cookware and utensils

[dev]

What do u use to grate/shred carrot and beetroot? The old tye box grater is too tedious and slow.
Kz

Consider buying a food processor then...

[RedPepper]

What do u use to grate/shred carrot and beetroot? The old tye box grater is too tedious and slow.
Kz

If I have to grate a lot of carrots and beets, I will do it in the food processor with the grater attachment. Otherwise I will use a small hand-held grater.

[Pushpa]

Thanks for the response Kavikuil ! Am using my stainless steel pathrams & sambadams for over 6 years now ....... high time to replace them looks like !

Any ideas about the airtight boxes which we use to store crisp snacks like murukku / vathal / vadam etc. Presently am using only Pearlpet plastic jars, which i also use for storing dals, flours etc. But I am not happy as doesn't seem all that 'airtight ' !! The 'Clip & Lock' and other similar stuff are rather expensive --- so what is best to use ???? My friend uses steel dabbas and lines the lid with foil ........

Red Pepper, Your blog is very very inspiring --- it also is stirring up our tummies / taste-buds and wanting us to make those delicious looking cakes you've made. Well done, really enjoyed the pictures. Am going to try out some cake this week.

Bye,
Pushpa.

[RedPepper]

Thank you Pushpa. I will be posting a message for you on the baking thread to avoid topic digression.

[kavikuil]

shakthi, The water content is more. That's why the water seeps out. I've used Hawkins for more than 5 yrs now and I always have that problem when I add more water than needed. Same problem occurs with prestige cooker too. The problem is with water, not the cooker.

dev, I don't keep a separate utensil for boiling water. I just use any clean, thick bottomed stainless steel vessel, which is free at the moment.

Thanks for the response Kavikuil ! Am using my stainless steel pathrams & sambadams for over 6 years now ....... high time to replace them looks like !

Any ideas about the airtight boxes which we use to store crisp snacks like murukku / vathal / vadam etc. Presently am using only Pearlpet plastic jars, which i also use for storing dals, flours etc. But I am not happy as doesn't seem all that 'airtight ' !! The 'Clip & Lock' and other similar stuff are rather expensive --- so what is best to use ???? My friend uses steel dabbas and lines the lid with foil ........

You are welcome, Pushpa. I, personaly, don't like to use much of plastic, ever since I read about plastic contamination in the foods. When I got married and started a new kitchen, I converted everything into look alike plastic containers. I regret that decision now.

Steel dabbas and glass jars are better options than plastic jars.

I dont use steel because I'd like to keep these jars see-through. What I don't see, I don't use. I've started using glass bottles and canning jars to store food stuff. You can get large mason jars too to store large amounts. Since we will be moving soon, I have to leave my entire colelction of glass jars and start all over again. Almost, all mason jars are airtight. you might want to check them out. buying them online is cheaper than walmart, if you buy in big quantities. HTH!

[dev]

dev, I don't keep a separate utensil for boiling water. I just use any clean, thick bottomed stainless steel vessel, which is free at the moment.

I guess U r talking abt boiling milk... if yes, I too do the same...

[Pushpa]

Hi Kavikuil,

What plastic contamintation ?? Can you explain -- does it mean must never use plastic at all.... what about the plastic tumblers, plates, lunch-boxes & water bottles for kids ?? If it is high range, good quality even then it is not good --- we are just storing, right ; so how can any contamination happen ??

Then will melamine be a good alternative for kids esp..as can't give them glass / ceramic plates ??

Would appreciate a detailed reply,
Thanks,
Pushpa.

[shakthi]

Regarding your problem with water coming out of the cooker while cooking dal, 1) you might be using too much water. 2) your gasket maybe loose. How big is your cooker?

Thanks RedPepper!

So how to know how much is enough water? My cooker is 5 litre

[RedPepper]

I will not fill the pressure cooker more than half. I don't pressure cook dal because it always makes a mess. I cook chana, red kidney beans etc. in there though. Hemantji has a better method for cooking dal.

Edit: Here's copy & pasting Hemantji's method:

Method to Cook Dal In Pressure Cooker.

Always cook dal in a seperator container.
Add a little(1/2Tsp of Ghee along with dal and then cover the seperator and cook.
In Indian pressure cookers, Toor daal takes about 4 vehistles and a standing time of 15 to 20 minutes to cook.
Always try to cook Dal and Rice together in two seperators .Put dal at the bottom and Rice on top.
Never cook dal directly in a pressure cooker.
Users of Hawkins pressure cookers tend to overlook this fact.
Never add water more than equal volume of dal.
Moong dal cooks fastest.

[kavikuil]

dev, I don't keep a separate utensil for boiling water. I just use any clean, thick bottomed stainless steel vessel, which is free at the moment.

I guess U r talking abt boiling milk... if yes, I too do the same...

Oops, sorry, I did mean milk!

Hi Kavikuil,

What plastic contamintation ?? Can you explain -- does it mean must never use plastic at all.... what about the plastic tumblers, plates, lunch-boxes & water bottles for kids ?? If it is high range, good quality even then it is not good --- we are just storing, right ; so how can any contamination happen ??

Then will melamine be a good alternative for kids esp..as can't give them glass / ceramic plates ??

Would appreciate a detailed reply,
Thanks,
Pushpa.

Pushpa, I've read articles on plastic bottles and how they are harmful. By contamination, I meant the plastics leaching into food stuff and water.

Read this article. There's also a link below it, click 'update and clarification'... Read that more details. There are some kinds of plastics which aren't harmful and some are BAD. Mostly, there isn't a way of figuring out which one is good by looking at a plastic bowl or a bottle. So, I avoid it almost all the time.

The plastic bottles that 'bottled water' comes in has to be thrown after 2-3 uses, not more than that. As per 'mangaiyar malar', last year, a child died because she/he had been drinking from the same water bottle for 1.5 yrs. Different water everyday, but same bottle.

Here are some more articles
Plastics and your health

Smart plastics guide

Avoid heating in plastics, if you still want to use them, as heating accelerates the leaching of plastics.

Never ever microwave plastic containers.

Avoid Styrofoam plates (styrene/ poly-styrene), cups at all costs. Paper plates are different from plastic plates.

There are good plastics, there are bad ones. There are two sides to every coin. I'd suggest you read through these articles and also look into google and decide on your own.

The pdf file (Smart plastics guide ) tells that tupperware is bad too, for children. You might want to look for the type of plastics that they recommend safe for children.

Thanks to you, Pushpa, I got to learn about child safe plastics. Thanks!