Food Product Discussion

[saji]

Hey Deepali 128,

I have tried Ashoka frozen chena(suran/elephant yam), gavar(cluster beans), bhindi(ladysfinger), drumsticks, green chillies and Vadilals frozen shallots, arbi(yam). All these are excellant. Especially in winter, we dont get most of the indian veggies here. Havent tried methi yet. But my mum(she is in london) gave me an idea about methi leaves. She buys them during summer, cleans(picks only the leaves) and freezes in various small freezer bags, so that she can use in winter. Why dont you try it with a small bunch and if you are successful and like it,can do them again.

[tomato]

Wow thats a great idea saji, I'm very found of methi leaves, but they r not always available. If i can freeze them when they r avaliable what more can I ask for. But as Deepali says i too found that the frozen methi leaves has a lot of stem in them.

Just a doubt sholud I wash and blanch the leaves or just pick them and freeze? Pls verify this from ur mum and let me know.

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi Tomato and Saji,
Freezing is an excellent method to prolong the shelf life of any vegetable. where i stay,we have excellent farmers market in the summers. I buy fresh produce right from the farms and in bulk. I love to freeze them.
And use it all year long
I freeze white pumkin, cut & peel and dice into the size i require and freeze in indivual portions in a ziplock freezer bag.
similarly, eggplant,bhindi,methileaves( wash it and pat it dry in a papertowel and freeze it without blanching).
I like to blanch spinach , beets , snakegroud.
I even freeze tomatoes in summer
I buy them in ripe season, blanch it and peel the skin, then blend it once in the blender and freeze them in icecube trays (cover it with a plastic wrap). whenever i need puree tomato, i add 1/2cubes in my gravies. They are always excellent.
I hope this was useful.
Bhargavi.Raj

[deepali128]

Thanx saji and Bhargavi,

i will follow ur advice. it's really helpful in winter,when i have to buy rotten veggies from store even at a high price.

[indu]

Which brand of stock cubes gives best results ? I have tried a few times with Maggi chicken cubes, but some odd smell [like cardboard or soaked paper] was there.
In what other way/dishes, can we use the cubes ? Presently I'm just using to flavour for soups.
And are these tamarind stock cubes good for replacing instead of our usual 'puli thanni' in sambar, rasam etc.?

[indu]

Which brand of stock cubes gives best results ? I have tried a few times with Maggi chicken cubes, but some odd smell [like cardboard or soaked paper] was there.
In what other way/dishes, can we use the cubes ? Presently I'm just using to flavour for soups.
And are these tamarind stock cubes good for replacing instead of our usual 'puli thanni' in sambar, rasam etc.?

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi Indu,
I am a vegeterian but my friends say Knorr cubes tastes very nice, i think they are available easily in the grocery,
I have a better idea for the pulli tani for sambhar/rasam.
When i have spare time,
i 1st make tamrind pulp.(soak tamrind in water and remove the pulp)
i boil it along with water , salt, tumeric , chilli powder and tomato puree.
about 4-5mins.
cool it and put it in ice cube trays. cover it with plastic wrap.
whenever i am gonna make rasam or sambhar i have to just empty the cubes .
its that simple.
Try it!
Bhargavi.Raj

[vm]

Hi Bargavi.Raj,

The hakka noodles are frozen one and the brand name is Mirch Masala. Its very good and does not have preservative smell. Other produts of Mirch Masala has preservative smell so dont even go near it if u r sensitive to Pres. smell . Similarly Frozen patra and kaman Dokla is great(I dont remember the brand name and if u want i will let u know the brand names next week)

[R]

Can any of you suggest me which brand of Naan is the best (dont prefer frozen ones)?

Thanks in advance.

[svasu_ani]

Hi...

For Parathas -- Deep
For spices,Pulses and other groceries -- 1st Priority Swad, then lakshmi.
For Vegetables -- Deep
For Basmathi Rice -- Zaafrani.. I have been using it regularly it is aged and tastes good..
We get tinned tomato sauce, its not like ketchup...its just tomates as puree... I use it with tomatoes or as a replacement.
For Pickles- Priya
For Puliyohare mix-777 (in bottles)is good.
I didnt like the MTR puliyohare and bisibela bath mix.

Anitha