Sieve, also called strainer A sieve is a type of handheld strainer made of wire mesh that allows liquids to pass through, while keeping the solids in the strainer. They come in different sizes, from small to large. I use a small strainer when making Chai Tea (page 119) to collect the cardamom pods and seeds and the tea bags. I use a large sieve when making Tomato Soup (page 47) and also to squeeze out the liquid from the grated opo squash to make Opo Squash Fritters (page 51). A large sieve is also a great tool for washing rice and lentils without having to worry about losing any grains or lentils down the sink!
Spider Also called a wire skimmer, this tool gets its name because of its resemblance to a spider’s web. At one end of a long handle is a broad, circular, shallow bowl of loosely spaced, but sturdy wire mesh. The spider can be use to scoop up and strain a wide variety of ingredients such as vegetables or pasta in a boiling pot of water, or anything deep-fried. I especially like to use this tool when making Salted Fried Cashews (page 43), since I can put a batch of cashews in the spider, safely lower it into the hot oil, and then quickly raise the spider back up when the cashews are done.
Wok A wok is a round-bottomed cooking utensil popular in Asian cooking for stir-frying. It can be used to efficiently deep-fry, since the round bottom shape creates a deeper frying area that requires less oil than a flat-bottomed pot with straight sides. A karahi is an Indian wok that is used to deep-fry foods. The bottom of a karahi is not as rounded as a Chinese wok, but it is still an efficient utensil to deep-fry foods. If you prefer to get an Indian wok, they are sometimes available at Indian grocery stores, or you can order them online.
Cooking Tips
Here are some of my basic cooking tips that I would like to share with you to make cooking in the kitchen an easier, quicker, and more fun experience.
Plan ahead. Cook one or two days a week and refrigerate or freeze the food so that you can have dinner ready quickly after a long day at work. Each recipe has refrigeration, freezing, and reheating tips to ensure you have a delicious meal ready to enjoy.
When you’re ready to freeze a dish, make sure the hot food has cooled to room temperature, especially before putting it into plastic containers or in freezer-safe plastic bags, and place in the freezer for up to one month. Make sure the container is well covered or airtight so that ice crystals won’t form on the food. The easiest way to reheat frozen food is to first thaw it by placing it in the refrigerator, and then warming it up in the microwave or on the stovetop. You can also use a microwave to defrost the food.
Make a few cups of Plain Basmati Rice (page 63) or Rice with Cumin and Peas (page 64) every weekend so you have it on hand during the week to eat with your meals. For perfect rice that is not mushy, do not cook more than 2 cups (360 g) of rice at one time.
If you are new to cooking with Indian spices, I would suggest starting off with recipes that use these five basic spices: salt, black pepper, ground red pepper (cayenne), cumin seeds, and ground turmeric. Then you can build your spice collection with spices such as cloves, cardamom, coriander seeds, and saffron.
Normally, food will thicken when chilled, but when re-heated it will return to its original consistency. If the food is still thick after being reheated, simply add some water to thin it out.
Do not double or triple a recipe until you get used to making the recipe, especially the rice dishes.
If a recipe calls for a lime, you can use a lemon instead if that is all you have on hand. I use limes since they are less expensive and easier to find. If a recipe calls for the juice of one lime, you can also use the juice of one-half lemon instead (since lemons are bigger than limes). If you prefer to use key limes, you can use two of those to equal one lime.
If you accidentally add cumin seeds to an overheated pan or if you cook them too long in oil and they burn, discard them along with the oil and start again. Burnt cumin seeds will ruin the taste of your dish and they are unsightly.
Canola and peanut oils are better than vegetable oil for frying since they have higher smoke points (the temperature at which the oil starts to emit smoke and unpleasant odors, resulting in poor flavor and burning).
Always use fully ripe, soft, red tomatoes for quicker cooking times, the best flavor, and for their beautiful deep red color. In the cooking process, tomato skins usually separate from the flesh. For better presentation, I often remove the big pieces of loose tomato skins before serving the dish. I prefer not to cut up the tomato into many small pieces, since that means the cooked dish will have many tiny tomato skins in it that would be hard to pick out.
I cook with yellow onions since they are readily available and provide a nice flavor to food. Red onions are slightly sweet and white onions are milder than yellow onions, but you may use any variety you prefer. There are different stages of cooking onions, from becoming translucent to a golden brown, brown, dark brown, and finally to the point of caramelizing them, when the natural sugars cook and lend a sweet taste. Always cut or shred onions right before you are ready to cook them so they do not sit for too long and start releasing their water and smell bad.
I have provided measurements in both American and metric units. Measurements don't have to be exact so don't stress about measuring ingredients precisely. Do note that the metric measurements are rounded so you can easily measure the ingredients; also note that I use a standard 250-milliliter equivalent when using cup measurements.
My cooking times are based on using heavy cookware over a gas stove. Light cookware can be used, and is beneficial in the sense the food will cook faster; however, you have to keep a sharp eye on it and stir the food more frequently.
If the recipe calls for a nonstick skillet, but you prefer to use a skillet without a nonstick surface, add an additional tablespoon of oil and stir the food more frequently. If your skillet it not heavy bottomed, you may also need to lower the heat to keep the food from burning. However, when pan-frying tofu, paneer, or potato cubes, the best results come with using a non-stick skillet. If I do not specify in a recipe that a nonstick skillet should be used, such as when roasting or tempering spices, then you can use either a nonstick or stainless-steel skillet
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rice in the grinder so the spice aromas will be absorbed by the rice.
