Part 1 – Bits and tips to keep your pantry well stocked

Times of no time : 

No one seems to have time for anything in this busy world. With most of us working either full time or part time having our refrigerator and pantry stocked up for the week or the month helps in minimising the time spent in kitchen. Especially with the current Covid situation and ever after when most of us are cleaning and sanitising all that comes into the house, it’s even more helpful to plan and limit the number of times we shop.

Jotting down here  all that I have learnt over a period of time, running my house, while working full time in IT industry for a good 14 years with 2 kids. I have always tried to optimise shopping visits and avoid last minute running errands. All this knowledge and practise has now stayed with me even after I have quit my full time job.

Broad classification of what we shop for our household :

1. Groceries  which could be monthly.
2. Vegetables – which could be weekly.
3. Toiletries – Again a monthly affair
4. Stationary and art supply for kids which could be monthly or quarterly based on usage.

In this Part-1 of the post we will  first look at our vegetables – Shopping, planning and storing tips.

Even when I had vegetable shop a stone throw’s away, I have always shopped for my vegetables once a week, and it makes more sense, now with most of us getting vegetables home delivered from local farmers , or local vendors and performing the thorough cleaning ritual before it could get stored in the refrigerator.

1. What to shop : 
   1. Fortnightly
      1. Potato, onion, garlic and colocasia – You can order the quantity based on your consumption for a fortnight as these are non perishable. Always order half a kg extra to ensure you don’t run out of these before your next order.  You can always adjust  the quantity  next time.
      2. While I wash n dry the potatoes, colocasia and  ginger , I dry onions and garlic directly and keep the basket near a large window where direct sunlight falls. I leave it there for a day or two before I move them to kitchen. Not sure about the virus’ survival on veggy surfaces  but better to be cautious.
      3. Potatoes and Colocasia are always saviour vegetables if you run out of fresh vegetables. Potatoes come in handy when we have smaller quantity of fresh vegetables left , you can mix them up with potato, like Potato capsicum, potato cauliflower, potato Bhindi etc. and stir up a delicious curry.
      4. Coconuts – If you are a South Indian then I am sure coconut is a must have pantry item for you. Order these as required for a fortnight or even a month as these are non perishable.
   2. Weekly
      1. Must have
         1. Tomato, ginger, lemons, chillies, curry leaves, mint and coriander.Irrespective of what vegetables are used these are basics that are needed.
         2. I wash all of these in water and let them dry on a cloth or paper for few hours before storing them in refrigerator.
         3. Cut the roots part of the coriander and mint if any before washing. Store these slightly earlier than other veggies as these may get withered faster.
         4. Always see that half the quantity of the tomatoes are semi ripe so that you won’t end up with  mushy or overripe ones towards the end of the week.
      2. Greens
         1. Do ensure to include one to 2  leafy vegetables in your weekly veggies list for your iron and calcium intake.
         2. Spinach/Paalak – If you miss making daal or gravy veggies, then you can always  blanch and add it to your puri or chapati dough or even dosa batter.
      3. Seasonal veggies
         1. Do ensure to include available seasonal vegetables including amla , fresh green raw tamarind, raw mango etc. Seasonal vegetables provide the required immunity boost during the change of the seasons. Every region has a special local recipe for these seasonal veggies. So do try these out even if you are staying away from hometown. This will help us learn the local culture, and help acclimatise faster with the new place.
         2. I have learnt using Avrekalu when in season after coming to Bangalore. I make sambar and have learnt to make masala wadas with Avrekalu.
         3. Learnt making Oondhiyon a Gujarati winter special delicacy, when Kand ( Purple Yam)  and Papdis( Type of broad beans) are in season while we were in Mumbai.
      4. Others
         1. Include Raw bananas, Raw Papayas which stay fresh longer in the week. You can make a variety of quick fix curries with these 2 veggies.
         2. Pulao or mixed vegetable veggies – Carrots, beans and peas – Order a smaller quantity of these always to ensure you have veggies for your pulao or biryani or Thai curries, Kurmas etc. If you couldn’t make any of these, simply add these to your sambar or soups.
      5. Paneer
         1. This one has become a household menu item across length and breadth of the country, like dosas and idlys have become national breakfast items. Its always good to have fresh home made paneer, but if you do not have time you can always go with multiple trusted brands. In case you don’t plan to make regular paneer based curries, you can always use these as sandwich fillings, dosa fillings with spices or simply toast these on a pan and serve as quick snack with coriander chutney. Keep watch on the expiry date though.
2. How to store :
   1. Never mix your potatoes and onions. Always keep theme separately. This helps them to have longer shelf life.
   2. Store semi ripe/ raw tomatoes at the bottom and put the ripe ones on top, so that as you use up the ripe ones the lower ones get ripened slowly.
   3. If you end up with excess ripe tomatoes, blanch these, blend with garlic, basil red chilly flakes and Italian herbs or pasta seasoning mix. Saute in little olive oil, cool it and store it an air tight jar in refrigerator. Can be used next time you make Pasta or use as a dip for nachos or chips. You can also use this as base for your chapati / Kathi rolls. Alternatively you can make Andhra style tomato pickle which can be stored for a week and goes well with rice. I will share the link to the “Tomato Avakaya ( Pickle) “post which will be coming up soon.
   4. For greens, cut the root part if any and discard even before you wash them. This will avoid any mud getting into the refrigerator. Wrap these in reusable bees wax wraps which are organic and available in the markets, and store in the fridge.
   5. Do not separate the curry leaves from the stem. Having the stems intact keeps the leaves fresh for longer. Even if they get dried up curry leaves still retain all the nutrients so don’t throw away the dried leaves towards the end of the week.
   6. Remove the stems of chillies and store them in a steel container preferably ones with holes which helps air circulation.
   7. If you end up with excess coriander or mint during mid to end of week, make a chutney with coriander, mint, green chillies, lemon juice, salt and cumin seeds. Store this in a glass jar or bowl. This can be used as an accompaniment or you can use it in gravy veggies. Shelf life, when refrigerated, should be 5 to 6 days.
   8. Other veggies can be put in separate bags and stored in refrigerator’s crisper. Bigger veggies like Snake gourd, bottle gourd, cabbage, cauliflower etc can be stored directly in crisper.
   9. While I do not recommend or have never practised it personally lot of people do cut the veggies required for the day or next couple of days, and store it in Ziplock pouches and refrigerate them. This does take away lot of nutrition so wouldn’t recommend. But compared to eating ready to eat packaged food this seems lesser harm. You can also invest in good kitchen gadgets which help in quick cutting and chopping.
   10. Coconuts- Once you break a coconut always store it in a fridge. You can grate the full coconut and store the same in an air tight box in the fridge or grate and grind it as required. I prefer doing the latter as I feel the earlier way makes coconut loose moisture if stored for more than 2-3 days.
   11. If you use Ginger garlic paste regularly, make it weekly or fortnightly once and store it in an airtight jar in the fridge. Most people buy these readily available packs, but if time permits do make it at home so that all the unnecessary preservatives, colours can be avoided.

Will continue the post regarding groceries and other household shopping items in my next post.