There are some common kitchen mistakes, that happen all the time, but while some can be ignored or at best laughed at, others can cost you your health. For instance, a high amount of salt in the dal can be a cause for hypertension, while over-boiling of food while cooking, can cause all its nutrients to be washed away. Here are some such kitchen mistakes you need to avoid, and tips on how to manage some disasters and come out smoothly....
Limit the salt:
This happens to you and to all your dishes all the time. And how much ever you try and judge the quantity of salt, it either turns out to be low or high, but seldom perfect. So, assuming that you have added more than required amount of salt to your food, add a potato slice to the preparation and let it become translucent. Potato, by nature, is salt absorbing and will reduce the salt content of your food.
Don’t over boil:
While moderate boiling is a good way of killing the harmful microbes present in food, over boiling can render the entire process unhealthy. Sweety, a well know nutritionist, says, “The high temperature involved in boiling deactivates the harmful microbes and also the food becomes easy to chew, especially for the elderly and those on dentures. But when you add excess water and exceed the time, it over boils, thereby leading to a loss of essential vitamins and antioxidants." Especially vitamin C which is heat sensitive, washes out rapidly if the food is over-boiled. So, make sure you don’t throw away the stock that is left and instead use it in a soup or add it will preparing the dough.
Don't buy in bulk
You find it better to stock the entire week’s vegetable and grocery stock all at once, so that the entire week you don’t have to visit the market, in fact, even better you consider stocking for the entire month at once, to save time, last minute hassles, weekday woes. But this is not a wise decision as fruits and veggies start losing their vitamins and minerals and other important nutrients after about two days of storage. It is best to purchase them in small quantities at regular intervals.
Don’t use without washing
These are simple things which we often tend to ignore in the kitchen. Even if the fruit or vegetable may seem too clean to require a wash, wash it before cooking. And even if you need to discard the outer skin of the produce and use only the inner part, still wash it before use, as the bacteria can be transferred from the skin to the core when you slice through the outer skin.
Don’t peel
Certain fruits like apples, chikoos, etc which do not require peeling, and can be eaten by simply washing, must not be peeled. This is more so because the skin of these fruits contains high amounts of antioxidants and fiber, which tend to get lost in the way of peeling and the nutrient value of the fruit gets reduced. Same goes for a number of vegetables too. At such times, it is best to thoroughly wash the fruit or vegetable and use it without having its skin peeled off.
Get over the extra watery gravy
Ever had dal that seemed like yellow water, so thin so as to be devoid of any dal at all? Well this is one of the most common mistakes that take the taste away from either the dal or the vegetable. Too watery gravy, makes the delicacy less palatable and tasty. But now that the gravy does get too thin, one way of treating it right is to add a mixture of corn flour and butter so that it thickens up. And another way is to just let it remain on the flame and boil, so that its consistency automatically thickens after about 10-15 minutes.
Leaving cleanup until morning
Overtime in kitchen is taking a toll on you and you feel like getting out of there as soon as you switched off the gas knob, Hold on! while it may be end of day for you, it may just be the beginning for scores of microbes hovering around your unkempt countertop and the leftover food which you forgot to stash away into the fridge, the spills and the used burners. So, before you shut the kitchen door and ignore cleanup, no matter how dark it may get, wipe your countertop and the gas clean, right away.
