Ask my sister to cook Indian and she will give you a blank stare for a minute and then say 'I don't have the time to cook Indian let's just have something simple.' Well, that may seem normal to a foreigner, but to an Indian that is funny.
I personally believe Indian cooking doesn't have to be all complicated. One can make simple Indian dishes too. Anyhow to help my sister be confident in cooking Indian food I found an article for her on time-saving while cooking Indian.
This article explains how Indian cooking is generally made with fresh ingredients and from scratch and thus can be elaborative but just like any other cuisine, it totally depends on what you're cooking. There are some ingredients though, that are common in most Indian dishes though and preparing them ahead of time can further cut down on cooking time. For example, onions, ginger-garlic paste, tomato puree, browned onion, basic gravy, and the chapati dough.
Onion:
Onion is part of the essence of most of the Indian gravies, so make sure you either have it chopped, in a paste or sliced, and stored in the freezer so that when you need it for a recipe, you have it in hand!
Ginger and garlic pastes:
Ginger and garlic are also super important ingredients in Indian cooking. Depending on the recipe, you may need it either grounded in a paste or chopped. You can even find these pastes are Asian or Indian grocery stores, however, another healthier way would be to peel the garlic beforehand and do the cutting as and when you need the cloves!
Tomato Pureé:
Surely you can get this readymade from a grocery store, but they say when it is made fresh at home, the food just tastes different and better! Make tomato pureé ahead of time and pour into ice-cube trays (I always use a tablespoon to measure how much fits in a single cube so that its easier to measure out as the recipe requires later) and freeze. When frozen pop them out and store in date and measurement labeled freezer bags for when you need them.
This is a super new trick I learned! I am definitely going to try this out!!
Browned onions:
Often a recipe calls for browned onions! Making a batch ahead of time and storing them in the fridge surely saves time.
Basic Gravy:
Most of the Indian dishes have this basic onion tomato and masala gravy in common, so you can surely prep this earlier and just add in more masalas as per what you're cooking!
This article gave the link to this gravy's recipe, I will give it a try for sure!
Roti/ Chapati/ Parantha dough:
Bread like Chapati, Paratha, and Poori are the perfect accompaniment to most Indian dishes. Making a dough once every few days in a larger quantity is a great idea! Dough made from whole wheat flour will keep really well in the fridge for 3-4 days, so make in advance.
Most of the Indian households I've been to, use this trick!
A super useful article, I must say. These tips and tricks will surely help me meal prep on the weekends for the entire week. I can surely plan my menu beforehand for a forthcoming busy week and prep these pastes and gravies accordingly! Here's to a fresher and healthier life full of tasty food!
Link to this article: https://www.thespruceeats.com/indian-food-time-saving-tips-1957607
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| My food blog - https://asicookit.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/chole-all-the-way/ |
I personally believe Indian cooking doesn't have to be all complicated. One can make simple Indian dishes too. Anyhow to help my sister be confident in cooking Indian food I found an article for her on time-saving while cooking Indian.
 |
| https://twosleevers.com/palak-paneer-pressure-cooker/ |
Onion:
Onion is part of the essence of most of the Indian gravies, so make sure you either have it chopped, in a paste or sliced, and stored in the freezer so that when you need it for a recipe, you have it in hand!
 |
| https://twosleevers.com/palak-paneer-pressure-cooker/ |
Ginger and garlic pastes:
Ginger and garlic are also super important ingredients in Indian cooking. Depending on the recipe, you may need it either grounded in a paste or chopped. You can even find these pastes are Asian or Indian grocery stores, however, another healthier way would be to peel the garlic beforehand and do the cutting as and when you need the cloves!
Tomato Pureé:
Surely you can get this readymade from a grocery store, but they say when it is made fresh at home, the food just tastes different and better! Make tomato pureé ahead of time and pour into ice-cube trays (I always use a tablespoon to measure how much fits in a single cube so that its easier to measure out as the recipe requires later) and freeze. When frozen pop them out and store in date and measurement labeled freezer bags for when you need them.
This is a super new trick I learned! I am definitely going to try this out!!
Browned onions:
Often a recipe calls for browned onions! Making a batch ahead of time and storing them in the fridge surely saves time.
Basic Gravy:
Most of the Indian dishes have this basic onion tomato and masala gravy in common, so you can surely prep this earlier and just add in more masalas as per what you're cooking!
This article gave the link to this gravy's recipe, I will give it a try for sure!
Roti/ Chapati/ Parantha dough:
Bread like Chapati, Paratha, and Poori are the perfect accompaniment to most Indian dishes. Making a dough once every few days in a larger quantity is a great idea! Dough made from whole wheat flour will keep really well in the fridge for 3-4 days, so make in advance.
Most of the Indian households I've been to, use this trick!
A super useful article, I must say. These tips and tricks will surely help me meal prep on the weekends for the entire week. I can surely plan my menu beforehand for a forthcoming busy week and prep these pastes and gravies accordingly! Here's to a fresher and healthier life full of tasty food!
Link to this article: https://www.thespruceeats.com/indian-food-time-saving-tips-1957607
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