India is still a developing country. With increasing rate of education among Indian girls, there is an increase in the number of working women in the country also. Although women have excelled in many different careers, as mothers many women want to provide for their family in the kitchen as well. If you are wealthy enough to afford servants or are living in joint family dwellings where these responsibilities can be shared, it might not be so difficult. But many working Indian women still feel the pressure to cook breakfast for the family, go to work and then cook again once they get back in the evening. If this is a duty you are comfortable with taking on, let oneHOWTO provide these easy cooking tips for Indian working mothers to hopefully relieve some of that pressure.
Pre-prepare and store for later
Pre-prepared regular ingredients can be stored. There are certain ingredients that you regularly use in almost all dishes, such as lime, onions, chilies, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, coriander, etc. You can chop them in your free time and store them in an air-tight container. By doing this, you will not need to chop them every time you are making a dish, especially when you are in a hurry.
Make big amounts of batter
Batters can be made in bulk. If you regularly make idli, dosa or uttapam, you can grind them in batches during the weekends, and use them later whenever needed for breakfasts, dinners or evening snacks. Oats, ragi flour or chopped vegetables can also be added for some added health. This will save time while cooking your Indian meals.
Peel before freezing
Vegetables can be prepared beforehand. You can peel the green peas and freeze them in the freezer. Mint leaves and coriander leaves may be de-stemmed and stored in separate air-tight containers. If you need to go to office early in the next morning, you can chop the vegetables at night so that they can be directly cooked in the morning.
Brown onions in advance
Onions can be browned. Most Indian gravies need browning of onions before any other ingredients can be added to it. This process takes much time, and it can be saved if you brown an entire lot of onions beforehand and pack them in an air-tight box. You can refrigerate these browned onions, then use them as and when needed in small amounts.
Non-vegetarian items can be cleaned and marinated. If you have a non-vegetarian family, it is always helpful to keep eggs, meat and fish ready in your fridge. You can buy them in bulk and clean them during weekends. You can make small packets as per your family’s portion sizes, add a few spices as per your taste buds and freeze them. Whenever required, thaw a packet and fry to cook quickly.
Sauces and purees can be kept prepared. There are certain sauces and purees that you need for your everyday cooking, including tomato puree, ginger garlic paste, chilly sauce, mustard sauce, barbecue sauce, soy sauce etc. You can make these beforehand and stock in the refrigerator to speed up cooking.
Dough can be done in advance. Indians need dough to make rotis with almost every meal. You can make a large amount of dough in advance, and keep it refrigerated for at least 2-3 days. This will save a great amount of time for you, as you will not need to do the dough every time you make rotis for your family.
Beans can be soaked. Beans like chhole and rajma can be soaked and kept refrigerated. You can quickly whip them up to make a quick meal. Beans can also be added to salads to make a healthy side dish.
Being a mother is hard work at the best of times and being a working mother comes with great responsibility, so maybe finding ways to share this responsibility around the house would be a good solution and a way to share the burden.
If you are just starting out as a family in India, perhaps these articles will be of interest to you:
- how to plan an Indian wedding on a budget
- Indian bridal makeup for dark skin
- How to make bridal mehndi designs for your hands
- Indian home remedies for baby eczema
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