Honey, Mind A Quick Bite?!!

I wrote about how merely by doing a little planning about food, we can avoid ordering food from outside or eating out too frequently. (Honey, What's Cooking Tonight?!)

The first step towards an organized cooking area, is to know what's already there in the kitchen cabinets and fridge.  Make a list of things which you think are missing.  Basics like lentils, flour, rice, gram flour (besan) ; spices like cumin seeds (zeera), coriander powder (sookha dhaniya), turmeric powder (haldi), Garam Masala (north Indian ground masala mix), dried red chillies/powder,whole black pepper/powder, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom etc help cook anything.

The second and important step is to go shopping for various food articles.  The thing to keep in mind is to buy lots of fresh veges and a few packs of frozen veges too.  Go for frozen mixed veges, french fries, non-veg frozen food for the times you have nothing left in your fridge.  Another option is also available now for the one's who just don't have any time.  Processed and packaged North Indian dishes (like Rajma, Chane etc) and South Indian dishes(like Sambhar) are available in most big stores.  Even packaged ready to eat chicken dishes are available, which just have to be heated before eating.

I've listed a few ingredients, which people having vegetarian food can keep at home at all times:

# Curd - (curdle milk at home, it's easier in summers)

# Cottage Cheese - setting it properly at home is a bit difficult, but you can still try.

# Boiled Potatoes - You can boil around 8-10 medium sized potatoes in a pressure cooker and keep in the fridge for 3-4 days minimum.

# Soya Chunks and granules - Highest content of protein is found in these. Store them in a sealed container. 

# Soya Sticks - The frozen variety can be bought from local cheese shops.  Can be cooked to make a delicious meal with gravy.

# Cream or 'malai' - adds instant richness to any dish

# Tomato Puree -  This is a must have.  Buy small packs and store in a cabinet. Or else make it at home (Boil whole tomatoes with little water in a pressure cooker ; cool it ;  grind it ; cook in a kadai or wok to evaporate extra water ; cool it again and store in a closed container in fridge.  It lasts for a week to 10 days)

# Ginger garlic paste - Helps to pep up any dish ( I don't like the packaged ones though)

# Mozerella Cheese or Pizza Cheese

# Onions and green chillies - They are versatile and be used in many ways

The third and the most important step is to get into the kitchen to cook!  Let me share with you that I was one person, who HATED TO COOK ALL MY LIFE.  It's after years of marriage ( and constant coaxing over food !!) I learnt cooking by reading a lot on Internet and cook books!!

Try these two simple and quick vegetarian dishes which save time and are nutritious and delicious too:

Quick Paneer (Cottage Cheese in cream) - taught by a man!

Heat a little cooking oil in a Wok.  Add chopped ginger to it, fry for a while and then add 3-4 spoons of tomato puree to it.  Add salt, pepper, garam masala, dhaniya powder and red chilly powder to it. Mix and now add 2 spoons of whipped malai/cream to it. Mix well, add a little water. After about 1 minute of frying, add small cut pieces of cottage cheese to it. Lastly, you may like to add dried methi leaves (Kasoori Methi) or coriander leaves to the dish. Serve hot.

Dahi ki sabzi (Curd delight) - My mother's recipe

Heat a little oil in a pan, add thinly sliced onion (1 medium sized), shredded ginger(depending on your taste), green chillies (2-3) slit into two and fry a little.  Add salt, garam masala and red chilly (a little).  Fry a little and pour around 2 cups of curd into the wok and immediately turn off the fire.  Serve it then and there. Don't prepare and keep this dish, as it will turn watery.  It's a quick and very spicy n tangy dish which can be had with chapattis.

Enjoy!

RESTLESS

PS: I am not a cooking expert! You too are free to write about your quick recipes and your experience with cooking :)

Honey, What's Cooking Tonight?!

I often used to cringe, whenever my husband asked me this question every evening!

Back from work, fiddling with kids' homework, and ironing their school uniform for the next day and side by side preparing their glass of favorite milk shake, when this question used to be pitched in front of me (although lovingly!) I would only mutter angrily – "nothing… just order something on phone".  My kids would be too glad as they would be saved from the home made ‘daal’ and would be treated with butter chicken or chicken Tikka or delicious daal makhni.  Husband also would be secretly very happy with this idea…. but would show his resentment only to be silenced by my request to help me out with the house hold chores before he created any further fuss.  See, as time passes in a relationship, we tend to boss over our partners, especially when they are too lazy to help in domestic chores!

For last few months, it became a way of life to order food for dinner from outside (although breakfast and lunch HAD to be homemade).  Right now, I won't delve into the issue as to why Indian men are so shy/uninterested/ ignorant/ clever/lazy or whatever to avoid house hold chores, especially in front of their wives!

Let's talk about food, baby!

But, the issue in hand is that while the food inflation is bothering us and with eating out ie., dine and wine getting more and more expensive, what to do? At some stage of your family life, you realize that you have to put a little comma if not a full stop to spending money ordering meal from a nearby restaurant.

After a lot of reading, experimentation, and experience I realize that planning your food is the first step towards cooking wholesome meal for the family.   A few steps towards planning and organizing your kitchen cabinets and fridge helps in a big way, especially when you have kids at home.

A combination of fresh and frozen foods, a combination of ready to cook processed foods and ingredients which help cook up a quick meal and a combination of ready to use packaged 'masalas' and whole masalas at home can save you big trouble.  Common ingredients like cottage cheese, boiled potatoes, curd can save you a good few hundreds which you would end up spending ordering a dish from a nearby joint.  If you belong to the generation who lives on instant noodles, then do have a look at the next post.

I intended to write about a few of my quick recipes and some useful ingredients and tips for managing a kitchen of a working mom, mom of small kids, or of a bachelor-pad alike.  But since, the post has already become so long, I break it here and will write about them in the succeeding post.

So, what's cooking tonight? A quick one or you wanna go the whole hog ( silly!! what did u think?!)

RESTLESS