I have always emphasised on using Recipe books as reference points and try to recreate the recipe by understanding the process. Take olden times for example. Many scriptures didn’t have exact recipes with precise measurements. There were just references and the khansaamas and cooks of yore had to interpret it the best they could. Or an heirloom recipe from our grandmothers’ or mother’s kitchen; their cooking would be intuitive, both w.r.t ingredients and the process.
So..here are a few quick tips and tricks every cook in the kitchen must know.
1) Always keep space for residual cooking
Food keeps cooking even when it is taken off the flames. The same has to be kept in mind so as not to overcook any dish.
2) Always keep a spoon with you and taste as you go
Keep tasting your food at regular intervals for 2 reasons;
A) You can fix it before it goes horribly wrong.
B) If it comes out really good you will know at what stage you made the difference.
3) Try to avoid tea spoons/table spoons while adding ingredients
Our hands give the best estimate to cooking. Also, in a lot of recipes, quantity of spices simply can’t be multiplied by themselves but we gradually need to reduce the quantity per recipe for a consistent taste.
4) When in doubt, strain
Whether we are making sauces, soups, stocks and gravies, strain it. This allows for better texture and the cleaner flavour.
5) Oven temperatures are mere guidelines
There is always hot and cold parts in any oven; hence using baking temperature as the rule of the thumb generally adversely affects the products.
6) Cooking is not about speed, it’s about control
It is important to be on top of the cooking process all the time. If we can manage doing that, cooking five dishes or one is secondary.
7) Fresh is foremost
The ingredients that you use when you cook have to be the freshest possible at all times. Whether it’s the cut veggies or meat or pastes and powders. The fresher the better.
8) Be confident… Let it “be”
If you are looking, you are not cooking. This holds good especially for slow cooking and barbecue type foods. You have to be confident and let the food be. Let the heat do its job. If you keep opening the lid it’s only gonna delay and inversely affect the process.
9) In the end it’s about the palate
Food is as good or as bad as it tastes. Behind any complicated foreign recipe lies an inherent taste that the recipe brings . Feel that taste in your mind and start.
10) Enjoy it, own it..
Food is feelings transferred to the plate. So when you cook, try recreating your memories associated with the dish, or create your interpretation of it. And be a Happy Cook 🙂
Comments
Leave a Comment
Are you a passionate cook looking to showcase your skills in our website? Submit your recipe and get a chance to feature your skills with us.
Submit Now
Follow & Connect
Chef your explanation is very different to other …🙏💓
Lovely tips chef, some we follow and some we don’t. But I will implement the rest for sure. Thanks for teaching us the cooking in the right manner 😊 May God bless you with more abundance 🙏
Very useful for all the enthusiasts of food
I liked your tips,it will be very helpful
Nice tips bhaaji… Thank you for dropping wisdom
Very good tips to maintain. Your book, tips ,demonstrations n recipes speak well n clearly and the food cooked with your help, is an achievement to the kitchen world. I love each recipe, one after the other.
Thank you Ranbeer. God bless you.
Wonderfully summarised crux of cooking process.
Cooking ka sara ras (nichod) bata diya
I am a doctor by profession ,but a cook by heart ,been cooking from 7th std and still do,makes me feel relaxed,i was denied the possibility of being a chef and never got any formal education on culinary sciences ,
but you sir ,you have taught me so much ,you made me a student unknowingly and i will forever be grateful to you even if you’re unaware of it ,gave me a new perception for food , teaching how to cook the right way and especially sharing these minute details and “sutra” of cooking
Don’t know if this comment reaches you or not ,but if it does ,thank you teacher 🙏🏽😄
Always learn from u…you being my favorite chef on u tube…pls bring in more recipes on the other side of the yr2021… so we can put smiles on our loved ones….and most importantly 2 se cherbi hatana..ek ka cherbi badana aur 2 ka status yuhi rakna….aur doston ko bahut kush karna
Thanks Chef for giving us such great and subtle tips! I will surely try to implement those from now on!
Your words have taught me about the organic nature of cooking and how immensely satisfying it is. Please continue to share your knowledge with us.
Thank you
Thanks Chef for these wonderful tips
Hello chef if you can tell carbs measurements in your recipes it will be great for the people with diabetes and specially for those who are having type 1 diabites
I fully agree with you, if your mood is not good it will affect your food. If you are in mood, the food automatically goes fantastic.
In your recent ‘Chane ka chat’ recipe, if you could include avocado cubed ( sprinkled with lime juice and salt), it would make the whole recipe a super (food) recipe….
Would love separate section in you website of the little stories or conjectures about the food or origin of the recipes etc. that you have in your videos.
I read some of the blogs like not so lame , and about idli, you write no nicely chef it’s very intresting. and very informative
About the idli chef I read in Tamil magazine that idli date backs to sangam age and they use to cook it in leaf moulds.A Tamil literature called silapadhikaram in that the marriage menu idli is served. Your what cookbooks don’t tell is an superb post. Chef . Thanks a lot for this intresting informative blog chef.
You have made cooking ‘therapeutic and fun’ for me. Thank you. Soon after work, I get into the kitchen every single day this year so far – searching for your name along with the ingredient in the fridge! I mostly hit on something amazing. I’m a vegetarian who now enjoys cooking chicken (without even tasting it) – thanks to you!