1. To add more flavour to gravies and curries, add in coconut milk. For healtheir option,
substitute half the amount of coconut milk with low-fat milk.
2. To add more
flavour to the dishes, add in chicken or vegetable powder/cubes. But do watch out for the MSG and sodium content.
3. To make
the panner (cheese) / bean curd crispy in texture, shallow-fry them.
4. To make dishes spicier add in chilli powder or chilli padi (red birds eye chilli).
5.
Using chilli oil (oil used to fry chilli) instead of plain vegetable oil while cooking will make the dish much spicier.
6. To get more intensed flavour from the spices, it is better to use ground spices rather
than using the whole ones. Substitute 3 g of fresh spices/herbs with 1 g of dried ones.
7. Spices, esp black/white
pepper add flavours to food and are good alternatives to salt and other chemical food flavours like monosodium glutamate
(MSG).
8. To make
the meat tender, marinate with lemon juice or raw papaya paste/liquid for short while or as long as possible.
9. If dish
is salty or extra salt is added to curries / gravies accidentally, add in more chopped tomatoes or whipped cream or potatoes.
10. To add
more flavour to the meat, marinate it with the ingredients (esp spices) for 12 hours or more in the refrigerator, for
seafood/kebab marinate it with the ingredients for 4 hours.
11. To give
the tandoori/kebab a crispy texture bake it in a lower temperate but for a longer time.
12. To give
the tandoori dish a dark blue burnt texture, increase the heat.
13. To remove
the fishy smell, soak it for a while in salted water or add acid (lemon juice) and wash it with running water.
14. Use only
fresh fish for steaming. Fish cooks very fast and should not be over-steamed. The flesh of a well-steamed fish should be moist
and soft.
15. Proving
the dough gives the bread a better texture. The dough should double its size.
16. Be careful
not to sputter the hot oil when put the cutlet in to fry. You may slide it into the oil using a banana leaf.
17. When shaping
cutlet, press cutlet well to prevent from crumbling.
18. Cutlet
must be firmly pressed into shape and evenly coated with egg or breadcrumbs to avoid the cutlets crumbing during frying .The
oil for frying must be well heated otherwise the cutlet will be soggy.
19. Do not
put eggs with their shells to cook in a microwave oven. They will explode.
20. A masala
curry paste for meat, obtainable from local market, may also be used instead of masala curry powder.
21.
Pulses cook faster when they are soaked before cooking.
22. Remove
the scum as it forms when the soup is boiling. It makes the soup, oil unsightly. For a clear soup, avoid using too much seasoning,
so as to enjoy the natural flavours of the ingredients.
23. A thick
soup should be smooth and free from lumps. The consistency of the soup should not be too starchy.
24. Add little
rice flour to the fritter’s batter, so it will be crisper and less fattening (oil content absorbed).
25. Rice used
for frying should be left in the fridge before frying in order for it not to be mushy.
26. Use the
whey drained from curdled milk to knead chapatti dough. They will turn out softer and more nutritious.
27. Before
cooking cauliflower florets soak them in warm salted water for a while, in order to get rid of any tiny insects that may be
present deep inside the florets.
28. If the
vegetables are not fresh, add a little lemon juice to a pot of cold water and soak them for an hour. They will become fresh
again.
29.
To remove bitterness from spices, add a teaspoon of sugar when the vegetable is almost cooked.
30. To marinate meat,
do not use metallic bowls, as the acids (vinegar or lemon) can react with the metal bowls.
