I need to know from working women or anyone else for that matter who does the weekly cooking… what do you make on the weekends? How do you freeze it? full handi container? or small containers for different days?! how do you alternate between meat and vegetables? can we freeze vegetables too? how many salans do you usually make?
Last but not least, how do you cook on the weekend?how long it takes? do you spend the whole weekend in the kitchen or what? My husband helps a lot in the kitchen but both of us can’t cook well so it becomes a chore.. it takes forever to even make the masala (electric stove and onions take long to brown- i dunno why :-()
We are usually out and about on Saturdays in addition to weekly cleaning/laundry etc and then both of us teach at Islamic School on Sunday and do the grocery etc Sunday evening which doesn’t give us enough time to cook two-three salans.. is there any formula that I can use and make masala once for all the handis?!?! I dunno if I am asking for impossible or what but in simple words what can we cook on the weekends in a few hours and how do I freeze it? I don’t want to defrost the whole thing every now and then n then putting it back in freezer so there must be a solution to it!
gemini…Im afraid I cook fresh daily .. I had started cooking on the weekend for the few days but I realised that I got bored of eating the same dish day in day out and that it wasnt as wholesome and fresh…now as a busy professional I cook daily depsite it being a small amont but I know its fresh , tastes yummy and I have a selection of veggies/ meats and a variety of cusines…its hard work because youre shattered after u do a full days work but I also find cooking gives me that therapeutic touch and allows me to destress after work…
I used to do that weekly cooking but around a year ago, we found a Pakistani lady in our neighborhood who cooks for us, so I might be a little outdated :p but my suggestions are as follows:
I used to make only 2 saalans.... for the first 2-3 days. Used to brown a whole bunch of onions together on the weekend (or used desi store bought fried onions).... then used half for each saalan.... so they would be cooking side by side.
I used to cook again Wednesday night (usually).... and the rest of the week we would eat quick to prepare stuff, or shaami kababs/cutlets with rice and raita, etc.
Daal can be frozen for longer period (2 weeks).... make it without the bhigaar and freeze it in 2-3 small containers. Take out one container at a time, microwave to defrost it, put it on heat on the stove (simmering) and then do bhigaar .... will take you 5 mins tops. (Get the peeled garlic from stores and just cut it and do bhigaar with that and red chillis)
Bhindis are easy to cook quickly.... fry bhindi with salt, red chillie powder, tomatoes and a bit of lemon juice.... yum. You can add onions also but have to fry them golden first... which I usually skip.
Make aaloo cutlets / chicken shami kabab (enough for a whole month) and freeze them..... good for a light dinner :)
Will write down more stuff when I remember more :)
Ive gotten in the habit of making double the amount...I get it from my mother. She cooks for an army even if there are only 2 ppl in the house because she thinks she still has 4 rugrats to feed...LOL. What she does is basically use half and store half in freezer.
I make everything from chicken salan to haleem and freeze for a rainy day. When I was in school, I marinated chicken and beef in tandoori masala (I love tandoori masala) and froze it in advance. Make sure you cut holes in the chicken too so the masala goes all the way through. When I came home, I would throw it in a pan with some onions, peppers and fry up dinner.
Unfortunately, you have to plan ahead for a good meal. Over the weekend, you can plan your menu for each day and cook accordingly. You can also cook half-way and freeze so it doesnt taste weird a few days later. Make shami kabobs and freeze too, always a life saver. I also dont cook desi food all the time! Mix it up a bit and give yourself a break woman. I make pasta with grilled chicken and use ready-made sauces for my base...quicker. We make Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.
Ive no idea how you manage with an electric stove but I found the only way I was able to cook well was on medium high heat and just kept my food moving. I never let it sit there otherwise it would burn in a split second. I used to live in the city alone and had an electric stove, it was a nightmare to make roti (always turned orange for some reason) on so I had to manage with naan for a long time...blech!
Cooking dinner daily can be done in less than 30 minutes if you use a pressure cooker.
On the weekend, have small zip lock meat packets ready in the freezer. Also stock up on veggies. Have garlic peeled and stored in ziplock.
We normally cook fresh every other day.
Monday - No cooking, we eat left overs from weekend
Tue - Cook fresh enough for two days
Wed - no cooking, eat left over from Tue
Thu - cook
Fri - eat out
Sat - eat big breakfast and then an early supper by 5 pm.
Sun - just chill and cook if in the mood or have carry out.
So if you notice we cook only twice during work week. Not too bad.
You can cook meat with ginger/garlic and peppercorns and freeze it in small zip-lock bags.. all u have to do it make the gravy/sabzi and thaw the meat and add it in.
You can marinate chicken pieces with "tikka" masala..and make seekh kabab's. They freeze well.
I cook for a few days at one time...I have always done that...
And I have never put a week's food in the freezer...I think its not necessary...
On the days I cook,I would generally make a chicken salan,a daal,some qeema with veggies or some other vegetable salan...and it usually lasts us 2 people for a few days...
I will make 1-2 glasses of rice and put them in the fridge and they are used as needed...
It usually takes me 4-5 hours max to do all this including the cooking and clean up time...Maybe someone can do it quicker but I can have only 2 pots on the stove at one time....
Other than that on days when there is nothing in the fridge,frozen items like kababs,marinated chicken legs etc come to the rescue...they go well with either roti or rice....
Great tips by everyone... Well if you want to cook multiple dishes on a weekend you can try this..
Instead of separately making the basic curry just make it in a large amount, enough for all the dishes you want to cook.. that is, boil the basics(onion+tomato+Garlic+ginger) and use a hand blender or your food processor to just blend it all to a coarse paste like form..
Use required amounts from this mixture for all your salans.. this will save you time, energy and hassle of making the basic curry again and again.
You can also store the above mixture in a glass bowl in refrigerator(for upto a week) or freeze it in small containers so that even if you want to make something fresh during the weekday you won't have to begin from the scratch.
u can pre-make masala, with the spices and stuff on the weekend, enough to last a few days at least. or you can just chop up tomatoes and garlic and onions, it'll take a few hours in the kitchen but overall will definitely cut down on cooking time.
Our pattern is somewhat similar to Funguy's...
monday-leftovers , whether take out or cooked on teh weekend
I should have mentioned that my husband and I are sick of eating out(for now) since we have had too much of it.. I will keep that option for just once a week if necessary and rest I would like to do at home.. cooking every two-three days seems do-able!
Looks like I should freeze some shami kabab (hassle to make though :$) and marinated chicken as well for days when there is just not enough time to prepare a meal!
Psquared.. now only if I could leanr some desi cooking before even trying different cuisines.. I am not a big fan of cooking so it will take some time.. good suggestions though! :$
Masi Musebtay..I LOVE the idea of making curry for all the salans and yes blending is something that I have been appreciating a lot... thank you so much for that tip.
Once again, thanks a lot everyone.. you guys are great.. I see light now :D
^ I guess she means do you reheat it on the stove, with a tarka again etc or just microwave it...and how do you heat it up so that its not all watery and mushy and gross?
^ I guess she means do you reheat it on the stove, with a tarka again etc or just microwave it...and how do you heat it up so that its not all watery and mushy and gross?
yes thats my question...so plez tell me the answer because i am going back to work soon and i cant cook every day..
Sani.. for now I am just putting the leftovers in small containers, take them out when needed and just microwave for 2-3 minutes.. stir in once or twice.... I have some daal in the freezer too and I guess when I take it out, I will do the tarka to "freshen" it up.. for chicken, mutton, vegetables etc. I dun think heating on stove is required or would make any difference.. personal choice though :-)
.. I had started cooking on the weekend for the few days but I realised that I got bored of eating the same dish day in day out and that it wasnt as wholesome and fresh…now as a busy professional I cook daily depsite it being a small amont but I know its fresh , tastes yummy and I have a selection of veggies/ meats and a variety of cusines…its hard work because youre shattered after u do a full days work but I also find cooking gives me that therapeutic touch and allows me to destress after work…
