A Busy Cook's Cookbook

Sometimes I wish I had at least two heads, ten hands and a few more hours to my day. I feel the inadequacy with my current lot especially when I struggle to live up to the expectations of producing magic meals at the drop of a hat. The magician who pulls a rabbit out of a hat fades in comparison with the cook who produces a delicious, nutritious meal after a busy day's work at the office not to mention the numerous family chores and minor crises on both the fronts, home and office.To pull off such culinary miracles she must have a few tricks up her sleeve.By this I do not mean sole reliance on convenience foods that come out of a packet or bottle, although I am in no way discounting their contribution to making modern urban life  a tad easier.

The greatest secret is in planning ahead and in making the maximum use of time when you have it.The saying goes that if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. This adage applies equally in your career as well as in your kitchen. Vision is everything, according to me.The vision of a family happily chattering away around a pleasant meal is no less than the vision of an empire spread far and wide.The busy cook who has a more or less clear vision of what he/ she plans to serve as meals in the coming week will stock up the refrigerator with key necessary ingredients over the week-end and save himself/herself the impromptu visits to the super-market that can cause super waste of time that is at a premium in any case. Once you have the ingredients, store them neatly in see-through containers with lids and at the risk sounding crazy, I am even suggesting that you label them with a date.

To make the maximum use of a spare evening or morning, use the time to make a sauce/ gravy that you wouldn't necessarily use immediately, that you might even consider freezing in small jars for later use. If you are non-vegetarian, clean and marinade fish/chicken/ meat using either ginger-garlic or yogurt and freeze in two to three separate portions for quick miracle dishes later on. Chop 2 to 3 days' supply of onions, grate oddments of stale cheese, cook a large batch of rice, or knead fairly large mounds of dough. All of these can be stored in the refrigerator for two to three days, the cheese slightly longer.Fresh peas can be shelled and frozen, so too fresh prawns and shrimp. Herbs such as mint and fenugreek ( or 'methi') can be sun dried on a holiday, lightly powdered and stored on the shelf. I find it very useful to have a lot of half-cooked stuff such as boiled lentils (or daals), boiled potatoes, boiled eggs in the refrigerator. Also you could periodically use your spare time to grate carrots, finely chop cabbage, dice vegetables such as gourds and divide cauliflowers or broccoli into florets, puree tomatoes...and marvel at the convenience this can lend you while you are cooking on the run.

A busy cook would be wise to make use of any of the time saving devices that he/ she has in the kitchen, such as pressure cookers, microwave ovens, sandwich makers, hand mixers and so on. Many of us buy fancy gadgets but never learn to make optimum use of these. The point is to make the most of your infrastructure. Read the manuals well and do not be afraid to try out new things, as these are essentially labor saving devices and not decor pieces. Better still is put in a little bit of planning here as well and to study the gadget before buying it than after. Define your need first and then go for the device that would cater to that. You know your need best, not the salesman who is trying to sweet talk you into investing in something that you are never going to use.

Lastly, I am happy to share with you a few tips that I have learnt from experience:

• Do not shy away from cooking on a four burner hob. It's much easier than it appears at first. All four dishes do not require equal attention
• Cooking in large shallow pans is quicker than using a deep pan
• Keep spoons, knives, ladles handy where you can easily get them without having to step away from the  gas
• If you cook any dish halfway through and divide into two equal portions, the two can become two entirely different dishes depending on your ingenuity
• Instead of blanching tomatoes, prick in a fork and roast on an open fire; the peal comes off much easier for you to get a smoother puree
• If you slightly wet onions and garlic before pealing, the task becomes easier
• Use the blender for quick sauces and soups instead of struggling to pass them through soup strainers
• Liquidize grated cheese and mayonnaise together along with a veggie such as mushroom to make a quick sauce to accompany fish our poultry dishes especially for that family member who has an irritable bowel and cannot eat too many spice-laced gravies
• Have a ready-to-use home-made mixed spice powder by lightly toasting on a pan whole spices of your choice and grinding when cooled
• Avoid bending too many times to dispose off vegetable peals, egg-shells etc.in the waste bin;  instead   keep a large bowl on your counter-top that you can empty out at one go when you are done

HAPPY COOKING !!