Bakers

Onam has come and gone. Besides the Payasam and Pookalam another P has a great role during the Onam celebrations. Plantains.  Plantains, part of the banana family is one of the best fruits around. It is a fruit that sports people love. So, why? 1. Presence of Potassium:100gm of plantain contain 499 milligram of Potassium. Potassium helps in controlling the water content of the body and stream line heartbeat and blood pressure. Plantains help to improve the nervous system and increase the memory power, especially of children.  2. Mood enhancer: If you feel moody have one plantain. The tryptophan in the plantain gives your mind a fillip. 3. Energy booster: If you have a plantain before exercise it will give you energy that prevents muscle cramps. Each 100gm plantain has 122 cal energy. 4. If you have withdrawal symptoms after stopping smoking have a plantain. The potassium and  magnesium in the plantain will help. 5. Fibre Content:The fibre content in plantain ...

Badam or the almond is a species of tree native to the Mediterranean climate region of the Middle East and South Asia but available across the world these days. The seed of the domesticated tree, also called Badam or Almond is consumed as food in various forms. While Badam is often eaten on its own, raw or toasted, it is also a component of different dishes. Badam milk is a refreshing and nutritious beverage that is ideal for the summers. Badam is rich in vitamins B & E, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine and folate as well as essential minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. It is also rich in dietary fiber and has the ability to lower LDL cholesterol. To Prepare Badam Milk Ingredients: Milk  Bakers Badam Drink Mix Preparation: In a cup of hot milk (150ml) add one tablespoon (15g) of Bakers Badam Drink. Stir it well and serve it hot. If desired keep it in a refrigerator to serve chilled Badam drink.

Place a couple of pieces of cardamom in the container where you store sugar to prevent ants from entering it. To prevent beetroot from losing colour when cooking add a couple of drops of lemon juice into the vessel. Adding a pinch of sugar when cooking carrot will improve its taste.

Noodles   are the staple food in many cultures but it is especially linked to the Far East. The reason is that although the word derives from the German word  Nudel  the oldest evidence of noodle consumption, from around 4,000 years ago, was found in China Noodles is made from  unleavened dough  which is stretched, extruded, or rolled flat and cut into one of a variety of shapes. A single noodle   can be made and eaten, but it is more common to serve and eat many at once, and thus the plural form of the word is more used. While long, thin cylindrical strips may be the most common shape abounding, many shapes of noodles are available including those that are cut into waves, helices, tubes, strings, or shells, or folded over, or cut into other shapes. Noodles are usually cooked in boiling water, sometimes with a dash of cooking oil   or salt   added. After cooking they are pan-fried or deep-fried. Noodles are generally served with an a...

Fried rice is a dish made of steamed rice stir fried in a Wok, often mixed with other ingredients like vegetables, egg and meat. It is usually served as the penultimate dish along with other rice items just before dessert. At home many a time it is made with leftover ingredients (including vegetables and/or meat) from other dishes leading to countless variations. Ingredients Cooked rice - 300g Green peas Carrot Beans Cabbage Bakers Fried Rice - 15gm packet Preparation Stir fry sliced vegetables(Green Peas, Carrot, Beans, Cabbage) in a pan until cooked. Add 300g of cooked rice and stir for 45 seconds Empty the contents of a Bakers Fried Rice 15g satchet and mix well for 45 seconds and serve hot. (No need to add salt)

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day Forty percent of our energy must come from our breakfast. If you don't have breakfast the brain doesn't get enough energy. Because of this you will feel lazy, listless and tired. If you are a person who doesn't eat between meals, it will be be 10-12 hours between dinner and breakfast. By this time the digestive process will be over and your stomach will be empty. This means that if you don't eat breakfast you are likely to have acidity. It may also lead to obesity.  For breakfast you should eat those foods that are easily digestible like iddli, dosa, puttu and idiappam. Of these iddli, puttu and idiappam are steamed and these dishes doesn't require too much spices and oil, not even in the side dishes. Especially try to avoid Malabar Porotta, Biriyani and items fried in oil.

When you pour honey using a teaspoon forst smear it with a little oil. This ensures that the honey doesn't stick to the spoon and you have a clear, free flow. To ripen a banana faster cover it with brown paper. If you are keeping lemon in fridge take it out 10 minutes before using and put it in hot water. This helps in squeezing out the maximum juice from the lemon.

Custard   is the term used for a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of  milk or cream and egg yolk.   Most common custards are used as desserts and typically include sugar   and vanilla or some other flavour. Custard bases may also be used for making other savoury foods.   Custards baked in pastry, custard tarts, were very popular in the Middle Ages, and are the origin of the English word 'custard': the French term ‘croustade’ originally referred to the   crust   of a tart, and is derived from the Italian word crostata, and ultimately the Latin   crustāre. Custard powder was created by a Birmingham chemist named Bird in 1837. His wife was allergic to eggs and he wanted to create a custard powder that did not have egg yolk. The original custard powder contained cornstarch, salt, vanilla flavouring and annato coloring, and was cooked with milk to make pudding. Custard powder with the same ingredients is still av...

Whipped cream is cream that has been beaten by a mixer, whisk or fork until it becomes light and fluffy. It is often sweetened and sometimes flavoured with vanilla, coffee, chocolate, orange or any others of the consumer’s choice. Whipped cream may also be made in what is called a whipping siphon, typically using nitrous oxide as the gas. Imitations of whipped cream, often sold under the name whipping cream, are commercially available. They include non dairy whipping cream, whipping creams with milk content and whipping creams which have to be added to milk. The last one has the highest shelf life. The commercially available whipped cream alternatives are used for various reasons: - To exclude diary ingredients for milk allergies or for vegan diets or religious reasons. - For convenience and to provide extended shelf life. - To reduce price - unless it is a premium brand, of course. Whipping cream normally contains some mixture of vegetable oil, sweeteners, fl...

Dates are very good for health. Here are some benefits of eating dates: According to the American Heart Association eating 100g of date daily will increase your body's resistance. Ideally have it on an empty stomach. If you consumer date syrup daily it reduces chance of heart attack by 40%. If you eat dates kept in water for a few hours it will remove constipation. Dates reduces problems of the small intestine. For the health of your eyes eat one date daily.

Caramel Pudding or Creme Caramel is a custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel sauce on top which is very popular throughout the world. Delicious Dessert Ingredients: Bakers Caramel Pudding Mix Milk Preparation: Use the caramel topping to coat the base of half litre mould or four small moulds.  Empty the Bakers Caramel Pudding Mix into a saucepan and blend it with half litre milk.  Bring to boiling point and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Cool for 5 minutes and pour gently into the four small moulds previously prepared.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, unmould and serve.

The word pudding has different connotations in different countries. While in the UK it is a dairy or starch based dessert in the US a pudding is a cooked sweet dish made from milk, sugar and flavouring, usually eaten cold and served after the main course of a meal. In India generally the US definition holds good and puddings are sweet, milk based and has the consistency of custard.  Bakers Pudding Mix comes in six flavours. Strawberry, Chocolate, Pineapple, Vanilla, Mango and Pista.    Yummy Strawberry Pudding Ingredients: Bakers Strawberry Pudding Mix Powder Milk Preparation: Take 100ml of milk and keep it for boiling.  Once the milk starts boiling, empty the contents of the Bakers Strawberry Pudding Mix Powder packet into it and stir it well until it completely dissolves. Turn off your gas and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes and then transfer it into moulds.  Refrigerate it to 2-3 hours until set. Unmould and serve. ...

Come Ramzan time and one of the fastest moving products of Bakers is Plain China Grass. China Grass was discovered around 1658 in Japan by an innkeeper who found that some surplus seaweed soup that was discarded had jelled after a night's freezing. It was also called agar-agar, the Malay/Indonesian name for red algae from which the jelly is produced. It is used as a thickener for soups, in fruit preserves and other desserts. Awesome Dessert! Ingredients: Milk - 900 ml Bakers Plain China Grass  Water - 100 ml Sugar  Bakers 20 ml Essence  Finely sliced fruits Bakers Food Colours Cherry Preparation: Open the Bakers Plain China Grass pack and pour the required contents(10g) into a pan. Clean the China Grass with water.  Mix it with 100ml of water and boil till it melts. Boil 900 ml of milk separately. Mix these together thoroughly. Pour the preparation in moulds or plates adding sugar, fruits, flavour and colours to your taste.  Ref...

Here are some tips to when you are planning to store things: When you are storing tamarind paste if you apply a mix of salt and coconut oil to the paste it will stay longer without going bad. Once your cooking is done if there is excess of egg white or yellow you can store it in your fridge inside a screw cap bottle. For egg white it will be even better if you pour a little water over it. Ideally use eggs placed in fridge for cooking only after it achieves room temperature.

Today's blog post is dedicated to tips when cooking food of the non veg. variety To remove the bad smell from fish place it in any one of vinegar, tamarind water, buttermilk or lime juice for five minutes. Then rinse out with pure water and use for cooking. When cooking meat don't add salt at the beginning but when it is half baked. This will improve the taste a lot. Add a small piece of raw papaya when cooking mutton. This will speed up the process.

Oats Puttu Ingredients: Bakers White Oats - 1 cup Salt - to taste Water - 3-4 tablespoon Coconut Scraped - 1/2 cup Plantain sliced into small pieces - 1/2 cup Preparation: 1. Take the Bakers White Oats, add required salt and mix well. 2. Sprinkle warm water on oats to wet it lightly - just enough for steaming - and mix well. If you like coconut add grated coconut to the wet oats as well as the sliced plantain. 3. Fill a third of the `Puttu Kudam', the pot to make Puttu, with water and boil. 4. Fill the Puttu Kutti (cylindrical vessel) in a layered manner. First put shredded coconut, then plantain and the wet oats followed again by shredded coconut. 5. Place the filled Puttu Kutti on the Kudam and leave it until steam passes through the lid of the Puttu Kutti. 6. Once the steam is seen, put the flame in sim for a couple of minutes before  switching the gas off and remove the Kutti from the Kudam. Open the lid and push the oats Puttu out of the Puttu ...

When making pickles with mango or lime, clean it and then place it in the sunlight for sometime before preparation. This will reduce chances of fungus. Roast the mango, lime or gooseberry in gingelly oil before making the pickles to increase the shelf life of the pickle. Use lots of gingelly oil when making pickles. If there is oil above the line of the pieces it will prevent fungus.

For those making those tasty Kerala dishes here are some tips: When making buttermilk based Kerala curries instead of water add buttermilk itself to prepare the coconut paste. Will add to the taste. Put a pinch of sugar in coconut water and keep in the fridge. Use this for making Appam. The Appam will be very tasty. Use coconut water instead of water for making Puttu. The Puttu will be much softer. If coconut water is not available use hot water instead of cold one.

For those eggies here are some eggy cookery tips: When beating egg white for cake add the sugar little by little. If you add the necessary sugar at one go the mix may become watery. When beating egg for omelet add a pinch of Bakers Cornflour. The taste will be better, the omelet will be fluffy and soft and it will also rise better. When roasting cutlet use egg white instead of the whole egg. Beat the egg white in milk before use. If you do this 'threads' also won't make an appearance.

Here are a second set of tips for our non veg. friends, specifically fish lovers. While frying fish you could apply a small coating of beaten egg after marinating the fish with Masalas to ensure that it doesn't crumble and remains crisp. It also increases the taste. To remove the excess salt from dried fish you should keep it in starch water for half an hour before cooking. When frying fish add a pinch of Maida into the oil to prevent the fish from sticking to the pan.