Tip# 78: How to Utilize Leftover Food Efficiently?
The most expensive food is the food that we throw away. Are you fed up of reheating the left overs and using them again and again? There are bunch of creative ways to make use of the common extras in the kitchen.
When ever you make Paneer at home don't throw away the water you get after taking Paneer. The water is very rich in protein. Store it in a bottle and use it while kneading dough for rotis to get soft and healthy rotis.
Usually, the pickle pieces finish off fastly and we throw away the gravy part of it. While making chapathis spread a teaspoon of the pickle gravy on a chapathi and place another chapathi on it. Seal the corners and cook the chapathi on a tawa on both the sides. Just a cup of curd serves good as side dish for this.
Often we get leftovers of any vegetable stir fry and get confused how to make use of it in a new way. Take 4 or 5 bread slices. Just give them a dip in water and squeeze the water out. Add them to any leftover stir fry with 3 tb spoons of corn flour, finely chopped coriander leaves,onions, green chillies and a pinch of garam masal powder. Mash them well with hand and make to small balls with hand. Give them a soft press. Shallow fry keeping them on the tawa using some oil. Serve with sauce as evening snack to kids.
If you have leftover Rotis or Chapathis cut them with a scissor to thin long strings like noodles. Heat 2 tb spoon of oil in a wok and fry onions, capsicum, beans and carrot and add salt, 2 tea spoons of tomato sauce and chilli sauce. Now add the chappathi noodles and give a good stir. Tasty roti noodles are ready to eat now.
During festive seasons we have many ripened bananas at home. Mash them well in a blender with some sugar. Add 3 tb spoons of condensed milk mix well. Freeze them for 3 hours and again mash it well and freeze it. You will get a smoothy and creamy banana ice cream. You can make it richer by adding nuts and honey.
If you have left over bread slices just powder them and store in an air tight box and refrigerate. When you do any vegetable fry add 2 tb spoons of the bread crumps that will give very good twisting taste and absorbs excess of oil, salt and spice in the dish.
Cut each bread slice in to 4 squares. Take a cup of curd. Add a tea spoon of green chilli paste, turmeric powder, salt and a tea spoon of sugar. Mix well. Now place the bread slices on a plate and spread the curd mixture on them. In a kadai heat 2 tea spoons of oil. Saute it with mustard seeds, urad dal, hing powder and chopped onions. Now add the slices soaked in curd and give a gentle stir. Dahi Bread is ready now.
Take 2 cups of left over rice. Mash them well. Add finely chopped vegetables of your choice at stock. Add some grated Paneer and 3 tb spoons of Besan flour. For flavour add mint leaves and coriander leaves.Add red chilli powder or green chilli paste for spicy. Now mix them all with hand well. Deep fry them in oil droping them in to oil in small lots like Bakoras(Pakodas). The crispy and creative snack is ready.
When you end up cooking with leftover boiled moong dal, don't worry. Add the moongh dal to wheat flour and make dough for rotis. You will get surprisingly soft rotis.
If you have extra rasam or Sambhar in the evening which you made for lunch, Take 2 cups of poha wash it, drain the water out and soak it in the left over rasam or sambhar. After 30 minutes heat a kadai with 3 tea spoons of oil and saute it with mustard seeds and urad al. Add curry leaves, hing powder and the soaked poha and stir well,. Add coriander leaves. You have a spicy, tangy and hot evening tiffin ready now.
Take a green chilli, a piece of ginger, some curry leaves and salt and grind them to paste. Add 2 cups of water with leftover curd and some ice cubes and the paste and give a whip in the blender to get a fantastic summer drink.