Tips on cutting & storing

1. Chopping dry fruits - Freeze them first for one hour & then dip the knife into hot water before cutting them

2. After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying

3. Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them .This will help them to stay fresh for long.

4. Keep coriander leaves in a muslin (cheese) cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer time

5. If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it to make gravies.

6. To avoid browning of apples after cutting, apply a little lemon juice on the cut surface. The apples will stay and look fresh for a longer time.

7. Soak potatoes and eggplant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.

8. When chopping herbs, toss a little salt onto the cutting board; it will keep the herbs from flying around

9. Fresh basil keeps much better and longer at room temperature with the stems in water

10. After cutting corn off the cob, use the back side of a knife (not the blade side) to scrape the cob again to extract the sweet milk left behind. This milk adds flavor and body to any corn dish

Tips on cooking , Frying & Baking

1. Cook pasta 1 minute less than the package instructions and cook it the rest of the way in the pan with sauce

2. When you deep-fry, hold each piece of food with long tongs as you add it to the oil. Hold it just below the oil's surface for five seconds before releasing it. This will seal the exterior and prevent it from sticking to the pot or the other foodTo keep your dressings healthy, subsitute the mayo with greek/plain yogurt

3. For best results when you're baking, leave butter and eggs at room temperature overnight.

4. Do not use oil in the water when boiling pasta: It will keep the sauce from sticking to the cooked pasta.

5. When you’re going to sauté garlic, slice it rather than mincing it — it's less likely to burn that way

6. Smash garlic cloves inside a resealable plastic bag with the back of a knife. That way, your cutting board and knife won't smell.

7. When seasoning a salad, use coarse sea salt mixed with a little olive oil. It will stay crunchy when combined with the vinaigrette.

8. Put green vegetables in ice water after blanching (boiling) them so they maintain a bright green color.

9. Don't overcrowd the pan when you're sautéing — it'll make your food steam instead.

10. For better-tasting asparagus, cure the stalks: Peel them, roll in equal parts sugar and salt, and let them sit for 10 minutes, then rinse off and prepare as desired.

11. To optimize the juice you get from a lemon or lime, roll it hard under your palm for a minute before juicing. (Or — never say I told you this — microwave it for 10 to 15 seconds.

12. Always buy the freshest garlic you can find; the fresher it is, the sweeter it will be. The best garlic has firm tissue-like skin and should not be bruised, sprouted, soft or shriveled. If you find cloves that have green shoots, discard the shoots — they will only add bitterness.

13. Want to know if your oil is hot enough for frying? Here’s a tip: Stick a wooden skewer or spoon in the oil. If bubbles form around the wood, then you are good to go

14. When cooking eggplant, I like to use the long, skinny, purple Japanese kind because you don't have to salt it to pull out the bitter liquid like you do with the larger Italian variety.

15. Whenever you cook pasta, remove some of the pasta-cooking water (about 1/4 or 1/3 cup) just before draining. When you add the sauce of your choice to the pasta, add a little of the cooking liquid. This helps sauce to amalgamate; the starch in the water adds body and a kind of creaminess. An old Italian friend of mine instructed me in this finishing touch early on, and I would never, ever leave it out. It makes all the difference.

16. When baking cookies, be sure your dough is thoroughly chilled when it goes on your baking pan. This will allow the leavening ingredients to work before the butter flattens out and your cookies lose their textural distinctions

17. Reduce the heat of chiles by removing the seeds. My method is making four straight cuts down the sides. This will create four long slivers, and the cluster of seeds will remain in the center of the chile. The result will be less heat and more great flavor.