Freezing

[AnGeL_EyEs]

Re: Freezing

@Lusi

Get scented dish soap.
We normally freeze tomatoes if we have too many of them. We normally use tomato puree and freeze it in cubes; it longs last and is convenient.

The best way to peel garlic is throw it in a steel pot, cover it with another steel pot and shake it. If you have only couple cloves then kind of smash it with your knife and it will peel off easily. tips from food network I have never tried them because I use paste.

approx how many cubes do you use in a salan? I think im gonna try it…just seems convenient.

I read that you can soak the garlic in some water then it’ll peel off easily.

@Khumar

ladies, just buy garlic in bulk one day, and do nothing that day but peel the garlic. then freeze it. trust me…that stuff will last you months, and your hands will stink only one day. and it takes less than 5 mins to thaw the cloves if you need to finely chop or grate them for a recipe.

i think everything can be frozen. my mom probably still has half an avacado frozen sitting in the freezer

just buy the already peeled garlic … hmm although i do think thats a bit expensive.

for those of you who live in the states..you can buy a large container filled with already peeled garlic cloves in it.

[Lusi]

Re: Freezing

AE, I normally use 1 cube for a curry salan and like two for a karahi. I think takes 2 tbsps of the puree to fill 1 cube. So I mean you can make your estimation.

[Snow_White_1]

Re: Freezing

U can also peel and crush bulk load of garlic, then freeze 2/3 of it and the remaining 1/3 can be kept in an air-tight container in refrigerator - you can use that for 1-2weeks depending on your refrigerator's setting, saves you having to crush it every single time you make a saalan and hence your hands will only smell of garlic the one day when you sit down to prepare/crush the bulk.

[Ira]

Re: Freezing

I think ANgel Eyes asked about this, My mom has this habit of freezing tomato puree in yogurt containters, the ones taht are like 6 ozs i think. And for each salan, she uses 1 of those.

[Gemini_the_Great]

Re: Freezing

@AnGeL_EyEs

I dont understand why you would want to freeze the tomatoes though? is it so it's readily available or because of convenience? or both?

GEMINI....I also hate peeling garlic cloves because of the smell....which is why I started buying the already peeled cloves that come in a plastic container.

in Pakistan, the tomatoes rates vary almost everyday.. one day it will be Rs. 30/kg and the next day it can go as high as Rs.75/kg.. in fact, in off seasons, I have seen it going up to Rs.200/kg!Hence, freezing is the best option. I also buy the tomatoes paste but use that only for the color since we dun use red chilies in the salan at all!

now considering how germ-o-phobic I am, I never bought the peeled garlics in Pakistan.. I wonder if they wash their hands before peeling it off.. I would rather suffer from the smell than bring those germs home intentionally. However, as I mentioned, rubbing your hands on stainless steel removes the smell so no biggie!

Sara..your rice looks good... you know it took me a while to make khilay-huway chawal but yours look good.. to make it darker, you just have to brown the onions really dark instead of golden brown.. chicken looks good too. :-)

[Afro-Sheen]

Re: Freezing

I've frozen extra tomatoes and they are pretty decent. I have frozen them whole, I like the puree idea. They are usually fine in salen when used, just let them defrost a little and dice it up and add to curry. you can just peel garlic cloves in bulk on the weekend to last you all week. Sometimes I am also able to slice onions and keep in a container for a few days. Works out well for me.

One thing I tried a long time ago, when parents went away....my mom made actual masala...(like fry onions, add tomatoes, garlic etc and all the masala spices to it)...in moderation of spice and left a large yogurt container full of it. So I was able to cook fresh food easily each night, but just throwing a scoop r 2 of the masala in the pan..soon as its heated...walah i can add veggies or meat....i think that can be used for working ladies who'd like a fresh meal weeknights