As much as we love Ramazan, we have to acknowledge that it is not an easy month for those that have been given kitchen duty. Apart from the early morning sehri time-crunch cooking challenge and the I’m-about-to-faint iftari ordeal, the kitchen in-charge often has to provide for the non-fasting members of the family- usually children.
We’ve put together a few hacks that you can use in the kitchen to help you save time and energy.
Make peras for parathas and freeze them for easy sehri prep
Some may argue that this will not produce the best quality paratha. However, the prime goal is to save time while still serving a wholesome meal. Brush peras with a little ghee or butter before freezing them. Allow them to come to room temperature before rolling out and cooking. You can freeze enough for the week if you’d prefer.
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Chop your herbs for pakoras in bulk
Wash and thoroughly dry all your herbs before chopping. Refrigerate in airtight containers layered with kitchen paper. You can do this for spring onions, coriander, mint, green chilies, etc.
Make your pakora masala in bulk (sans vegetables) and divide into individual packets.
Mix the essentials, such as: besan, corn flour (if you like), salt, pepper, red chili powder and cumin. Make a large batch and divide into smaller servings enough for a day- you can store these in your freezer. All you’ll have to do is mix with water and vegetables.
Wash and cut essential vegetables for the week.
Veggies that you may use for pakoras or that you’d generally make a quick sabzi with, can be cut and refrigerated for the week. The best vegetables to do this with are: eggplant, okra (this bhindi recipe is excellent), zucchini, tori, lauki, spinach and cauliflower. Store in airtight containers or Ziploc bags.
For non-fasting members of the family, stock up on frozen parathas and shami kababs for quick meals.
There are likely family members that are not fasting, usually children or elder persons. For them, it’s best to have ready-to-fry items like frozen parathas. A wise strategy would be to freeze small portions of your dinner to reheat the next day. A quick oats haleem is a wholesome meal which is prepared in minutes.
Prep as many things in bulk as you can
Some things that you can prep for in bulk include:
Chickpeas- boil and divide into individual packets to freeze. Use for channa chaat, hummus, channa pulao, etc.
Make a super large batch of baray for your dahi baray. I find that these take the most energy to make and once they’re out of the way, you can happily pop a few out of the freezer for iftari or even a late night snack.
Soak steel-cut oats, boil and freeze. Use these for oatmeal, soups, stews and smoothies.
Which ramazan hacks do you swear by and have helped you in the kitchen?