Ten basic tenets of Indian cooking

If you have not been in a kitchen and are used to eating out, you have missed out on the pleasures of cooking and eating home-cooked wholesome food. We recommend you try. And we also suggest you use Kimatsu home appliances – the trusted partner in the home. Once you declare that you will start to cook – people will tell you all sorts of things about what is important and what is not when you cook. But even before that, there is a lot that you can ensure before you begin to cook.

• When you cook, make sure you use fresh ingredients – vegetables should be fresh, spices (masalas) too should be freshly ground so as to give the maximum flavour to your food.
• Make sure that all the vegetables are washed clean; some vegetables like potatoes, yam (arbi), may need a good soaking in water and scrubbing thereafter
• Have a bath so as to be in a good state of mind and body.
• Think of the people you will be cooking for; if it’s your family members, your spouse and children, then thinking of them ensures that the food you cook is tastier and more wholesome,
• If you are referring to a recipe, make sure you read it all the way through before you start. … Make sure all the ingredients are available, or if not, make sure you buy them in the quantities you need them, depending on how many people you are cooking for.
• Make sure your knife and other cutting implements, chopping board are clean and ready. And the cooking vessels – pan, pot or wok.
• Use a timer if you need to bake or keep something for a longish period of time, to remind you that something needs to be looked at.
• If its flat unleavened breads (roti, chapaati, naan, phulka) that you plan to make, the dough should be kneaded at least half an hour in advance. The breads should be rolled out and cooked on a flat pan, preferably when its time to sit down to eat.  
• Taste your dish once you have put in all the ingredients, spices, and salt, and cooked for a while, once all the spices are well infused into the dish. It is better to err on the lower side, for if more spice or salt is needed, you can always add more later.

And lastly, trust yourself! And enjoy the process, as well as the outcome!