At a time when everyone is trying to tighten one’s purse strings, at a time when we need to sit up and take notice of global warming and reduce unnecessary consumption and hence wastage, there is a lot one can save by following these very simple tips in the kitchen.

• Given the fast paced lives we lead today, we tend to cook food and then store in the refrigerator for consumption later. Or we tend to use packaged food that we buy and store in the fridge. When we take out this food and put it in the microwave or on a kitchen stove, it takes up a lot of fuel to warm up the food. This can be saved on drastically if we take the food items out of the refrigerator well in advance and let them get to the room temerature before heating them.
• Soak pulses in water well in advance before cooking. This will reduce cooking time and hence help save fuel.
• After you are done with making chappatis, use the hot tawa to warm anything that you might have taken out of the fridge for heating. You will be surprised how much residual heat is still there in the tawa.
• A few drops of oil or a small piece of butter, added when steaming pulses speeds up the cooking process. I have tried this while cooking dal, rajma and channa and it works.

Tags: environment conservation, Global Warming, green living, Save Earth, Stop Wasting, Sustainable Living