Cooking Tips for beginners

Pressure cooking is quite a daily routine in everyday life.

Unlike a normal cooking vessel, it is in a pressure cooker that food cooks beyond the boiling point of water that is around 1250 Celsius. Hence food cooked here is even more hygienic as more germs are killed as against the boiling point of water at 1000 Celsius.

Pressure cookers are known in different names in different industries. The first pressure cooker when invented in 1679 by Dennis Papin was known as the steam digester. Larger volumes of pressure cookers are known as canners. In hospitals to sterilize material a pressure cooker known as an autoclave is used.

Where food is concerned pressure cookers can be used only for food that has water as a part of the ingredients or a good amount of steam will be produced. For instance frying chips or for deep-frying dishes the cooker cannot be used.

The dish to prepare has to emit some amount of steam. Also as steam is locked inside the cooker the dish is cooked faster. Shredded cabbage takes only one minute, fresh beans takes around 5 minutes, rice takes 5 minutes and a whole dish of vegetable curry takes only 20 minutes as against the 1 hour it would take on normal gas. Pressure cooker saves a lots of time, nearly 60 to 70 per cent.

Cooking Tips

# When you soak rice and urad dal for idlis and dosas, wash everything thoroughly before soaking. Later use the soaked water while grinding. If you wash rice and dal after soaking you will lose most of the vitamins.

# Excess salt in any dish can be brought down by adding diced potatoes, tomatoes or a teaspoon of sugar.

# When you are making vadas, if the batter is watery - you will have the problem of oil splattering when you fry it. Add a tablespoon of ghee to the batter and your problem will be solved.



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I love using pressure cooker on my beef because it makes the meat really tender and you wont wait long hours. It saves a lot of your time and gas in your stove.

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