Tips for Puddings
• Add a teaspoon of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chilli, along with salt to make it last longer and taste fresher.
• Blend all ingredients together and keep overnight in a cool place. Use with any savoury dishes like pastas, minestrones, bakes etc.
• Always sprinkle gelatine over the water. Never put in dry pan, then add water and heat. Never boil gelatine. Only warm to dissolve. Safest is to heat the container over a hot griddle (tawa). Stir always.
• While whipping cream never overdo it or butter will form. Always whip over a tray of iced water or ice cubes. Whip in sharp upward strokes till soft peaks form. Keep in refrigerator till used.
• Puddings (at least of my kind) are a no hassles beauty. No hard and fast rules about ingredients. Don't grimace if any of the ingredients is missing. Just substitute, compromise and eureka! You'll come up with an original. Just stick to general norms for mixing of jellies, gelatine, whipped cream etc. You cannot go wrong.
• You can top with any sauce of your choice, if you like while serving or accompany it and let the guests pour to their liking. Ideal sauces may be chocolate, custard, orange, grape, caramel or just basic coloured sauce.
• Cadbury's nutties & gems, gluced cherries, whipped cream, crumbled biscuits, dry fruits used inside, coloured sugar etc. make excellent decorations for party puddings.
• Day old bread slices can be substituted for cake if cake is not available at hand.

Tips for Naans & Rotis
• A good thing about most rotis is that you can half roast and pile them and do the final roast just before serving.
• Many variations can be got from the basic roti receipes by using your own imagination.
• Eg. layered roti can be made with a filling or dry masalas mixeds or kasoori methi or paneer or thick spicy chutney. This must be spread before folding the roti and after applying the ghee. All triangles may be prepared first but sprinkle dry flour over each before piling. Roll and shallow-fry as required.
• Puri may be rolled and place between well-rinsed wet muslin cloth at least an hour ahead. Fry before serving.

More Tips....
• Watermelons can be slices thinly, to expose high seed areas, from which seeds can easily be dropped down with a fruit fork or knife tip. Or cleverly handling a mixer for a few seconds, can separate seeds from fruit, like watermelon, custardapple, etc. The mixture when sieved will separate the seeds from the pulp.
• Do not throw away decorative wrappings and boxes you get from diwali and other festive occasions. Use the good ones to pack your preparations creatively and attractively, by just adding a few ribbons or flowers.
• Never overheat butter if melted is required or else it will curdle to turn to ghee and will not give the same taste and texture as required in any recipe.
• Dried peels of almonds, can be powdered fine, sieve and mixed with gramflour to use as a scrub. Mix 1 cup gramflour to 1 tablespoon. Almond peel powder. Store in airtight container. For one bath, take on heaped tablespoon. Mixture with 1 teaspoon. Curds or cream, scrub over body, instead of soap.
• Take a teaspoonful of sesame seeds, just pop into mouth, chew on them, consume. This helps significant reduction in hairfall. But do not expect overnight results.
• A good and fast way to skin charred or grilled veggies, is to place them inside a closed polythene bag for a few minutes, then remove and rub skin off easily.
• Chop apples, pears etc. into a bowl of chilled salted water, drain, pat on clean kitchen towel, to keep them from discolouring for a longer period.
• Though salads taste best fresh and crunchy, one may prepare dressing ahead of time and chop nondiscolouring or wasting ingredients like oranges, sweetlimes, veggies etc. hours ahead and finish off in a jiffy at the time required.
• Chill whole those fruit which discolour and then cut when required in recipe, so they are chilled yet not discolour.
• Any leftover thick kheer may be further boiled to thicken more, oversweeten a bit, cool and set kulfi in kulfi moulds or icecube trays.