Essential Tips
Cooking Tips:
Here are few cooking tips which would benefit you all.
- Any type of cooking, we need todo with full dedication and interest then only the food we prepare will betasty and delicious with good fragrance.
- Do not cook any vegetables morethan it is required
- It is always good to cook Sambar,rasam or any kuzhambu varieties keeping in low or medium low flame. In oldendays people used to cook rasam in kummuti adupu
- Think and finalize on the foodthat you need to prepare for tomorrow before hand that will help us to proceedwithout waste of time
- While seasoning, do not put allthe ingredients at the same time. Do not put urdal, red chilli and mustardseeds at once. Always, first, put mustard seeds in hot oil and when the mustardseeds start to sputter, add urdal and broken chilli. This way the otheringredients do not become black as mustard seeds need some time to startsputter
- Fry broken red chilli andfenugreek seeds(Vendhayam) always to golden brown color and not black color andalso do not put more fenugreek seeds as it will make the taste bitter
- Dishes for which tamarind isused, its always good to add little jaggery which will bring down the sournessof tamarind. Some people do not like to add jaggery. Some days tamarind sourwill be more in some dishes and we will become tensed. In such situations, noneed to panic, add some jaggery and the sourness will come down and dishbecomes tasty
- Do not add Salt, Tamarind andspicy more this will spoil the taste and it will not be healthy also
- For any fried vegetable recipeslike potato fry etc, it is not necessary to add more oil. Add little oil andsprinkle water and cook the vegetables in low flame
- For Thengai(Coconut) araithuvitakootu, it always good to reduce thengai and add raw rice or rice flour whilegrinding
- In olden days, we used to chopthe vegetables and soak it water, and again we will keep the vegetables inflame and pour water again to cook the vegetables. Because of this all thevitamins and minerals in the vegetables will go off. So it is always better tosoak only chopped raw banana(Vazhakaai), Brinjal, Senai in water as these willtend to become black color
- For other vegetables, it isbetter to clean them in water and then chop them
- For many vegetables curries, weused to pour more water for cooking and then drain the water once thevegetables are cooked completely. All the vitamins and minerals will go off. Sowithout wasting the drained water, we can pour those water in kuzhambu, sambaror rasam
- Always try to keep potato andonion in house. Whenever we have sudden visitors we can easily make some dishesout of these.
- For taking coconut milk, its goodto use warm water instead of cold water as warm water will extract all the milkfrom coconut while grinding
- For usili or paruppu urundai kuzhambu,it is good to soak the dals in warm or hot water instead of cold water as warmwater will make the dals to soak quickly. Otherwise it is better that we soakthe dals overnight
- If we need to grind or smashginger, It is not needed to peel the ginger skin as the smell and richness ofginger will go off. Just wash the ginger properly to clean the sand. But if weneed to chop the ginger, it is always better to peel the skin before chopping
- Always dry fry sesame seeds(Ellu)for any recipes which include this without adding oil
- Better to fry grated coconut tillit turns golden brown color for the recipes which needs fried coconut to getgood aroma
- For preparing rasam, if we arerunning out of rasam powder, nothing to worry. We can always use sambar powderand make rasam. While seasoning, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing and alittle pepper powder to make it more yummy
- For cooking any greens(Keerai),it is good to add a pinch of soda salt. This will make the keerai to look greenwithout losing its original color and also its taste
- Always chopped soak plantainstem(Vazhathandu) in butter milk to retain its color
- Same way, soak the choppedplantain flower(Vazhaipoo) in butter milk. We can use the water we used toclean the rice to soak this as it will lessen then bitter taste
- Many of us do not like the bittertaste of bitter gourd. Such people can cook the bittergourd in tamarind extractalong with salt and then drain the water and fry it in oil
- If we do not have stock ofginger, we can use sukku. We can powder the sukku and soak it in hot water andthen we can use this as a replacement for ginger
- If the cooked and smashed dal isnot enough for sambar, we can take 1 tablespoon of gram flour and ½ teaspoon ofsugar and dissolve this in little water and add this to sambar and allow thesambar to boil. This will make the sambar to a thick consistency. The other wayis to add 1 tablespoon of rice flour to the smashed dal and add this to sambarto make it thick
- We can always use corn powder asa replacement for rice flour
- While cooking cabbage, most of usdo not like smell of cabbage, so it is better to use ginger to avoid this smell
- For karaitha dosai like godhumaidosa, maida dosa, it is always better to mix the flour and keep it for an houror 2 before we prepare dosa
- We need to keep the idly flouratleast for 8 hours to get fermentation. Then only the idlis will be soft andtasty. If the idlis are not soft and flat, add 2-3 tablespoons of rice flourand then pressure cook the idli
- If Senai /elephant foot is notcooked completely, it is good to add soda salt to make it cook fully. But ifturmeric powder is already added, adding of soda salt will not be good for thecolor of the senai
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Mami, In tip number 30, did you mean fermentation?
Excellently explained. V tried many of your recipes and they all came out very tasty to eat.Keep up this yeomen service.
can u suggest how to prepare degree coffee.
Thanks
Hello.. I have corrected the tip number 30. Yes, its fermentation. Sorry for the typo and thanks for pointing out.
Hi Ramjay, Thanks for your comment. I will let you know the preparation of degree cofee soon.
Thanks
Subbalakshmi.
Very useful tips maami..keep posting more
Thanks for the tips. This is Archana who requested you for these tips in your blog.
Hi Archana, Yes, i do remember !. Thanks for your comments.
Hi this is indeed very essential for all of us involved in cooking.These tips makes cooking very easy
Thanks aunty
mammi ur site is very usefull for us. please post wheat alwa in simple method.
Thanks Geetha!. I will post the wheat alwa recipe soon.
Nice tips. Thanks !
Thanks Mami for these tips.Its really useful for people like me who just started cooking…
i love all your recipes…..
thanks for your tips….
sweet varieties and snacks are very awesome…….
Very helpful…thank u
This is a good site to learn cooking for the beginners specially from Tamilnadu & Kerala.
Hi Aunty, Can you please share some Nagercoil special food items in this site.
hello aunty, is it gud to soak the daal and then cook so that it will cook properly?
Dear Mami, while preparing batter for Idli, I've found an easier way. As Im not getting parboiled rice, Im using parboiled rava (idli rava) and gundu urad dal with the ratio 5:1 (5 cups of rava and 1 cup of urad). Im soaking the two separately for atleast 8 hrs before grinding. Im using a mixer-grinder for the grinding. After adding salt, Im leaving the batter for about 3 hours for fermentation. The idlis are super soft and tasty. Just wanted to share this piece and help those who do not have wet grinder and cannot get idli rice.
Hi Mami, Nice site and great effort indeed !!
Could you pl post the recipe for "Kushboo Idly"? Recently I had it on a Wedding breakfast in Chennai. It was very white, fluffy and "gundu" !!
Excellent site…it is very useful for all esp.beginners. Thank u soooo much for this useful tips.
Excellent site…it is very useful for all esp.beginners. Thank u soooo much for this useful tips.
respected dear madam,
we are very happy of the info in your recepies,
we will happy if you will permit to display
your link in our site
shastry sn
9445481367
shastrysns@yahoo.com
Hi Shastry
Can you please give me more details about your site and where you want to publish the link. Please send me a detailed mail to subbalakshmi@subbuskitchen.com. I will check and let you know my response.
respected madam,
our site name is http://www.saishreyas.com
we wish to place your link in
HEALTH and REECIPIES
we are giving a face lift to existing site
and propose to launch on Pongal day..we are
not a commercial site, it is a free service
site….
your recepies are tasted by our members and
feel very great…shastry sn
one of the best website for receipes. I have ever watched ….Hats off !!! subbus kitchen !!!
well presented in detail …. easy to understand …
Brinda Vaikunth
Thanks Brinda for your comments. You are most welcome !
hi mami,
somebody asked recipe to make kushboo idly. I too require this. please give me.
Hi Aunty,
this is
one of the best website for receipes. Great efforts ….Hats off to your family !!!
well presented in detail …. easy to understand ..
can you share the preparation of "maavelaku maavu" which is done on Fridays of Thai and Adi months?
Hi Padma, Thanks for your comment. The recipe for maavelaku maavu is given below
https://www.subbuskitchen.com/2011/09/mavilaku-mavu.html
Dear Subbu Aunty,
Can i send u e-hugs? 😀 love you for sharing the iyer way of cooking. Much that i ask my own mum, she always tells me to put ingredients according to andaaza. ur blog is kind of a saviour for girls like me who havent really trained up on cooking.
lots of hugs,
shruti
Hi Shruti, Your e-hugs are accepted !. Thanks for your hug !.
Very very nice to see your blog with brahmins festival/recipes etc. very very helpful. I will try to do kozhukattai varieties as per ur instructions.
Thanks a lot, keep it up mami,
lalitha.vr.
Thanks Lalitha. Keep trying the recipes and provide your valuable comments and suggestions
I loved your general tips .. very useful. congrats. please give me the recipe for ragi puttu..
or ragi kuzhakkatai Since ragi is a very healthy dish I would like to incorporate this in as many recipes as I can
Hi Sudha, I will try to publish raagi puttu/kozhukattai soon. Thanks for your wonderful comments.
Dear Mami
Your site becomes like a reference to patti's samayal. People who dont have mother /patti can just refer your site. Your work is divine guiding thousands of young women like us.
I would recommend you to please start links like
1. Unavey marunthu- some receipes for well known diseases – say for diabetes, fever etc
because patti vaithiyam is very good for thalai vali , indigestion , knee pain etc
2. Some common stages of women and their intake
Like pregnant women , children , youth recipes ( for good hair , skin ) like tat.
Your job will really be complete if you have these sections.
Thanks Mami..no Amma
Thanks a lot. Will try to include the areas you have mentioned ASAP.
Dear mami, tried your carrot halwa for diwali. Came out very well. I put grated carrot and milk in the rice cooker and added sugar after it came to warm. Then I added ghee and fried it crisply in the kadai. It took no labor. Very easy.
Dear mami, I use flylady.net website for organising and it is very useful. I strongly feel it need to be Indianized. I think experienced persons like you can do that and it will be very helpful for us. Why can't we have a common weekly menu and why not a common name for those who follow your website?(a group)
Can you tell me how to make sambar powder just for a couple of weeks or a month. I live in a cold climate and do not have the facility to dry ingredients in the sun.
Mami, can you post about Ekadasi Vratam and Dwadasi Paranai? I'd like to know how it was observed in South Tamilnadu earlier. Here there is a lot of Maharashtrian and ISKON influence on the fasting diet/menu.
Very nice website and useful tips.. My mom also gives similar tips like this.. I check ur webite often.. 🙂 thanks..
Mami
I remember when growing up in the village our family had a project of making papadam, appalam, karuvadam etc during the month of April and May. And by end of May the rains would come set and will have only few vegetables during the rainy season. February would be to dry the puli and conserve for a year, then come the kadugu mangai then finally the avakkai and fryums
Please could you post the recipe for appalam and papadam. It is 2 different. one pops up and the other is flat. I would like show this to my kids what village life was when I was young.
Cheers!!
Take care and look forward to seeing your appalam and papadam recipe and also if you know the marchini appalam. (tapioca applam Trivandrum Kerela style
Hi Mami
Do you have the recipe for Applam and Pappadam. When I was growing up it would be project after project from January 14 (Thai masam) in my village. It would the project of drying the puli in February-March, then making kadugu mangai, avvakai mangai, then would be the Karuvadam and Applam and pappadam, before the rain sets in by end of May/begining June. The schools will re-open in June. Summer vacation will used to help my mother, grandmother and aunts neighbouring ladies etc.
Then there would be vappillai katti in Oct/Nov.
Could you please post the recipe for Appalam and Pappadam, so that I can show my kids how village life was? Making everything from scratch, unlike the current fast food. If it is not too much please post the recipe for both Applam and pappadam and also Marchini appalam.
Thank you
Cheers and take care. Look forward to your recipes
Hello mami,
Kai vaidyam is something I had always wanted to know. And this is some grandma secrets that the current generation of mine lost touch with. Could you please start information on that as well. Like making Lehiyam, kashayam, and other home cure for common ailments esp in our Brahmin families.
Madam
I was working in chennai and was in joint family. I have never cooked in my mom's or mil's place. As my husband got an opportunity in abroad I had to accompany him and this was my first varalakshmi pooja. I referred your blogspot and prepared everything (pooja and cooking). All pooja methods and recipes were simple, easy and took less time only. My husband was surprised and happy with my preparations. Thanks a lot. I am trying your simple day to day recipes too. I love your recipes and the simple english to explain the method. Thank you once again and keep posting more recipes.
Hai Mami,
Can you plz post the recipe for kushboo idly. Tried a lott many times to get the recipe. But failed. Kindly help.
Thanks & Regards
Malliga
Hi mami,wonderful,please suggests some more lunch box rice receipes…
Mami,
wonderful tips,please show some more lunch receipes…
Mami – how about posting some tips for using Microwave in our south Indian cooking.
Or even suggest us some good, fast & tasty recipes using the commonly available ingredients for making snacks in microwave.
Dear madam,thanks a lot for your wonderful job.
Hello mami my Dhal doesn't cook properly. I let it soak for 1 hour and let 5-6 whistles come. Can you pls suggest how to cook dhal fast.
Madam, wonderful tips…
i have one doubt in cooking. Please clarify this. Whenever i use tomatoes for any gravy, ill first saute tomato onions…always tomatoes smell raw,not cooked. But same thing when my mother does it is perfect, we cudnt find what's wrong. U have any process for that…please share and make my dishes tangyyy 🙂
Madam, I would like to know on how to make chapatti soft.
Dear Mami, please tell us how to fix any porrial varieties if it becomes too spicy. Thanks, lakshmi
The easy solution is grind 2 tablespoon of coconut with cumin seeds without adding water and then add it to the poriyal. The coconut and jeera would reduce the spicyness. Another solution is cook some more same vegetable separately without adding spicy and then add it to the cooked poriyal. Additional veg, would bring down the spicyness
Hello mami, Thank you very much for your handwork and dedication in posting all these wonderful recipes. If possible, please could you post details and pictures of traditional cooking vessels, how to buy / use / maintain them and which food items can be cooked in those?
Thanks
Pavithra
Very useful.. thanks
hello mami ,
thank u so much for your service. your recipes are useful to everyone.
your website is useful to many persons who are in lonely atmosphere and not preferring outside foods. I shall be thankful if you give a tip for solution in the event of overheating of jaggery while preparing jaggery related sweets. In other words, if the consistency of boiling jaggery not arrived and instead it is overheated beyond consistency, how to set right.