We live in a fast world. Time management is essential, even when we are doing a simple chore, like cooking.
Here are 5 simple meal-planning tips that will definitely ease your life.
Plan Your Meal The Week Before
Yeah that’s right. Maintain a list of the items that you would like to cook for the whole week. Buy your groceries accordingly. This will ensure that you don’t lose time planning what needs to be cooked every single day and can dive headfirst into cooking. This is one of the most underrated tricks of meal-planning.
Chop The Vegetables Well In Advance
Chop the vegetables beforehand, say, the night before, as it is easier to cook a recipe with the help of the chopped vegetables rather than starting from scratch.
Boil The Potato The Night Before
Always keep some boiled potatoes in the refrigerator because in the morning, if you prepare an Indian stuffed bread (like Aloo Parantha), it is far easier to prepare the Paratha with the already boiled potato, which you have stored the day before.
You can also use it when you make curries, and this significantly lessens your time for meal preparation.
Keep The Spices Together
You can keep a sample of the frequently used spices together, in a specialised Spice box. You will thank yourself when you find all the basic ones in no time.
For example, if your most-used spices are turmeric powder, cumin powder, and pepper, maybe it’s a good idea to keep them together in a multi-container spice box.
In India, we even keep spices together that have a specific use. For example, around ten spices together make the whole garam masala
Head over to the wiki if you are interested in learning more about the special spice:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala
Interestingly, some recipes require you to put all the components of the garam masala. It is always a great idea to keep these components together because it saves a whole lot of time when you are required to use these masalas in a particular preparation, rather than searching for them one by one in your entire kitchen cupboard.
Make the Chutneys on The Weekend
If you are an ardent parantha lover or idli lover, I get it. You almost always require that special chutney when you eat them. Why not prepare the same on weekends, when you have time to spare?
This way, you are sure to find something to accompany your main dish, no matter how busy you are.
What are your no-brainer tricks?
I am sure, you might have something to share. Please drop your comments below.
Take care, and see you in my next post.
