Quick and Easy Recipes for Working Women

According to research, being able to stay in your pyjamas all-day and working when you are most productive and not having to do caffeine rounds, not commuting are some of the best perks of working from home. Women now have the option of working from home which helps them balance their personal and professional life. But, while multi-tasking all of these they always end up with this big question of what to cook and serve?

5 important quick cooking tips for working women:

1. Design your weekly menu well ahead of time. Tag it on the kitchen shelf as a handy reference.
2. Stock up your refrigerator with vegetables over the weekend. Clean and chop the ones which won't get spoilt easily and store them in an air-tight container or ziplock bags. De-stem and clean leafy vegetables like coriander leaves, mint leaves etc.
3. Prepare batches of chutneys / pastes / puree in advance and deep-freeze them. Thaw them before using and serve them with your favourite snacks or spread it over your much-loved chaat .
4. On busy days switch to recipes with fewer ingredients or minimum cooking time and make use of equipment like microwave or pressure cooker.
5. Get creative with leftover food.

Quick Breakfast Ideas for Working Women

In case you wish to kick-start your morning with a scrumptious South-Indian breakfast, soaking and grinding the lentils would be a tedious task, opt for instant Oats Dosa. The oats dosa is really quick to make, you can also make it for breakfast or quick evening snack. This cannot be made as a thin oats dosa, but slightly thick like Uttapa. It also needs to be cooked on both sides. Enjoy instant oats dosa fresh and hot off the tava. 

Instant Oats Dosa

Alternatively try the Quick Rava Idli and prepare crispy, thin dosas or spongy idli and relish with some coconut chutney. With its brilliant flavour and nice, flaky texture, quick rava idli is something like upma in idli form, so you get the best of both worlds. Since quick rava idli is steamed, it is easier to digest than upma, has a convenient form factor for serving as well as packing. suji idli for tiffin box stays soft and humid for longer.

Quick Rava Idli

Did you know you can roast semolina along with an array of ingredients and store it? So, in the morning you just have to pour in some hot water and your Upma is ready in a jiffy. Love South Indian Food, then do try other South Indian Breakfast recipes like Rice and Moong Dal Idli, Kadubu, Moru Moru Dosa, Pesarattu, Uppu-Urundai and Ven Pongal.

Moru Moru Dosa

Apart from that kanda poha, dhokla, sandwiches and even quick bread snack is an easy option for busy morning. The bread slices used in any form have their own charm. This masala bread is an upma like recipe made with crumbled bread. If you love spices tossed with bread, you are sure to be in love with this snack. 

quick bread snack recipe | quick veg bread snack | quick Indian bread snack

On oh-so-busy days, work in at least a milkshake or a smoothie to make sure you do not start your day on an empty stomach. Try Papaya Melon Smoothie. Making papaya and melon smoothie is easy and can be prepared quickly. All we have done is combined muskmelon, papaya, curd, milk, sugar and ice-cubes. We have blend everything until smooth and served papaya melon smoothie immediately topping it with crushed ice. For more options, check out our Quick Indian Breakfast Recipes.

Papaya Melon Smoothie, Indian Muskmelon Kharbooja Smoothie

Quick Snacks for Working Women

Deep-fried Vada or chutney loaded chaat always make up for a bad mood or quick snack with a cup of masaledaar chai. bhakarwadi the all-time favourite Maharashtrian dry snack, can be enjoyed as it is with tea. But, it gets even more exciting when served as a Quick Bhakarwadi Chaat, where it is tossed together with crisp, juicy veggies, spice powders and sev.

quick bhakarwadi chaat | mini bhakarwadi chaat | Maharashtrian style bhakarwadi chaat | bhakarwadi bhel

Our samosa chaat recipe is a quick samosa chaat if you have samosas on hand or you can pickup some from a nearby store. Chole samosa chaat and samosa chaat are popular Delhi street food chaats.

Chole Samosa Chaat

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Food items like roti, bread, khichdi can be turned into tasty delights like Chatpata Dahiwala Bread, Bread loaves, although of western origin, have been ably used by Indians in many indigenous preparations including bhajias and upma. Here is another such exciting desi creation with bread. Cubes of bread coated with a tangy curd masala are seasoned and sautéed till brown and crisp. You will enjoy every mouthful of the Chatpata Dahiwala Bread.

Chatpata Dahiwala Bread

Well, nobody would ever be able to guess that this delicacy is made from leftover khichdi! So crispy outside and so delectably chewy inside, this flavourful treat is made by reinforcing moong dal khichdi with besan and a few aroma and flavour enhancers like sesame seeds and coriander, shaping this ‘dough’ into balls and deep-frying till crisp. The besan helps the khichdi dough stay together and cook uniformly, while the remaining ingredients add to its taste. Serve these Khichdi Pakodas hot and fresh with green chutney.

Khichdi Pakodas

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Quick and Easy Meals for Working Women

If you plan ahead your meals then you can prepare and freeze some of the basics like gravies and pastes that will help you fix a meal within minutes. Just boil veggies and cook them with the appropriate pastes or gravies to make a mouth-watering main course is ready to place on the table in a flash. Accompany them with sumptuous parathas that you can make, freeze and simply cook on a tava just before dinner. Basic Pasanda Gravy, Kadai Gravy, Makhani Gravy are an all-time favourite on the menus of almost all restaurants, make lip-smacking restaurant style subzis at home using an assortment of vegetables and of course, paneer too. Our section of Frozen Foods, Indian Freezer Recipes will help you dispel your doubts now, by introducing you to a world of Indian frozen foods and ingredients.

basic pasanda gravy recipe | restaurant style pasanda gravy | brown pasanda gravy

With rotis and phulkas, you can try serving bharli vangi in a pressure cooker. Bharli vangi is made by cooking small brinjals stuffed with a masala of coconut, onions, peanuts and spices. The brinjals are stuffed with a freshly-ground masala, made of peanuts, coconut, tamarind, jaggery and spices, and cooked for a while with a little more masala and a traditional tempering.

Bharli Vangi Made in Pressure Cooker

Try a one dish meal like vegetable pulao in a pressure cooker. Prepare a quick tempering with onions in a pressure cooker, add your vegetables, rice and water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. That’s how to make Pressure cooker Veg Pulao.

veg pulao in pressure cooker | pressure cooker veg pulao | quick vegetable pulao

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And do not miss out on our favourite desserts! There are millions of Indians who are vegetarian and make their cakes in a pressure cooker and this eggless chocolate cake recipe in pressure cooker is for them. Serve this soft and succulent eggless chocolate cake warm and fresh off the cooker topped with ice-cream to make a delicious dessert, or decorate it to make the prettiest – and tastiest - cake in town.

eggless chocolate cake in pressure cooker recipe | eggless chocolate pressure cooker cake | pressure cooker cake | eggless chocolate cake without oven

With the hope that these practical culinary prompts will ease your kitchen stress – HAPPY COOKING!