Last night I made dinner in nine minutes - a new record!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do this often. Today I made rice, dal, fish curry, fried spicy potatoes, and butter-paneer in less than 15 minutes. Fed 6 adults and 2 kids

1) Rice and daal was cooked together in my pressure cooker. Daal was tempered with cumin seeds, ghee, asoephotida powder and garlic slices.

2) Spicy potatoes - sizzled some dry ground spices in a pan with ghee, (coriander, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chilly powder and salt) with boiled peeled small potatoes. Served with squeeze of lemon and chopped coriander leaves.

3) Butter paneer - Simmered cooked pureed onion-garlic paste with organic home-made creamy tomato soup. Dunked frozen fried paneer in it, 2 heapng tbsn of MDH butter chicken masala, dried fenugreek leaves and a generous pour of heavy cream.

4) Fish curry - Fried fish steaks added to frozen premade mustard-onion masala. Add a little water and simmer for 4-5 minutes to make a thin curry. Add a bit of sour tamarind paste (from concentrate) in water and add to the curry to give the tangy taste.

Kept the salad simple - just sliced cucumber sprinkled with salt. And I nuked pre-made rotis and spread some kerrygold butter on it to keep it soft and delicious. All of this in 15 minutes.

I do most of my prep work for food during the weekend and every month I make huge amounts of premade sauces and masalas so that every meal is under 10 minutes. Te best part is that I can cook up a feast to feed any guest who comes to our house unexpectedly because I have the building blocks ready.

This is similar to what the OP did, in that she used a lot of prepped food to make dinner. I don't buy prepped food from the store. I prep the food myself so that I can control the quantity, menu, cost, quality of ingredients etc.

This sounds great to me. And similar to what I do a few times a week. I do buy the frozen stuffed paratha and breads though - I find them time consuming to make and they don't taste as good as the ones I can buy.

You should do what works for you. I do make rotis, paranthas etc, but I also have premade rotis and breads in the freezer too. For big crowd, I have a lady who supplies homemade rotis. If I am making for one or two people, I don't have a problem making, but if I have to feed guests in a hurry, I would rather nuke premade rotis from the freezer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do this often. Today I made rice, dal, fish curry, fried spicy potatoes, and butter-paneer in less than 15 minutes. Fed 6 adults and 2 kids

1) Rice and daal was cooked together in my pressure cooker. Daal was tempered with cumin seeds, ghee, asoephotida powder and garlic slices.

2) Spicy potatoes - sizzled some dry ground spices in a pan with ghee, (coriander, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chilly powder and salt) with boiled peeled small potatoes. Served with squeeze of lemon and chopped coriander leaves.

3) Butter paneer - Simmered cooked pureed onion-garlic paste with organic home-made creamy tomato soup. Dunked frozen fried paneer in it, 2 heapng tbsn of MDH butter chicken masala, dried fenugreek leaves and a generous pour of heavy cream.

4) Fish curry - Fried fish steaks added to frozen premade mustard-onion masala. Add a little water and simmer for 4-5 minutes to make a thin curry. Add a bit of sour tamarind paste (from concentrate) in water and add to the curry to give the tangy taste.

Kept the salad simple - just sliced cucumber sprinkled with salt. And I nuked pre-made rotis and spread some kerrygold butter on it to keep it soft and delicious. All of this in 15 minutes.

I do most of my prep work for food during the weekend and every month I make huge amounts of premade sauces and masalas so that every meal is under 10 minutes. Te best part is that I can cook up a feast to feed any guest who comes to our house unexpectedly because I have the building blocks ready.

This is similar to what the OP did, in that she used a lot of prepped food to make dinner. I don't buy prepped food from the store. I prep the food myself so that I can control the quantity, menu, cost, quality of ingredients etc.

Very impressive!

+1. PP, how did you learn how to make the sauces and masalas?

Yes PP start a new thread with your weekend prep and then how you turn that into quick meals on weeknights.

Did that. Hope it sparks ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

It's the other white meat.

[Anonymous]

20-30 is my gold standard. Constantly moving, but almost always time to set the table and pour some wine and check email for 5 minutes.

I do a lot of:

Put on pasta water, brown frozen "meat"balls and onions, add sauce and spices, add pasta to water, make salad while pasta cooks.
SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Start rice cooker.
Stove top beans (I use cans of black beans with a seasoning I blend myself, so I don't have to grab 10 jars every time I make beans...I only add water or stock and some tomato paste).
Chop lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, peppers, jalapenos. Maybe sauté the peppers and onions and add frozen or fresh corn.
Set out cheese, sour cream, salsas.
Make guac or set our premade or slice avocados.
Nuke tortillas or set out chips.
BEANS AND RICE (or if I cook meat, TACOS!...maybe no rice in that case).

Start rice cooker. Throw broccoli or something similar in oven to roast. Usually toss with gochijang.
Pan fry tofu and ginger and garlic and soy and brown sugar and fish sauce.
Dice cucumbers, peppers, carrots. Maybe red cabbage, corn, fried onions.
Set out condiments (chili sauce, sriracha, soy, chopped green onions and cilantro).
RICE BOWLS

Throw frozen pizzas into oven (top with additional cheese, pepperoni, jalapeños, whatever).
Make salad and dressing.
PIZZA AND SALAD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

What vegetables roast in 15 minutes, including prep time? I imagine children thighs are small enough to cook quickly.

Love your typo I buy pre-cut broccoli and cauliflower florets which I usually halve, halve baby carrots, halve baby potatoes. I don’t pre-heat the oven, I find letting them cook in a heating oven crisps things up.

They’re not really roasted in 15 min.

They sure are. Convection oven at a high heat.

+1 in my air fryer I charred my broccoli florets to powdery shrivels a few times before realizing how much less time they need than regular oven.

I've done this too. I roasted some green beans yesterday and they turned into charred matchsticks. Tasted quite good though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my quick and cheap go-to is kimchi fried rice. Heat oil in a pan, add kimchi, add left-over rice, season with sesame oil, pepper flakes, and top with an over easy egg made in the same pan. I sometimes add some cut up hotdog sausage.

Wow! This is a clever recipe.

I sometimes convert the white rice you get from Asian restaurants into fried rice. Very often, my kids will get chinese food and they do not finish the rice. The rice becomes solidified and dry inside the paper cartons and no one wants to eat it. This is how I use it.

- Remove the pyramid of solidified hardened rice from the container. Put it in pot of boiling water. The rice will rehydrate, fluff up, loosen and settle in the bottom of the pot.

- Strain out the rice from the water with a colander-kind of spoon. (sorry, don't know what to call it, the kind used for frying). In a frying pan, scramble two egg, throw in some pre-sauted veggis and sauted onions. Mix well. Add some roasted peanuts (planters), finely minced fresh garlic, chopped canned water chestnut, chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Mix well. Dark soy sauce, sriracha, some brown sugar, sesame oil. Mix together and pour on rice. Mix well.

I liked the idea of adding some hotdog or protein to it. I think pork will taste so good with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

I’m not OP, but pretentious people like you just set my eyes a-rolling.

You are such a superior diner!! Ha.

Sorry frozen vegetables are disgusting!

Also I didn’t even realize it was my typo hahaha

If you don’t know how to cook, sure.

They’re also more nutritious and more accessible for people with less money and time.

Agree. Frozen-vegetables-are-disgusting poster is pretty ignorant. Frozen vegetables are often fresher that those found in the produce section because they are frozen immediately.

While all that is true, I’ve never found them to be very tasty. Which ones freeze best?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

I’m not OP, but pretentious people like you just set my eyes a-rolling.

You are such a superior diner!! Ha.

Sorry frozen vegetables are disgusting!

Also I didn’t even realize it was my typo hahaha

If you don’t know how to cook, sure.

They’re also more nutritious and more accessible for people with less money and time.

Agree. Frozen-vegetables-are-disgusting poster is pretty ignorant. Frozen vegetables are often fresher that those found in the produce section because they are frozen immediately.

While all that is true, I’ve never found them to be very tasty. Which ones freeze best?

DP -- tiny peas, skinny green beans, corn off the cob, lime beans, broccoli florets that you're planning to steam

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

I’m not OP, but pretentious people like you just set my eyes a-rolling.

You are such a superior diner!! Ha.

Sorry frozen vegetables are disgusting!

Also I didn’t even realize it was my typo hahaha

If you don’t know how to cook, sure.

They’re also more nutritious and more accessible for people with less money and time.

Agree. Frozen-vegetables-are-disgusting poster is pretty ignorant. Frozen vegetables are often fresher that those found in the produce section because they are frozen immediately.

While all that is true, I’ve never found them to be very tasty. Which ones freeze best?

DP -- tiny peas, skinny green beans, corn off the cob, lime beans, broccoli florets that you're planning to steam

Asparagus, cauliflower…

[Anonymous]

I do the easy shrimp fried rice. Mostly for lunch. Frozen cooked shrimp with tail off, 90 second brown rice, chopped onion, frozen peas and carrots, low sodium soy sauce, scrambled egg or egg white. Usually takes about 15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

What vegetables roast in 15 minutes, including prep time? I imagine children thighs are small enough to cook quickly.

😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of you don’t know how to count time.

lmao..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that menu doesn’t sound good to me but I regularly make dinner in 15–roasted fresh vegetables, broiled salmon or children thighs, bread, rice, or roasted potatoes. Lots of “sheet” meals are fast and broiling proteins can also be fast. Or pan-seared shrimp, also lightening fast.

I’m not OP, but pretentious people like you just set my eyes a-rolling.

You are such a superior diner!! Ha.

Sorry frozen vegetables are disgusting!

Also I didn’t even realize it was my typo hahaha

If you don’t know how to cook, sure.

They’re also more nutritious and more accessible for people with less money and time.

Agree. Frozen-vegetables-are-disgusting poster is pretty ignorant. Frozen vegetables are often fresher that those found in the produce section because they are frozen immediately.

While all that is true, I’ve never found them to be very tasty. Which ones freeze best?

DP -- tiny peas, skinny green beans, corn off the cob, lima beans, broccoli florets that you're planning to steam

Asparagus, cauliflower…

Poster you're quoting, and I'd have said no to those

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do this often. Today I made rice, dal, fish curry, fried spicy potatoes, and butter-paneer in less than 15 minutes. Fed 6 adults and 2 kids

1) Rice and daal was cooked together in my pressure cooker. Daal was tempered with cumin seeds, ghee, asoephotida powder and garlic slices.

2) Spicy potatoes - sizzled some dry ground spices in a pan with ghee, (coriander, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chilly powder and salt) with boiled peeled small potatoes. Served with squeeze of lemon and chopped coriander leaves.

3) Butter paneer - Simmered cooked pureed onion-garlic paste with organic home-made creamy tomato soup. Dunked frozen fried paneer in it, 2 heapng tbsn of MDH butter chicken masala, dried fenugreek leaves and a generous pour of heavy cream.

4) Fish curry - Fried fish steaks added to frozen premade mustard-onion masala. Add a little water and simmer for 4-5 minutes to make a thin curry. Add a bit of sour tamarind paste (from concentrate) in water and add to the curry to give the tangy taste.

Kept the salad simple - just sliced cucumber sprinkled with salt. And I nuked pre-made rotis and spread some kerrygold butter on it to keep it soft and delicious. All of this in 15 minutes.

I do most of my prep work for food during the weekend and every month I make huge amounts of premade sauces and masalas so that every meal is under 10 minutes. Te best part is that I can cook up a feast to feed any guest who comes to our house unexpectedly because I have the building blocks ready.

This is similar to what the OP did, in that she used a lot of prepped food to make dinner. I don't buy prepped food from the store. I prep the food myself so that I can control the quantity, menu, cost, quality of ingredients etc.

The pressure cooker wizardry among South Asian home cooks is simply amazing to me. I thought about wading in and figuring it out but there was so much info it was overwhelming and the learning curve seemed intense. I would love to take a series of classes to learn these techniques. You might consider teaching if you find yourself with extra time on your hands as an empty nester. I know I would pay good money to attend.

I actually did not know how to cook very much before I married. I came to this country with a futura pressure cooker in my suitcase. It came with a cookbook that became my lifeline in this country. Of course, those were pre-internet days. Now there is no dearth of resources. Interstingly, the classic futura/hawkins recipe book is now available on their website. It gives you a good idea of measurements, timing, recipes etc.

I know that the younger generation like their insta-pot, and I am using it just to become familiar, but there is something comforting about having an old pressure cooker banging around in the cupboard. It does take a lot of abuse and I can just throw it in the dishwasher to clean!

https://www.hawkinscookers.com/recipe1.aspx

[Anonymous]

Good for you! You can do again for days that you know will be a very busy day.

Here I am patting myself on my back to have made dinner in 20 minutes last night.
Other than the rice that was cooking for 30 minutes, the fish that was thawing for 8 hours earlier, and cutting vegetables that took 10 minutes.