Sometimes, while cooking, it’s common to add too much water rendering the dish watery and diluted. Instead of starting the whole process again, here are some neat cooking hacks that can right your wrong and give the dish all the flavours:
Stews/ soups
• Cornstarch: Prepare a solution by adding cornstarch. Take a little water from the dish and mix it with the cornstarch and put it back to the dish. Cornstarch thickens the watery element in the dish.
• Beurre manie: Make a ‘beurre manie’ for richer dishes. This can be prepared by mixing equal parts of softened butter and flour combined together and stirring it into your hot liquid. It will thicken the sauce plus give a buttery texture to the dish.
Curries
• Tomato paste or sauce: It’s a traditional housewife’s recipe to add tomato puree when the curry is watery as it thickens the curry. Add the tomato puree during the cooking process rather than adding it in the end as it thickens the sauce and speeds up the cooking time.
• Yoghurt: Yoghurt is the best ingredient to get rid of excess water and can also be used as a cream substitute. This is another most common thickening agent used in India as well as Italy. Add little yoghurt at a time and keep stirring. You can use yoghurt and tomato puree depending on what is your sauce base.
Simmer: Simmer your sauce on low heat without covering the pan. Do the same until the sauce reduces. When cooking with vegetables, reduce the sauce first in order to not overcook the vegetables, therefore retaining the nutrients.
Cornflour: This is mostly used for Chinese or Thai sauces. However, it’s used in India as well. Add a tablespoon of cornflour to water, mix it, and add it to the dish. This thickens the curry.
Cooked rice
Never forget the basic kitchen rule while cooking rice, which is to ‘never lift the lid’. After the stove is switched off, that’s when the excess water is absorbed by the rice in the cooker, so do not take off the lid immediately. However, even after doing this, if the rice is watery, open the cooker and cook on low heat until the water gets evaporated, or you can turn the rice onto a baking sheet and dry it in the oven.
To reduce in cooking, start by boiling your liquid in an uncovered pan and reducing the heat to a simmer. As it simmers, monitor the liquid closely until it reaches the consistency you desire. If you're having trouble getting your liquid to reduce, sprinkle in a few spoonfuls of a thickener, like cornstarch or flour.
Get rid of it with science! Let the excess liquid evaporate away by bringing the substance to a boil or a simmer until the desired consistency is reached. This method is great for sauces – including a quick pan sauce created after cooking a protein – and gravies that are only marginally looser than desired.
Cornstarch: Prepare a solution by adding cornstarch. Take a little water from the dish and mix it with the cornstarch and put it back to the dish. Cornstarch thickens the watery element in the dish.
Stir the stew until the paste is fully mixed. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat to allow the cornstarch to mix into the soup. Check the consistency of the stew and add more paste if necessary. Remember to cook the soup for 2 more minutes after adding the paste.
Concentration lowers the water activity in your food by using evaporation, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration or freeze concentration. Drying lowers the water activity and moisture content in your food using evaporation. Many dried foods are concentrated before being dried.
Combine equal parts cornstarch and cold water. Stir together until smooth. Pour into your sauce and cook over medium heat, stirring continually, until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. Test the sauce with a spoon.
In drying or dehydration, water is removed from the food by hot air or heated surface driers. Examples of the former include cabinet, tunnel, conveyor, and fluidized bed driers, and the latter include drum and vacuum shelf driers.
Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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