Microwave Cooking

Continuing on the road of sharing the tips on Microwave cooking. Here are a few more...

Why I like microwave cooking? The simple answer is that once the method is perfected, I don't have to worry about turning off the gas or overcooked food ;-). And while the dish is being cooked, I don't have to bother looking/checking, and I can spend that much time in cooking/doing something else.

I use microwave cooking for very basic items, nothing fancy. Although, I know that there are a lot more items that can be cooked in the microwave. The things I prefer doing in microwave are:

• White Rice
• Jeera Rice
• Boiled Potatoes
• Tea ;-)
• Pasta (boiling)

Rice / Jeera Rice:

Cooking time: 12-15 mins, depending upon how much rice you cooking.


You would need:

• Oil: 2 TBSP
• Salt: 1 TSP
• Basmati Rice: 1 Cup
• Water 2.25 Cups
• A large microwave-safe bowl ( should be able to hold more than double the amount of water and rice combined)
• Cumin Seeds (Jeera) – 1 TSP (if you making jeera rice)

Wash the rice and then soak it in the given amount of water for 15 minutes. In the microwave-safe bowl, add oil and cumin seeds, and keep the bowl in the microwave for 30 secs. Take out the bowl and add rice (along with the water) to it. Put the bowl back in microwave for 12-13 mins approx and relax! When the microwave beeps, take the bowl out of the microwave using mittens or a kitchen towel, because the bowl will be very hot. Serve the rice hot!

Boiling Potatoes: 

Peel and cut the potato(es) into small cubes and put them in a microwave-safe bowl. Add water to the bowl till a level where the potatoes are completely immersed in water. If you are going to use the potatoes for a salty dish, it’s a good idea to add the salt now. Put the bowl in the microwave and run it for around 15 mins. It may need more / less time depending on how much potato you used.

I do around 15 mins for 3 large Russet Potatoes.

Boiling Pasta:

Different types and shapes of pasta take different amount of time to cook. I will use the simple elbow pasta as an example here. It's the one that we cook a lot for our daughter.

You would need:

• 1 cup Elbow Pasta / Farfalle Pasta
• 3 cups water
• 5 TSP Salt
• 1 TSP Olive Oil

Combine the pasta, salt, and water in a microwave-safe bowl and run it in the microwave for around 12-14 minutes. Once done, carefully drain the HOT WATER. Toss the pasta in a pan with a good amount of Olive Oil. This method prevents the pasta from turning sticky if you aren't using it immediately.

Microwave Cooking: Quick Paneer Snack

The frozen paneer (Cottage Cheese) that we get in US doesn't taste as good as the homemade paneer. It is kind of rubbery! I love eating raw paneer and so does my daughter. 


For a quick paneer snack, cut the frozen paneer into small cubes, put in a bowl, add a spoon of butter salted/unsalted, and microwave it for 15-20 seconds. Larger quantity would need more time. Take out the bowl from microwave and mix the melted butter and paneer nicely. Put it back in the microwave for 10 secs or so.

Take out the bowl, sprinkle some salt, black pepper and/or chat masala over it and it's ready to snack on!

I Love it and so does my 1 year old daughter. :-)

Microwave Cooking: Indian Milk Tea

I would be amused to see an Indian who has never had tea in his life, barring the ones who may have had medical conditions. It's our wine, our tobacco (for the teetotallers like me).

And tell me how many of you have not boiled the tea off the pan and then cursed everything around the world! :) Well, I have now turned myself onto making tea in the microwave. The procedure is very simple and the taste is as good as you can get.

For two cups of tea:

• Milk- 1cup
• Water- 1.5 cups
• Tea Leaves- 2-3 TSP (depending on how strong you want your tea to be)
• Sugar- 2 TSP (or as per taste)

You can add Tea Masala, crushed or grated ginger, green cardamom Powder, cloves, or anything else that you like in your tea.

Procedure:

Combine everything in a large microwave-safe bowl and run it for 3 mins and 30 secs. In the meantime, you can do whatever you want to, without worrying about the tea. When the tea is ready, the microwave will beep. Use mittens or a kitchen towel to take the bowl out. Filter and pour the tea in the mugs, and enjoy!

Do tell me if it tastes any different from regular stove tea. :-)

Cooking Tips: Microwave Cooking

Do you know how much time and electricity/power you spend when you use a conventional stove/electric stove? Well neither do I;-). But I do know is when we cook on a conventional / electric Stove, a lot of energy is wasted because it is open and it also needs a lot of manual monitoring to make sure things don't get over cooked or may not burned.

Lately I have started increasing the use of Microwave in my cooking. Here on, I am going to share my experience with microwave cooking. I have till now done tea,rice, potato,daal, vegetables etc in microwave.

Watch for the procedure, very simple they are and the time required for it.

The Benefits are huge. Most importantly, it saves a lot of Power and personal time.

Cheers!!!

Nitin