Can't take the heat?

And can't get out of the kitchen? Here's what to do

 

You must have all heard the saying: “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Alas, that’s not an option available to those of us who still have to feed a family three times a day, no matter how unbearable the Indian summer gets. But wait, don’t get all hot under the collar; help is at hand. And that’s because this week I come armed with tips about how to maximize your results in the kitchen while making the most minimal of efforts. (This is where lesser mortals would make some lame joke about sweating your onions rather than yourself; but I am, of course, above that sort of puerile thing!)

 

So, how do we crack the whole cooking-while-its-cooking-outside puzzle? Well, here are some pointers, honed after years of hard-won experience. 

 

·       Minimize the use of your gas range. It’s hot enough outside, so why make things worse by getting three hobs of your cooking range going at once? Instead try and use other methods of cooking that produce less red-hot heat. Cook your rice in a rice-maker instead of boiling it on the stove, for instance. Bung your chicken curry in the Instapot and let it bubble away for hours rather than stirring it for hours on the gas. Make your fried chicken in the air fryer rather than the stove (it’s much healthier that way, too). Use the microwave rather than the range to reheat.

·       Make the oven your best friend. I don’t mean by baking cakes and cookies. No, I mean by doing most of your cooking in the oven. All you need to do for a delicious tray bake, for instance, is to prep your vegetables (which you can do in air-conditioned comfort on the dining table) and meat. Pre-heat the oven while you’re doing that and then just bung your dish inside, set the timer as recommended, and retire to read a book and savour a drink while your oven does all the hard work. An hour later, when the alarm goes, dinner will be ready.

·       Batch cooking can be your saviour. I know, I know, everyone keeps extolling the virtues of fresh food. But there are some dishes that freeze extremely well, and taste as good (if not better) when you defrost them after a week (or more). If you are making the effort to make a black dal or mutton korma, for instance, double, or even triple, the quantity you are cooking. Eat what you can on that day and freeze the rest, breaking them out on a day when you don’t feel like cooking.

·       Increase your repertoire of uncooked or barely-cooked dishes. There is nothing quite as appetizing in the summer heat than a cooling salad of watermelon and feta, burrata or cottage cheese with a nice olive-oil dressing and lashings of tomatoes and olives, or even just day-old cold grilled chicken teamed with an assortment of leaves and a spot of balsamico. Build up a book of recipes just like these for these hot, hot, hot summer days and you will both eat well and stay cool. Well, as cool as it is possible to stay in an Indian summer!

Feeling hot, hot, hot

And yet there is no getting out of the kitchen…

 

You know how the saying goes. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. There is just one problem with following that piece of advice, as temperatures hover around the mid to high forties in India. We can’t stand the heat; we would love to get out of the kitchen; but we can’t do that because we have a family to feed. 

 

No matter how scorching the day, you still have to rustle up three meals a day for yourself and those in your household. And there is a limit to how much – and how often – you can order in. So, how do you cope?

 

Well, here are some pointers, based entirely on my own experience of keeping everyone fed during the blistering summers of Delhi.

 

1)    Keep actual cooking to a minimum. Instead, rely on fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs that you can turn into scrumptious salads. Not only will this reduce the amount of time you spend by the range, these meals will be both cooling and nutritious for the whole family.

 

2)    I know, I know, getting a salad prepped is no joke. You have to chop and peel endlessly and that can be a sweaty business. But who said that you have to do all this in a hot and humid kitchen? Spread some old newspapers on your dining table, and set up your chopping board in air-conditioned comfort. You can, in fact, do all your food prep here; even if you are making a full meal.

 

 

3)    This is the time when you should get your oven to do all the heavy lifting. Chop up all the vegetables you need, arrange them on a baking tray, throw in some sausages (if you are a meat-eater) or chunks of halloumi cheese (if you are vegetarian), sprinkle with oil, bung them in the oven, set the time to 45 minutes (or an hour) and sit back and relax while your dinner is cooked. This is my go-to dish when it’s simply too hot to slave away on the stove. And it’s delicious, to boot. You can come up with your own variations.

 

4)    The other kitchen aid that I rely upon completely at this time of year is my Insta Pot. This is the best way to cook meat curries, stews, or even dals and subzis. Most days I don’t even bother to fry the onions, garlic, ginger and tomato with the masalas. Instead, I put all the ingredients in, press the button that says ‘Slow Cook’ and then let the Insta Pot work its magic over a couple of hours while I have a shower and then sit back with a nice cooling drink and a good book.

 

5)    Life is too short (not to mention, too hot) to make rotis on summer evenings. When I was young, I remember my mother sending off our dough to the neighbourhood tandoor, and getting hot crisp tandoori rotis back in a matter of minutes. But those days are long gone now. And I can’t really justify ordering in rotis and parathas. So, I compromise by ordering in some interesting breads that I can toast, butter generously, and eat with my subzis and dals. 

 

6)    This is the time to make one-pot meals that require minimal stirring and watching. So, ditch the stir fries and bhuna ghoshts; instead make a khichri with vegetables. Forget about the risottos that need constant attention; restrict yourself to pastas that can be put together in a jiffy.

 

7)    Batch cooking is what will save you endless botheration in the kitchen. If you are making a pasta sauce, make three times the quantity you need, and freeze the extra two portions to use later in the month. Fry up enormous amounts of ginger-garlic paste and keep it in the fridge to use for the rest of the week. Whatever you are cooking – whether it is dal or a Thai curry – you can’t go wrong by making a few extra portions and freezing them to use on a day when cooking seems like too much of a palaver.

 

8)    The best part of summer, of course, is that the heat is the perfect excuse to stuff yourself full of ice-cream. And, thank God, that requires no cooking at all (though you might want to slice a mango to eat alongside!).