The final part of the series of getting your kitchen Ramadan ready…
Coming back to the final part of this series, that I had initially thought would fit into one post… 🙂 I am grateful for the great response that I have received for the previous two posts, Alhamdulillah… Without much ado, let us get to today’s post…
Fridge Essentials
One thing that I stock up is my fridge, especially of those items that have sufficient expiry dates. Some of the stuff I keep are:
Condiments – Some of them that I keep on a regular basis are ketchup, mayonnaise, soya sauce, mustard sauce and chilli sauce. The only one that I tend to add on during the month is tamarind sauce, for my chaat prepping, especially our favorite chana chaat.
Eggs – since eggs have sufficient date, I always make sure I have a full tray in my pantry at any given time. This is a very convenient ingredient whether it comes to making a lot of snacks, or even as a meal idea. Some of my favorite snacks are egg bhaji and mutta puffs. It goes into a lot of other snacks, like the chattipathiri, the kaipola or the paal mutta urapichath. I also have them as a part of my suhoor, so I can never run out of eggs. 😀
I can’t think of anything else to be stocked in my fridge, since fruits, vegetables and dairy like milk and yogurt are part of the weekly purchase, which gets done either online or on a weekday when mornings aren’t crowded at the outlets.
Freezer Essentials
This is one section I concentrate on a lot during the month. I at times wish I had a bigger freezer, but I better not be ungrateful for whatever I have. 😀 There are stuff that I buy specifically during the month, mainly because of the increase in snacks being created.
Puff Pastry – I buy my puff pasty in promo packs. My girls love anything to do with puffs. The beauty of this ingredient is that we can make it sweet or savory. We love apple hand pies and banana Nutella puffs at times, but mostly I make chicken puffs and easy pot pies, among the many more easy snacks that can be made with it.
Samosa sheets – I am not a fan of samosas, since I never get the triangle shape right. But my girls love samosas and I usually make them more in squares, like this jalapeno version and these simple pockets. I also love making them into this pie and these cups, as they are much more easier to maintain. Hehe… I usually get one pack of 50s, never more than that…
Spring Roll sheets – My girls love spring rolls, so I make them at least a couple of times. Last Ramadan I discovered that we could use them for making the sweet chattipathiri, so you could make that as well, especially if you get the big sheets… Just like the samosa sheet, I get only one pack.
Sausages – Though it is a given in my fridge, I tend to use them a little more frequently during the month. From sausage puffs to cutlet to pakoda to rolls to even making a savory bread pudding, this is a very handy ingredient for a quick snack or even time strapped meal times.
Minced chicken – Now this is not something I keep in my pantry on a regular basis but I buy and keep a couple of packs handy during the month, to make easy snacks like kheema toasties or these easy tarts. They come very handy to make some quick fix dinner like keema macaroni or kheema seviyan. If you have quick access to fresh mince, then you can skip this ingredient completely from your list though.
Frozen chicken breast – This is like a given for me. There is nothing that you can’t make with it. I mean, I don’t want to even link recipes as to what you can make with them, but I am sure you know how life saving this can be, especially if you buy packs that have individually frozen breast pieces. Whether you want to make shawarma for a do-it-yourself kind of dinner or make some Irani pola, this list is literally endless…
Just like fruits and vegetables, I tend to order fresh chicken, meat and fish on a weekly basis, so that I don’t tend to stock up on them. Alhamdulillah for the growth of ordering online, that you don’t even have to waste much time walking around the aisles of the supermarket and instead concentrate on what you are intending to do during the month.
I know if I wanted to, this could have gone on and on, but I feel I have covered the basics to have a stress free Ramadan as far as your kitchen and cooking are concerned, InShaAllah. You can read part 1 and part 2 on the links, if you haven’t yet… May Allah bless us with Ramadan and the goodness of the month… Aameen Ya Rubb…