Tips, tips, tips ……………………………..! (3)

(Continued from the second part)

039. When you prepare idli, apply a little oil over the places of the plate where you pour the batter before pouring and after steaming take out the plates and allow them to cool for a few seconds. Keep a teaspoon in a cup of water and with the wet spoon take out the idli slowly from its side to get it in full circular shape. For each idli wet the spoon.

040. Normally, I add a ladleful of oil (cold or hot) to the flour while kneading when I make snacks and savouries so that the final product is crisp. Those who are worried about obesity need to add hot oil as it consumes less oil while frying. This way you need not use baking soda which is not good for health if used too much to make the savouries or snacks crispy.

041. Whenever you want to keep anything in a hot pack or cold pack, it should be brought to that environment i.e., keep some piping hot water in the hot pack or ice cold water in the cold pack and then fill it with the item you want to keep hot or cold for some time.

042. If you find the idlis flat after steaming the batter, it means that you had added more uLundhu (black gram) in the batter. To rectify it add a fistful of rice flour to the batter, keep for a few minutes and then use it.

043. Never heat non-stick thOsaikkal (griddle/tawA) directly as it will eat away the coating which is also harmful. Apply some oil before heating. This applies to the normal thOsaikkal also which should not be heated without oil as the batter will stick to it and you cannot take out the dOsA properly. For dOsA to come out in full shape, both the types of hot plates must be preheated with oil. When you roast anything on a non-stick vessel keep rotating the vessel every now and then to avoid over heating.

044. Always use heavy bottomed vessels in order to avoid charring. This is true in the case of fried items when you prepare them. Here you need to use a deep iluppaichchatti (wok, kadAi), which should also be heavy bottomed to have better result. Flat vessels are not advisable in such a case but for boiling purpose only.

045. Always add hot water to the gravy to enhance its taste.

Though there are more tips to come, I am proposing to intersperse them in future postings, little by little so as to maintain a uniform page size.

See you again!

Till then bye!!