The Great 'Cheap cooking substitutes' Hunt

camNolliesMUMMY

If a recipe calls for cream I use either natural yoghurt or milk mixed with cornflour as I never have cream in as I'm on a low cal diet but I always have yoghurt in for dressings n curries etc.

kirlyg

My hubby is a great cook but we are on a budget...so we buy fresh herbs, curry leaves and chillis etc and freeze them, that way there is always a supply and you can use what you need and there's no waste. Beware though, the freezing process seems to make the chillis more potent! Also try buying spices in the corner halal or asian speciality shop - big bags for around a quid or two rather than the little glass jars in the supermarket - just stash em in an old jam jar to keep them fresh. And flavoured oils are so easy to make - shove a chilli or two (or bayleaf, whatever) in the top of the bottle, wait a week and hey presto! If you have any of those little wine bottles left from christmas pressies they are the perfect size for home made oils.

terra_ferma

Soworried wrote: »

:rotfl: No mistake, expensive means nothing to me or my health. Turmeric is one of the healthiest spices you can have. The crocin levels in saffron are cheap in comparison.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78

Health claims aside, for a purely culinary point of view, turmeric and saffron are two totally different spices, the only thing they have in common is the colour. If it's colour you are after then turmeric is fine, otherwise it would just totally change the taste of the dish.

Take a risotto or paella, if you buy cheap rice and turmeric you'd be better off cooking a byriani. In fact although not strictly an ingredient, this would be a worthwhile recipe substitution if you are on a budget.

terra_ferma

kirlyg wrote: »

My hubby is a great cook but we are on a budget...so we buy fresh herbs, curry leaves and chillis etc and freeze them, that way there is always a supply and you can use what you need and there's no waste. Beware though, the freezing process seems to make the chillis more potent! Also try buying spices in the corner halal or asian speciality shop - big bags for around a quid or two rather than the little glass jars in the supermarket - just stash em in an old jam jar to keep them fresh. And flavoured oils are so easy to make - shove a chilli or two (or bayleaf, whatever) in the top of the bottle, wait a week and hey presto! If you have any of those little wine bottles left from christmas pressies they are the perfect size for home made oils.

I do the same, although like you said i find that the flavour changes. Terragon for example gets stronger, while basil/parsley/coriander bruise and don't seem to taste of much (I tend to keep a plant of basil on the windowsill, you can buy seeds cheaply).

harps

I have recently got into baking biscuits and cakes. I found that ingrediants such as Vanilla Essence, Chocolate Chips, Food Colouring, Caster Sugar and so forth were slightly if not more cheaper in the Asian shops when compared to supermarkets. I have started to buy some baking essentials from these stores.

Furthermore, I bulk buy and freeze garlic, ginger and chillis bought from asian stores when they are cheaper. I simply, peel, wash and blend them down; then freeze into smaller tubs/balls and take out as required.

Also, I find that in some recipes using dry herbs in cooking works just as well as fresh. For example, Oregano, Basil, Rosemary and so forth. Again these are sometimes much cheaper in asian stores than supermarkets as demand for them is less.

archiebabes

I went to a sushi making class. The (Japanese) teacher said not to pay for expensive sushi rice, but to buy cheap supermarket value pudding rice at a tenth of the price. A useful tip if you want to make your own.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Thanks archiebabes, I'd second this.

My husband is Japanese and we've been using pudding/short grain rice for Japanese meals (tonkatsu, Japanese curry and sushi) for some years.

In fact we only just bought a big sack of "proper" sushi rice from an oriental supermarket on Tuesday because it worked out cheaper, but that was quite a surprise buy. It's the first time in a long time that we've seen anywhere selling it cheaper than supermarket pudding rice.

Gillby1

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

My husband is Japanese and we've been using pudding/short grain rice for Japanese meals (tonkatsu, Japanese curry and sushi) for some years.

Would you sushi makers mind telling me where you get your fish from, if you eat it raw? Do you freeze it first?

Thanks!

Gillby

marmitepotato

kirlyg wrote: »

My hubby is a great cook but we are on a budget...so we buy fresh herbs, curry leaves and chillis etc and freeze them, that way there is always a supply and you can use what you need and there's no waste. Beware though, the freezing process seems to make the chillis more potent! Also try buying spices in the corner halal or asian speciality shop - big bags for around a quid or two rather than the little glass jars in the supermarket - just stash em in an old jam jar to keep them fresh. And flavoured oils are so easy to make - shove a chilli or two (or bayleaf, whatever) in the top of the bottle, wait a week and hey presto! If you have any of those little wine bottles left from christmas pressies they are the perfect size for home made oils.

If you are making chilli or garlic oil make sure you use dried chillis and garlic otherwise you could end up giving yourself a dose of botulism.

natlie

I use tumeric instead of saffron, I found a veggie paella recipe which stated tumeric and yes it is for colour but it tastes great. I use the kids leftover easter/xmas chocolates to make brownies no point buying dark choc especially. I use bananas to make french toast not eggs - my daughter is allergic and we use frozen fruit for.smoothies.