Thursday, July 20, 2006

Tip Of The Week

Hey all Blog-o-Buddies . Starting today I'll be posting a useful tip every week on Thursday. You might know some of them already or you might never have heard some. The tips will be mostly pertaining to cooking and the kitchen, but I might squeeze in a couple of tips which might help you in your work in the rest of the house too. Anything that will appeal to the Domestic Goddess in you and make your Godly Tasks easy.

Okay here goes:
Do you buy jaggery (unrefined palm sugar) in the form of a block and find it tiresome to break it down into smaller pieces. Well just pop the entire block into your microwave and set the microwave on the medium setting for 20 secs (when doing it for the first time keep a close watch on the block because every microwave will operate differently) When you remeve the block it will still look like it did before you put it in. But if you gently press it down with your palm it will easily crumble into a heap. If it doesn't crumble easily just pop it back into the microwave for another 10 to 12 secs. Just take care that the jaggery doesn't start to melt. Try it ! It always works

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thats a very good tip. I always get tired of breaking the jaggery. Thanks for sharing

Anupama said...

Wow Shilpa I just posted that one 15 minutes ago and you already read it. Fantastic.

Sumitha said...

Oooh!Nice tip Anupama,the domestic Godess in me says that she is looking forward to more tips from you:)

Revathi said...

Thats a good one Anupama... Did not know about it. With Vinayaka Chathurthi round the corner this is a good one to know -

Anonymous said...

How interesting. I've never seen or tried palm sugar. Where can I get it?

Vaishali said...

That's a grrrrreat tip, Anupama. Looking forward to more such ones.

Anupama said...

Hi Ostwestwind, You will get palm sugar at any indian, sri lankan or a mixed asian foodshop. If you are in Germany perhaps Vaishali of Happyburp can help you better.

I just hope that now that I have made this commitment of sharing a weekly tip i can come up with some good ones, vaishali. The only thing I dream of (literally) now a days is things to put on my blog

Anupama said...

Revathi,Are you going to make modak on Vinayaki Chaturthi. Well if you are I would like some.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anupama,

Came in through your comment on Nabeela's blog. I have never tried the microwave with jaggery. I know you can sprinkle with a little water and place in very slow oven but that is somewhat wasteful and tedious (not to mention HOT in summer) -- your tip is much more comfortable and convenient. Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to reading more of your blog, recipes look great :)

Best wishes from New England!

Anupama said...

Welcome Linda, Thanx for your good wishes. Do keep visiting and i'll meet you on yours too.

Priya said...

Thats lovely theme to come up with Anupama...looking forward to this series...even in cookery shows I wud love the lil tips at the end cos they make our work soo much more easier...And Thank you for the jaggery tip ...only today I spent abt 15 mins..scrapping out a spoonful of it with my knife..!!

Neelu said...

Hi Anu
I am very much Here. Just buzzy these days and hardly find time to blog n visit others too. Gulachi Idea chan aahe, Its a real real pain for me to break that stone :) Hubby dear chya mage lagava lagta :) But now I can do it on my own, Thanks for such a trivia...actualy I dont call it trivia after is saves such a amount of energy :)

Neelu said...

hey u know wht why dont we all encourage each other to post trivia on such issues, it will help all of us.

Anupama said...

Hi Neelu and Priya, Your comments are very encouraging. Hope I can come up with equally good ones in the future too.

Unknown said...

Thanx for sharing tat neat info.

indianadoc said...

that's a useful tip...I have one such block lying in my pantry neglected just due to my laziness to meddle with it!!

Anupama said...

Go on indianadoc ask your microwave to meedle with it now

Menu Today said...

Hi Anupama,
Very useful tip.Thanx for sharing.

Unknown said...

That's really useful, i often do a wrestling match with a pile of Gud each time i have to use it-now i can put my muscles to better use !

Anupama said...

Nandita, on reading your comment i could almost picture you with your sleeves pulled up and manhandling a block of Jaggery

Nupur said...

ooh, your tip worked so well! Thanks for sharing it, Anupama. It is a most useful tip!

Anonymous said...

Well i tried this trick but didn't work.I almost microwaved for 60 sec or more on high(in intervals) but the jaggery wouldn't crumble.It was easier to grate though...
I had kept the jaggery in the fridge..so is that y it wouldn't crumble fast?Do u think it would work if i had continued heating in intervals until it crumbled.it had become hot,so i removed as i didn't want to risk.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anupama,

Thanks so much for the tip....I always used to find it so difficult to break the jaggery.With your tip it was a matter of seconds and the work was done...Thanks again....

Rajashree

Anonymous said...

very good tip. i was fed up of hammering jaggery into small pieces. thanks for sharing it with everyone.

Unknown said...

Very good tip. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. May God Bless you!

Cheers,
Shailesh

radha said...

This is a super tip. My struggles will be history.

Unknown said...

thanks anupama...ur tip saved me..:)

Anonymous said...

Very good tip..Thanks for sharing..

Anonymous said...

BEST TIP EVER!!! Have been hacking away every time I want to use some for years!