Time Management / Multitasking in Kitchen

I know what you are all thinking. There is no regular activity on this blog. What to do? I am more obsessed with creating recipes/cooking/sharing on my food blog that I hardly spend any time on this blog. Have you ever thought why I started this blog? It was to help out one of my relatives. She requested for some tips and I thought why not share it with the world if anyone else thinks it is worth reading.

I have to share a fact with you all. No, I don't have to share it, but I am just letting you all in on a secret about my sister. Don't worry, she won't know since she doesn't read what I write. She takes hours and hours to cook and clean. She gets nervous when someone comes home because she cannot really adapt to cook for more people. It is strange that we are sisters and when I am a dare devil in the kitchen, she is scared of it.

Cooking is not just boiling and mixing stuff. It starts as an idea/plan in the head. To execute it, it is very simple. Thinking is the complicated part. To plan, you need to know what is there in your pantry and refrigerator. To do that, you should've stocked your pantry and refrigerator with stuff. If you master using the pantry and refrigerator ingredients efficiently on a day to day basis, half the battle is won.
Next comes the execution part. Think about the whole process. What is the starting point and what is the ending point.

Example: Let's say you are making a simple meal of rice, dal, vegetables and rotis. What would you start with? I would set the pressure cooker with rice and dal. Take out the vegetables. Make the dough for rotis. Set aside and chop the veggies. By the time veggies are cut, pressure cooker will be done. I would start cooking the veggies and prepare the tadka/garnish for dal. Once the pressure is released, dal gets done. Once that is done, if veggies are still cooking, I would start making rotis along with that. Between the cooking of rotis, whatever dishes are in the sink will be rinsed and put away in the dish washer. When the last roti is cooking, the counter will be wiped clean. See? It gets easy when you plan. Of course, you might not be able to do all of the extra stuff if there is a distraction from kids or a phone call etc.

I am not saying you should do follow some rules as a rule. What I am saying is, if you spend 1 hour in the kitchen it shouldn't be 40 minutes cooking and 20 minutes cleaning. Cleaning can be done in between and you can be done in 45 minutes if you have spent 40 minutes cooking.

I have cooked for as many as 80 people. Menu was not just 4 dishes. It was an elaborate 10 - 15 dishes and everything was done that day. I was told to get two dishes ready by 5.30 AM. I walked into the kitchen at 4.30 AM. and my entire cooking was done by 9 AM. Huge pots and pans were hand washed and set aside, kitchen was cleaned and I had taken care of my two kids in the middle. So, think and come up with a plan how to handle the situation. You can tackle anything and everything easily.

Happy reading, cooking.