People often shy away from cooking because they fear making mistakes in the kitchen. General issues that first timers experience --  What if the food burns? What if it remains undercooked? Or what if it simply doesn't taste good? However, cooking isn't nearly as difficult as people imagine. Here are some tips and hacks that will certainly help you around the kitchen.

– Do not discard the liquid left over after curdling milk to make chenna (fresh cheese). Instead, use it to knead the dough for rotis or parathas. This will make them taste better and softer.

– When preparing the batter for pakoras (fritters), mix in a small amount of rice flour. This will ensure the pakoras turn out extra crispy.

– Grind up old or stale bread and store the crumbs in an airtight container. You can later use these crumbs to prepare cutlets or kebabs. Bread crumbs will act as a binding agent and prevent cutlets or kebabs from falling apart in hot cooking oil.

– Whenever you are preparing a sweet dish, add a pinch of salt to it. This will help bring out and accentuate the flavors even more.

– When cooking rice, add a teaspoon of ghee and a few drops of lemon juice to the water. This will ensure the rice turns out fluffy, distinct-grained, and perfectly white.

– To enhance the flavour of any gravy, add half a teaspoon of sugar while sautéing the onions. The sugar will caramelise inheat, giving the gravy both a rich colour and depth in flavour.

– After rolling out puris (fried flatbreads), place them in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before frying. This will prevent them from absorbing excessive oil during frying.

– When roasting sooji (semolina) for halwa, mix in half a teaspoon of besan (gram flour). This simple addition will double the richness and flavour of the halwa.

– To make perfect French fries, cut the potatoes and boil them in water for 2–3 minutes. Remove them from the water and spread them out on a kitchen napkin or tissue paper to ensure all the moisture dries off. Now, dust them with cornstarch, place them in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container and store them in the freezer. When needed, simply take them out and fry them immediately.

– Create a dip or spread with a brand-new flavour profile by mixing green chutney, tomato-chili sauce or chopped coriander and mint into plain mayonnaise.

– Finely chop 10–12 cloves of garlic and fry them in 1 teaspoon of oil until they turn golden brown. Mix this into strained yogurt along with salt, chili flakes and finely chopped coriander. Your healthy and delicious sandwich spread and dip is ready.