According to research, being able to stay in your pyjamas all-day and working when you are most productive and not having to do caffeine rounds, not commuting are some of the best perks of working from home. Women now have the option of working from home which helps them balance their personal and professional life. But, while multi-tasking all of these they always end up with this big question of what to cook and serve?
1. Design your weekly menu well ahead of time. Tag it on the kitchen shelf as a handy reference.
2. Stock up your refrigerator with vegetables over the weekend. Clean and chop the ones which won't get spoilt easily and store them in an air-tight container or ziplock bags. De-stem and clean leafy vegetables like coriander leaves, mint leaves etc.
3. Prepare batches of chutneys / pastes/puree in advance and deep-freeze them. Thaw them before using and serve them with your favourite snacks or spread it over your much-loved chaat .
4. On busy days switch to recipes with fewer ingredients or minimum cooking time and make use of equipment like microwave or pressure cooker.
5. Get creative with leftover food.
In case you wish to kick-start your morning with a scrumptious South-Indian breakfast, soaking and grinding the lentils would be a tedious task, opt for instant Oats Dosa or Quick Rava Idli and prepare crispy, thin dosas or spongy idli and relish with some coconut chutney. Did you know you can roast semolina along with an array of ingredients and store it? So, in the morning you just have to pour in some hot water and your Upma is ready in a jiffy. Apart from that poha (Kanda, batata, mix vegetable), rava dhokla, sandwiches are quick breakfast options. On oh-so-busy days, work in at least a milkshake or a smoothie to make sure you do not start your day on an empty stomach. For more options, check out our Quick Indian Breakfast Recipes.
If you are watching out your calories, soups and salads are the best things you could opt for. They are light on the stomach as well as filling. In case of soup, you can make a clear vegetable soup, creamy thick soup or any lentil-based soup. They are often loaded with a lot of nutrients and are simple to prepare. Just boil, blend and sip! Also, seasonal flu during monsoon and winters are best fought with a bowl of piping hot soup. Quick Tomato Rasam is a soothing thin soup perked up with tamarind pulp and a myriad of spices, and a simple seasoning of mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves creates an irresistible aroma that is enough to draw everybody to the table. You can transform a seemingly regular vegetable salad into an attention grabber by using a peppy dressing, such as in the Vegetable Salad with Lemony Apple Dressing. Whole Wheat Bread, Homemade Peanut butter, Almond Butter, Chana Dal, Besan, Moong Dal, Spinach, Oats, Paneer, Sprouts, Millets, Eggs, Curd are some healthy ingredients that you can incorporate in your diet to make twists in carb-loaded food.
Deep-fried Vada or chutney loaded chaat always make up for a bad mood or quick snack with a cup of masaledaar chai. Quick Bhakarwadi Chaat, Samosa Chaat are some instantaneous snacking options. Food items like roti, bread, khichdi can be turned into tasty delights like Chatpata Dahiwala Bread, Chapatti Masala Noodles, and Khichdi Pakodas. Khakhra, the infamous Gujarati snack is made from a dough that is rolled out and cooked on a tava with pressure applied till crisp. They are healthy, quick to make and have a long shelf life. You can make different variants by playing around with a combination of ingredients and flours. Try this Quinoa Red Chawli Leaves Khakhra or Quinoa Kale Khakhra which are also a healthy snacking option. If you don't like plain khakhras than you can turn them into delicacies like Khakhra Pizza, Khakhra Chaat or Khakhra Chivda.
If you plan ahead your meals then you can prepare and freeze some of the basics like gravies and pastes that will help you fix a meal within minutes. Just boil veggies and cook them with the appropriate pastes or gravies to make a mouth-watering main course is ready to place on the table in a flash. Accompany them with sumptuous parathas that you can make, freeze and simply cook on a tava just before dinner. Basic Pasanda Gravy, Kadai Gravy, Makhani Gravy are an all-time favourite on the menus of almost all restaurants, make lip-smacking restaurant style subzis at home using an assortment of vegetables and of course, paneer too. Our section of Frozen Foods, Indian Freezer Recipes will help you dispel your doubts now, by introducing you to a world of Indian frozen foods and ingredients.
With the hope that these practical culinary prompts will ease your kitchen stress – HAPPY COOKING!