Cooking Measurements & Temperatures – Flashcard

Cooking Measurements & Temperatures – Flashcard

Measurements

I am not the right person to talk about the measurements, you see. You should consider taking advise from someone who is good in Mathematics. :) I hardly pay attention to anything that looks and sounds like numbers! In fact, me and the word ‘arithmetic’ should not even be in the same sentence!!! If you still consider my opinion, I think you are pretty desperate, dude! Well, I generally eyeball the ingredients and also use some sort of rudimentary measurements of my own for my everyday cooking. That is why, I panic when I have visitors. I hate…when people judge me…and especially my stupidity. :(

Anyways…there is always someone to blame…’Mommy’! My mother never taught me anything in a right way or in a wrong way ( and to make it look ‘right’ )!

Yeah, she simply gave me various cues to assist her in the kitchen! My typical cheat-cards were like this…if she wanted some tamarind…she used to say,”bring me a cricket ball sized tamarind” and I obeyed. :) She must have thought…I responded better, whenever she tricked me like this for being her little helper! Or maybe, I must have really annoyed her with too many questions like this: what exactly is ‘a cup’ mean? …why should ‘a cup’ should always be of 150 ml and not 250 ml?…as cups do come in different sizes, right!!! (enough said about my pea-brain, I guess)

That is why the ingredients in my recipes are too vague to follow…I usually rant it in my own style ‘gooseberry sized – jaggery’ , ‘lemon sized – tamarind’ or ‘peppercorn sized – garam masala’ !!!. :( Anyway…slowly I progressed to understand what ‘a pinch’ of turmeric will do to the dish, and how ‘a fistful of chana dal’ will make wonders in cooking!

Off lately, I have been thinking of my hard times in the kitchen alone, how I ridiculed the big pot of rasam with just 2-3 dry chilies and the crazy amount of spices I used! And, the mess I created whenever I filled everything brim full …whether its be heating oil for the fries or making curries for two! What was I thinking??!! In the beginning I was misled  by group of people, who blended and pureed enormous amounts of ginger n garlic paste! They must for have been pre processing it for a month’s supply or they must have cooked for an entire village; that’s not the point…I trusted them, and used ladles and ladles of this paste for my solo cooking. :( Ooops, should I even mention…how disastrous it was. :(   Oh boy, I was such a dumb-head…I repeatedly made this BIG mistake and took no responsibility at all!  And blamed everyone for ruining my dinner. :( Poor me, I ate whatever crap I whipped back then. :( Sometimes, without any human interruption…life is pretty hard, right!!

So, from my very bad start, I have come this far. Here you go, my cue card for you guys. :) Good luck. :)

Natural Measurements – Written and Attested by Malar Gandhi. :)

Natural Weights Notes
3 black mustards = 1 white mustard -
1 white mustard size - for ayurvedic medicines.
1 sesame seed size My Mommy often says ‘el-alavu’ for many ayurvedic medicines. In culinary terms, I hardly use them.
1 rice grain size -
1 paddy grain size Yet, another medicinal term used in India ‘nel-alavu’ for many herbal concoctions.
1 peppercorn size For several herbal medicines, this is the most assured measurement.
1 barley size -
1 corn size -
1 pinch Usually when I say ‘asafoetida’ and ‘turmeric’.
1 betel nut size Whenever there is tamarind paste in the ingredients list, I would probably use this term.
1 gooseberry size Generally for ‘jaggery’ quantity in the curry dish.
1 fistful (my fistful = ½ tablespoon) Usually when I mention lentils.
1 lemon size -
1 cricket ball size Its the most accurate measurement in my kitchen, if I am cooking for many people. Example: fresh tamarinds for puliyodarai.

 

Volume or Measurements

1 Gallon = 4 Quarts = 8 Pints = 128 fl oz = 256 Tablespoons = 768 teaspoons

1 Gallon 4 Quarts 3.8 Liters (l)
1 Gallon 2 Pints 0.946 Liter
1 Pint 2 Cups 473 Milliliter (ml)
1 cup 8 fl oz 243 ml
1 Tablespoon (tbsp) 3 teaspoons (tsp), ½ fl oz 29.6 ml
1 ml 1/5 tsp
30 ml 1 oz
50 ml 1/5 cup
100 ml 3.4 fl oz
240 ml 8 fl oz 1 cup
1 liter 4.2 cups, 2.1 pints 1.06 Quarts, 0.26 Gallon

 Weight Measurements

1 Pound (lb) 16 oz 453.6 grams
1 Gram (gm) 0.035 oz -
28 gms 1 oz
100 gms 3.5 oz
224 gms 8 oz 1 cup
1 Kilo Gram 35 oz 2.205 pounds (lb)

 

Length Measurements

1 Yard 3 Feet 0.9144 Meter (m)
1 Foot (ft) 12 Inches 0.3048 m
1 Inch 2.54 Centimeter (cm) -
1/16 inches 1.5875 Millimeter (mm)
1 cm 0.3936 inch
1 m 3.28 ft
1 Kilo Meter (km) 32.8 ft 10.93 yards

Temperature Conversion

Convert Fahrenheit ( ° F ) to degree Celsius (° C)  – (Fahrenheit – 32) × (0.556)

Convert ° F to ° C                                                -  (Celsius × 1.8) + 32

Conventional Oven Temperature

Fahrenheit Celsius Description
225 110 Warm and Cool
250 130 -
275 140 Bearable Temperature
300 150 -
325 170 -
350 180 Warm and Moderate
375 190 Moderate Heat
400 200 -
425 220 Moderate Hot
450 230 Hot
475 240 Hotter

Regular Temperature Chart

Freezing point of water 32 ° F 0 ° C
Boiling point of water 212 ° F 100 ° C
Room temperature 68 ° F 20 ° C
Basking temperature 350 ° F 20 ° C
Fryer temperature 350 ° F 177 ° C
Refrigerator 40 ° F 4.5 ° C

Controlled Spoiling – Incubation Time

Idli Batter 88° F ± 2 ° F
Yogurts 105 ° F ± 15 ° F
Naan bread 110 ° F ± 5 ° F

 Conversion Chart

3 tsp

1 tbsp

2 tbsp

1 fl oz

4 tbsp

1/4 c

1 c

1/4 qt

1 c

8 fl oz

2 c

1 pt

4 c

1 qt

2 pt

1 qt

4 qt

1 gall

8 qt

11 pk

4 tbsp

1 wineglass

Abbreviations

tbsp Stands for tablespoon
tsp Stands for teaspoon
c Stands for cup
hr Stands for hour
min Stands for minute
gal Stands for gallon
qt Stands for quart
ft Stands for foot
Stands for inch
pt Stands for pint
lb Stands for pound
oz Stands for ounce
Fl oz Stands for fluid ounce

 

 

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3 Responses so far.

  1. Meena says:

    now that is some post

    hmm now i also think i shud teach my girl same way

    we r used to making things our way with our own assessment of ingredients but this is helpful post for lots of ppl

    • Malar Gandhi says:

      Thank you, Meena…for this lovely compliment:)

      I just remembered, how Mommy insisted on buying all even-sized eggplants for making curry. For a while, I thought she cares about uniformity…now I know that, it has a deep impact in cooking process!

  2. Asiya Omar says:

    Thanks for sharing.Useful Post.

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