Dear Friends, On your request, I am starting two new threads for electronic and non-electronic Kitchen (only!) gadgets separately. I have a few simple things like laddle-rest, pastry blender etc with me for the past 15 yrs, which, I have been using extensively. All ILites who come home say, they have not bought them, for want of knowing how best to use them. I may not have the brand names, price etc for the old ones, but for my recent purchases, I will give them. I am sure, the photos will help you identify those gadgets when you go to the kitchen section in big shops. I am closing this thread because, I want this thread to be only for information and not interaction. Please post your comments in Chitvish Recipes - Post your comments here (part 4) and your queries in Ask here the Recipes you want from Chitvish It is my earnest hope, that you will find these two threads, informative and useful. Love, Chithra.
Tomato Peeler - 1 Tomato Peeler: I tried making a tomato rose as garnish. This is a peeler, whereas, we can use a special "tomato-paring" knife also. The latter, I will post later. The brand is VICTORINOX Cost 6.90 S'pore $ bought in Mustafa centre. Is very light to handle and elegant looking. First, hold the fruit in one hand and start peeling from the non-stem end of the tomato (if possible, slice a paper-thin pieces of skin 1/2" wide of the non-stem end of the tomato, do not cut it off - this will be one end of the spiral. This is optional for beginners). Photo to be posted later. Remove the skin in one spiral, by cuting in a circular fashion around the tomato, until, you have one long strip. Take the end of the strip and carefully wind it around itself. It will assume the shape of a rose! !
Tomato Peeler - 2 The tomato rose can be kept as a centre-piece of salads. This peeler is good for pepperoni & kiwi also.
Drying is important! Dry Care: Before I go on with more gadgets, I want to stress the importance of drying the knife etc as soon as we finish washing and wiping them with s cloth. I always allow them to rest on my pressure cooker which will be very hot. Prserved that way, my aluminium garlic press bought 16 yrs back is just perfect. The following is my Lemon Squeezer bought when it was first introduced in the market, many many years back. I bought the aluminum alloy one for Rs.14! This is just to emphasise the importance of DRY CARE for all gadgets.
Ladle-Rest. This is a very useful item in the kitchen. I prefer steel ones to plastic, because washing and cleaning is easy. I have two - one for milk and the other for regular cooking. I keep it on the gas stove inbetween the stoves for easy use.
Simmer-Rest This is the name, I use, for a gadget available in shops as papad or phulka toaster. When you want to simmer food on a low flame, this kept on the flame, below the cooking vessel, is extremely useful maintaining a VERY LOW temperature for cooking, without the dish getting scorched even slightly. This helps in Cooking kheers (shown below), halwas, vegetable gravies for thickening etc perfect for roasting dry curries with less oil. If regularly used, it lasts for 3-4 yrs. This needs no cleaning, can just be wiped. This, now costs around 60 Rs in stainless steel shops. I keep it on the right side of my stove for ready use.
Paneer Strainer I bought this in my S'pore trip, to drain paneer. I use this instead of thin white cloth. With good care, I hope it will last for 4-5 times use. It comes in packs of 50 and I bought this in a 2$ Japanese shop DAISO. I set it inside my drainer basket, poured the contents (paneer+whey). When I poured out completely, I closed the mouth & gently squeezed till the entire water drained out. After transferring the paneer, I gently rinsed the same in water 2-3 times, dried and stored it.
Curd Strainer This is a purchase made in the USA. I am not aware, what purpose it is used for, abroad. But, I use it for straining curds for shrikant, malai ( I make a jiffy malai butfi - recipe will follow shortly) and sour curds to make the Kerala dish kaalan. For shrikant, I pour the curds & keep it overnight in the fridge so that sourness will not set in. More literature:
Utensil Pot Cup Ruby got this from the USA, in July. This cost $6.99 and is from Bed Bath & Beyond. The make is Trudeau. This is yet another type of ladle-rest, which can be kept on the vessel itself when cooking. It can be clipped on to the vessel & is useful for plastic ladles. The gadget: Clipped on to a vessel:
Julienne Cutter This looks like a peeler, but it "peels" into juliennes. You can cut carrot, radish etc into any length & peel. Salads, if made with juliennes, are very crunchy, attractive as well!