These are some basics which I learnt the hard way. All of them are fundamental to cooking, but I do not see them mentioned many places.
1. Invest in good, heavy pans.
2. Use good quality ingredients.
3. Try small quantities if you are trying out a recipe for the first time.
4. Give time for the food to cook.
5. Stay with the pan while its cooking. Atleast be in the same room. Do not let things burn.
6. Ensure the heat is correct, too little and it won't cook, too high and it will burn. Sounds simple, but I took my time to understand this.
7. If you are following a recipe, understand the complete recipe and then start making.
8. Ensure you have all the ingredients at easy access when you are cooking. You do not want your simmering dish to burn when you are busy searching for that pinch of saffron, do you?
9. When adding water to rava to cook, stir continuously with one hand while the other hand pours the rava. Else lumps will be formed.
10. If you have to add sugar or jaggery to a subji or gravy, add it close to the end. Do not add them at the beginning. This tip does not apply to sweet dishes.
Am sure there are more, will add as and when I get them .. :-)
Happy learning!!!
As expected, I have to eat my words on not finding basics mentioned anywhere. I found an excellent blog for beginners. The link here has some more basics we can put to good use especially the ones to salvage a burnt dish.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.manjulaskitchen.com/essential-tips/