Life in the times of lockdown: A guide to preserving fruits and vegetables

Old vegetables and fruits stocked up in the refrigerators may end up in the bin due to rotting. Here are some techniques to store healthy fruits and hearty veggie the right way.

In the time of lockdown, you might have stocked up your share of kitchen staples including, fresh fruits and vegetables to avoid having to step out of the house frequently. But with limited storage space in the refrigerators to keep the veggie and fruits, the produce needs to be consumed within a certain number of days or it begins to rot. This leads us to the question that what if we told you that there are tricks and tips beyond just simply refrigerating the healthy fruits and hearty vegetables to make them last longer?

Chef Nishant Choubey suggests pickling for longevity of vegetables or fruits. He says, “Create a solution of vinegar, salt, sugar and then boil with whole spices. Post that cool it down and pour the vegetable or fruits and cover it tightly. Try to use air tight jar. Ensure that the pickling solution is in room temperature before its is poured.”

Read: Minimal ingredient recipes to get you through the lockdown

For storing meats, he recommends freezing. Chef states, “Freezing is a great way to improve shelf life and it’s applicable mostly to meats. Wash the meats well in cold water and then drain the water and fill it in individual freezer bags and then freeze. Make sure thaw it overnight to use.”

Read: Add some fruity desserts to your lockdown culinary saga

Another method that involves a scientific process of converting sugar to alcohol or preserving acids is fermentation. He says, “The popular drink, Kanji is a classic example of probiotic or fermented beverage and another example is Kombucha which is a fermented tea. The process will ensure longer shelf life of the vegetable or fruits.”

Going back to the traditional method, chef recommends the trick of sun drying or drying. He comments, “This is a traditional process which is adopted in villages to preserve vegetables, meats and lentil. Vegetable, meats and lentils are dried under sun for a long period of time to ensure there is no moisture left. The classic example is wadi or badi which is made from lentils and sun-dried tomatoes and also dried prawns.”

Interact with author/sanchita_kalra.