We have come a long way from standing in queues in front of local meat shops haggling and trying to get the best cut of lamb before our neighbour does. Now we have the ease of shopping in the air conditioned, stench and mess free comfort of multi product retail outlets like Fipola which has all we need under one roof. If we don’t want to step out even so much, we can order all our meat requirements, ready-to-cooks, spreads, seafood and even eggs online seated in the comfort of our living room while catching the latest on Netflix.
For the discerning Indian palate which is evolving at a great pace, the choices now are not limited to different cuts of meat or seafood. There is a range of ready to cook options available which are miracle products for the busy lives we have today. From the exotic, local, flavour bombs like Guntur Kodi Vepudu and Chicken Chintamani to ubiquitous Spicy Chicken Lollipops or Satays, the options available now are mind blowing.’
Ready-to-cook options could in a sense be considered one of the revolutionary products now available for use in Indian kitchens. They have been made and used for centuries with simple ingredients as humans knew the benefits of marination for long. The complexity and variety of ingredients however have reached a crescendo now with better storage and packaging facilities available to us.
What makes ready to cook options such an interesting breakthrough in the culinary scape of modern kitchens?
Ready-to-cook options save time – Gone are the days when we had enough leisure to buy the appropriate cuts and carefully choose the ready-to-cook options for the same. While some of us still do it occasionally, availability of ready-to-cook is a great help. With ready-to-cook options, it’s as simple as taking it from the fridge, cooking it straight up and enjoying it; all within minutes! When hard-pressed for time or when you simply don’t want to spend your leisure time, which is hard to come by, on undertaking laborious cooking endeavours, ready-to-cook comes in handy.
Wider range of flavour combinations possible – Ready to cook options contain a wide variety of flavours, spices, herbs and oil that tenderises it. A plain chicken breast transforms into an acutely appealing sensory experience as a ready-to-cook. The acidic ingredients like yoghurt, lemon juice, vinegar tenderise the meat making them succulent when cooked. Spices like garlic and pepper and fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary and aromatic ingredients like onion or ginger when added brings in a huge range of variety in flavours. This possibility makes ready-to-cook a great option for using in wraps, burgers, burritos or sandwiches as well. A whole time consuming and labour-intensive stage in making tasty meal options is skipped with ready-to-cook options. Your dining table and lunch boxes see more variety with the introduction of ready-to-cook options.
Makes meat juicier, more tender and moisturises it – Most ready-to-cook options typically have some form of grease like oil or ghee. These natural emulsifiers help penetrate meats faster and keep them juicy. Acids in the ready to cook options help in breaking down protein chains in the meats while making the meat more tender. This is especially so for leaner meats which are tougher. The moisture and the enzymes in the ready-to-cook work towards bettering the ability of protein fibres in the meat to break down and bond with the ingredients making it tender. Longer cooking is possible without drying out the meat and making it hard. Faster slicing and aesthetically pleasing slices are made possible. The meat being made to hold in the juices is the key benefit derived out of marination. Such meat with moisture prevents it from sticking on the grill as well.
Cost efficient than eating out or ordering in – It is a well-known fact that buying food is far more expensive than making it at home. But if you are someone who loves variety, then trying them outside home used to be the more feasible option. Even for people willing to take the time to try new things at home, making their own ready-to-cook would mean stocking up a variety of exotic and expensive ingredients at home. Most of them would quickly go past the best by use date if it is not used often. For home cooks this is next to impossible. Imagine having to finish a 500 Gms can of Peri-Peri sauce in 6 months. You would end up burning the delicate stomach lining for good. This is where we should sing tributes of ready-to-cook options. With them we are saved from the bother of scouting for all the ingredients or stocking them en masse at home. You have the option of saving in a big way while enjoying variety as well with ready-to-cook.
It is healthier to use ready-to-cook – It is said that when meat, poultry or seafood is cooked at high temperatures, like in grilling or pan frying, it results in the formation of Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are considered as carcinogenic compounds. The data shown according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, states that marinating meat, poultry, and fish before grilling can decrease the formation of these carcinogenic HCAs. Ready-to-cook can reduce HCAs by as much as 99 percent. The acid in ready-to-cook have the capacity to slow down the growth of harmful bacteria as well.
Ready-to-cook options can remove the strong smells or metallic flavours that some meat parts have – Some kinds of meat parts like liver or any other offal and some varieties of fishes are very strong flavoured or can have strong metallic after taste. When marination is done these unpleasant flavours are drawn out and leaves the meat or fish more pleasant and non-smelly.
So, during the tense final over of the IPL match between Bengaluru and Chennai when you and your gang of friends get a craving for a succulent teriyaki chicken, you don’t have to browse the food delivery apps. Just take the Fipola teriyaki chicken ready-to-cook out of the fridge and make as much as you want and tuck them in through the night. What’s more? You get it all at a fraction of the cost of ordering the same from a restaurant.
Check out https://www.fipola.in/ready-to-cook for meaty, tasty, match day feasting!