticides. One simple method is to use a home made solution as follows:
In a sprayer (you may use any used sprayer clike Colins) mix vinegar 4 % with tap water in 1:4/5 ratio and add 1/2 tsp of cooking soda.
Spray this solution on the vegetables and fruits, wait for 10 minutes and rub with hand and clean well under tap water. Keep aside, dry with a cloth before storing in the fridge. For leafy vegetables, cauliflower and grapes, 10 minutes after spraying, soak in water in a container, wash repeatedly, at least twice,. Allow it to dry and cauliflower piecescan be stored in the freezer for a long period and grapes and leafy vegetables in ther fridge for few days.
Some of the tips mentioned below may be known to you or you may know a better tip in a particular situation. If you have better options, you are invited to share with all, under 'Comments'.
# 1) Preserving Cooked Rice Idlies: This is a useful option when your daily needs are few numbers but you can cook much more at one time or have some extra batter for another occasion. Cooked Idlies are cooled, removed from the moulds, and kept in plastic boxes, maybe enough numbers in one box or 2 for use at one time. If you need 10 idlies, keep all 10 in a box or 5 in 2 boxes. If you are alone and need only 3 at one time keep 3 in each box. It can be frozen for 3-4 weeks, maybe longer, but I have not tried it. When needed, keep the box out for an hour or so and then transfer to another container for reheating in a microwave or I prefer to reheat it in a rice cooker with very little water in it just to generate steam for few minutes.
Idlies for one time use in box. Idli box in Freezer Reheating (Ragi Idli) in a rice cooker.
# 2) Preserving some root vegetables: Carrots, Radish and Beetroot become soft and flaccid if kept in the veg. compartment of frige. But after thoroughly washing and drying, it should be peeled, ends trimmed and preserved in a plastic bag and all the three varieties can kept in a larger plastic or a thick brown paper bag. This can be kept in the vegetable compartement and will keep fresh for 2-4 weeks. For re-use, take it out, peel lightly once more and it is as good as fresh.
Preserving Ginger: Ginger is soaked in water,thoroughly cleaned of all mud/soil and dried. Then it is peeled and trimmed using a blunt knife, made into thin slices with a sharp knife and kept in a plastic box in the vegetable compartment of fridge. It can be kept for 10-14 days. For reuse, simply take out few slices and cut and use as you wish.
Unpeeled but cleaned ginger can be kept in a plastic double bag in any dry cool place outside the frige.
Ginger is peeled and main branches separated. Then it is sliced and stored in a plastic box.
Brinjal Coccinia (Thondekai), Sambar Cucumber & other fleshy vegetables:
Brinjal is cut into larger peices for Sambar and smaller peices for sweet & sour gojju or saasmi. Keeping it in separate containers it is blanched (minimally cooked) in a rice cooker. The 2 varieties are cooled and kept in separate plastic boxes and preserved in the freezer.
Coccinia/Thondekai are either longitudinally slit into 4 each for making Sambar or Mor Kolambu or into smaller peices to be used as palya/porial. These are also to be blanched as above and stored in freezer in separate plastic boxes.
String beans, other types of beans may also be cut into suitable sizes according to one's need and blanched and stored in freezer,
Brinjal cut into 2 sizes for storing apart. Coccinia cut in 2 differtent ways for storage.
Sambar Cucumber: I cut this vegetable into 3 types: 1) large peices with peel for making Sambar.
2) Large peices without peel for making 'Mor Kolambu (Majjige Huli in Kannada). 3) Finely chopped after peeling portion of it, is kept separately for making a preparation called 'Saasmi'. 4) The peels are for immediate use for making a curd based dish called 'Tambli'. * Please note, if using peel for tambli one must use some method to thoroughly clean the cucumber of all pesticides. Some people use the seeds also to make a 'Tambli'. Also please note that it is not necessary to blanch/partially cook this type of cucumber before storing it in freezer.
All vegetables which are preserved after partial cooking or blanching need very little firther cooking while finally using it.
Pomegranate fruit's peels can be used imnmediately for making tambli or it is stored in a box and preserved in the freezer for later use.
Removing pesticides from Vegetables and fruits and Leafy vegs.
Most of the items we buy are all coated with pesticides which are harmful for health and could be even carcinogenic. Leafy vegetables, cauliflower, grapes etc are amomng the dirty dozen having plenty of pesticides. One simple method is to use a home made solution as follows:
In a sprayer (you may use any used sprayer clike Colins) mix vinegar 4 % with tap water in 1:4/5 ratio and add 1/2 tsp of cooking soda.
Spray this solution on the vegetables and fruits, wait for 10 minutes and rub with hand and clean well under tap water. Keep aside, dry with a cloth before storing in the fridge. For leafy vegetables, cauliflower and grapes, 10 minutes after spraying, soak in water in a container, wash repeatedly, at least twice,. Allow it to dry and cauliflower piecescan be stored in the freezer for a long period and grapes and leafy vegetables in ther fridge for few days.
Showing Sprayer, Vinegar, Cooking soda (red arrow) and some vegs and leaves for cleaninmg.
Making Butter at home.
The throw-away layer of cream in the milk used at home may be collected in a plastic bottle, adding a teaspoon of curd and a pinch of salt on the first day. It may be kept in the fridge till the container is about 3/4th full. Then it is to be kept out of the fridge for a day before making butter. Simply close the bottle tightly and shake it for 10-12 minutes. Now the contents are transferred to a bowl, repeatedly wash off excess buttermilk, keep in fridge for 15 minutes or so, to let it become firmer and easier to handle. Finally it is transferred to a plastic box contaiming water or in a flat rectangular box lined with a lastic sheet and kept in the fridge.
Cream in bottle & butter made earlier. Fresh butter made and added to thre container.
Use this butter for any cooking, or to eat with roti, Idli, dosa etc.
Later we can make Ghee out of it also. For several years I have not purchased butter or ghee from the market, though I buy only 1/2 litre of milk daily.
More tips in some future message.
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