Indian Freezer Recipes, Freezer Vegetarian Recipes

Essential Freezer Recipes for Easy Indian Cooking

Putting stuff in the freezer is no longer an option but a necessity in most Indian households, especially where both husband and wife have their own professional pursuits.

There are several types of foods that would typically go into the freezer: pastes and basic ingredients, chutneys and other accompaniments, main course, and of course desserts.

Indian pastes and pulps for the freezer

Indian Pastes and pulps for the freezer. Cooking becomes a five or ten minute chore if you have the necessary pulps and pastes in the freezer. Homemade tomato pulp can be comfortably saved in the freezer for months! It is a must-have ingredient for most Indian curries. You can also prepare and keep a few curry pastes ready on hand every weekend, such as the Thai Red Curry Paste, Basic Nawabi Paste or Basic Chettinad Paste.

Basic Chettinad Paste

It is these pastes that give a curry its characteristic taste. So, if you have these pastes ready in the freezer you can conjure up exotic meals every day, by simply adding paneer or boiled veggies to them! To make things faster, you can even freeze lemon juice in the ice-tray and store the cubes in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Pop a cube into your juice, salad or subzis whenever required!

Indian Chutneys for the freezer

Indian Chutneys for the freezer. Indian cooking uses a wide variety of chutneys, as accompaniment to snacks as well as in their preparation. The peppy Green Chutney and tongue-tickling Sweet Chutney are critical to the success of chaat recipes. The Sukhi Lehsun Chutney is the secret ingredient in most Mumbai roadside recipes. You can stock such chutneys in the freezer, to quickly come up with an evening snack or starter.

Sukhi Lehsun Chutney ( Mumbai Roadside Recipes )

If you look at the South Indian repertoire, the Tomato Chutney and Spicy Onion Chutney are commonly stocked in the freezer, as they are awesome accompaniments for idlis, dosas, vadas and even puris. Coconut Chutney is best had fresh but if you are in a terrible rush, you can save some in the freezer, but do add the tempering just before serving to get the fresh taste.

Coconut Chutney ( Idlis and Dosas)

Indian curries for the freezer

• Indian curries for the freezer : While you can greatly reduce the cooking time by simply stocking the right basic recipes in the freezer, some people do not even have that much time in the morning. Especially Indians living abroad, who do not have the luxury of a household helper, prefer to finish most of their cooking and cleaning in the weekend. We know some really smart women, who plan complete meals, cook them and stock them in the freezer with proper labels such that anyone, even a guest, can easily spot the day’s meal, warm it and enjoy when they are hungry!

Dals and subzis are perhaps the most obvious choices to freeze. From Black Bean Dal to Shahi Dal, from Usal to Nawabi Curry, from Rasam to Sambhar, you can stock almost all Indian curries in the freezer. For dals and sambhar, you can probably add the tempering before serving, to get a fresh aroma.

Black Bean Dal

Indian rotis and parathas for the freezer

• Rotis and parathas: Much to many people’s surprise, even rotis and parathas can be saved in the freezer. And that’s a huge time-saver, it is indeed! The secret is to semi-cook and store them properly wrapped, so you can thaw and fully-cook them just before serving.

Learn how to preserve parathas here. From Aloo Methi Paratha to Suva Chawal Paratha, you can store a wide variety of parathas in the freezer. This holds true for rotis too. From Missi Roti to Bajra Kand Roti, you can prepare them when you find time and stow them into the freezer to retrieve when hunger strikes!

Aloo Methi Parathas

Indian desserts for the freezer

Desserts – This, of course, is the most eligible candidate for freezing. Even before people started freezing other meal courses, desserts found a place in the freezer! Have a go at delectable Paan Ice-Cream, luscious Malai Kulfi, refreshing Mango Sorbet, and more!

Paan Ice-Cream

Check out many more interesting Indian recipes that you can stock in the freezer, to resort to on hurried days.

Label them well, with the date, and possible even the menu plan they belong to, so that anyone in the house can pick the right packs and have a proper meal when required.

Malai Kulfi