Kitchen chores made easy

Gone are the days when grandmothers would labour in poky little kitchens,  grappling with kerosene stoves, to whip up meals for the family. Thanks to the mind-boggling variety of kitchen gadgets that have blitzed the consumer market, kitchen chores, once considered onerous, have been dramatically simplified.

You have electric/gas hobs with multiple burners, expediting the cooking process, as they help you to prepare several dishes simultaneously. You can cook, fry, sauté or poach, all at the same time on different burners.

Complementing the hob’s job is the electric chimney. Earlier the exhaust fan would dissipate smoke fumes around; now the chimney sucks the fumes and spews them out.
I still remember the gruelling tasks of dosa-batter making or masala-pounding, using an oval-shaped heavy stone with a wooden handle. The handle had to be moved in an anti-clockwise direction. But today, the mixer-grinder, available in myriad hues, sizes and shapes, with a variety of blades, has reduced toiling time in the kitchen.

Perhaps the only glitch here is that your mixie may go kaput if you’re grinding the idli/dosa batter on a large scale! So a good bet is to opt for a grinder, exclusively meant for making idli or dosa batter. Today, you have portable models (with two miniature pyramid-shaped stones that can rotate in a circular motion), which have replaced yesteryear’s cumbersome models.

And then, there are food processors for atta-kneading (once considered a vapid job). These wonder machines also ensure that you have carrots julienned, cabbages shredded, cluster beans chopped and potatoes diced in a jiffy. The piece de resistance in today’s kitchen would be the sleek and swanky twin-door, frost-free refrigerator. There are massive freezers that can store umpteen things, thus preventing cheese from turning moldy, coconut from smelling rancid and ground masalas from putrefying.
    
Talking of gadgets, my mind meanders towards the microwave oven, which is an indispensable part of today’s kitchen. Leftovers are given a new lease of life, veggies are parboiled, corn is popped and even oil-free papads are made in this magic box. But if you have a penchant for making pastries and puffs, then using an electric-oven is advisable, because of its thermostatically-controlled uniform heat.

In the past, while making cakes,  the egg-beating process was downright gruelling, wasn’t it? The task was passed on to others and, invariably, the youngest sibling got saddled with it! Now there are electric egg-beaters to save you from that energy-sapping ordeal!

When you return from a hard day’s work, weary and wilted, there’s the electric coffee-maker to revive your sagging spirits. In case you’re feeling slightly hungry, the electric sandwich-toaster can help you turn out crisp and crunchy sandwiches with some delectable subzi wedged between the slices. If you are the  type who relishes plain, toasted bread, dunked in coffee or tea, then an electric pop-up sandwich-maker is the solution.

No meal is complete without water. Gone are the days, when one used to peer skeptically into a glass of tap-water before downing it. Today there are water-purifiers, supplying you with safe and clean water.

And, how can we forget dessert? In case you’re ransacking your fridge to ferret a delicious treat but find that there’s none, here’s what you can do.  Take a chocolate bar, break into into pieces and heat the pieces in an electric chocolate liquidiser. In a jiffy you’ll have hot, melted chocolate. Bring out all the biscuits you have, even the bland ones,  smother them in this wonderful syrup and indulge, satiating your sweet tooth.

Doing the dishes was considered yet another dreary and arduous task, especially with ample oil-slicks tenaciously clinging to your melamine dishware. If you are convinced that your domestic help doesn’t scrub too well, no sweat. An electric dishwasher, which cleans all your glass and ceramic bowls, is the answer.

Now, you’ll surely agree that kitchen chores, once considered singularly painful, have now become superlatively simple, right?