Pomelles Souffle / Puffed potato chips

When I saw them being made during the masterchef Australia season, it felt like watching magic. Potato slices puffing up like pillows. They looked beautiful. As I am working on 7 day chips recipe, it felt like a perfect time to make these and share with friends.

Mind you this is not easy but once you get going with a bit of practice, it is fun. Also the one’s that do not puff up are great in taste too. Unless you plan to serve in a top notch fine dining restaurant you are good to eat and serve all.

I was lucky to have got my few chips bang on.

Cheese chilly flavored potato fries

These are sinfully dangerously addictive chips. For occasional indulgence you can plan to eat these. I have baked them to reduce the guilt levels but warn you that they are still very heavy to munch upon.

Ofcourse for little high metabolic devils they are perfect snack when they come rushing back home after a high voltage match.

Ingredients

Potatoes – fairly large

Grated cheese (parmesan/ cheddar or gouda)

Salt and chilly flakes for seasoning

1 tspn olive oil

Method

1) Peel and chop the potatoes in desired shape.

2) In a pot of boiling water, add the potatoes and let them simmer for 10-15 min. This will par boil them

3) Drain the water .

4) Preheat the oven at 200 c for 5 min.

5) In a lined baking sheet, spread the potatoes.

5) Sprinkle salt, chilly, grated cheese on top and rub them roughly on the potatoes.

6) Add a tspn of oil and roughly spread it

7) Bake this in oven for 10 min or until the chips are golden.

Enjoy.

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Chocolate Crisps

This is a quick do snack recipe that I planned to make for days when I run out of snacking option. Weird isn’t it, I was making them days ahead and yet thinking of recipes to do in a jiffy. I was being super lazy- simple.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Corn Flakes (Strawberry flavored)(You can use plain or honey or anything)2

4 tspn chocolate chips/ 100 gm plain chocolate

Method

1) Melt the chocolate using a double boiling method.

2) Add the corn flakes in to the melted chocolates. Stir using a fork.

3) Gently lift them and scoop them in a cup cake liner.

4) Let it stand for few min (5-10min).

5) The chocolate will set and crunchy crisps are ready

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Apple chips

Fruit based chips are mostly good for decoration purpose. It also depends on the kind of fruit you are using. Apple chips are probably pretty common in use by now. They are good to decorate a plain looking dessert. What I did not know until I made them is that they are excellent snack on their own.
The reason for knowing this little later was because I never made at home. Whenever I tasted them elsewhere, it was sprinkled with cinnamon. I am not a big fan of cinnamon in desserts so it was a pretty thing sitting on the plate good for a nibble or 2.


While working on the chips theme, when I started preparing the chips, I suddenly decided to go without cinnamon.
Because cinnamon lends a beautiful woody color, I did not want to miss on that color. I added raw sugar (brown sugar) I really do not know what raw sugar is, but I had a packet. You can use ordinary sugar as well.

Lemon chips-decoration cake,beverages,candied

Blew me off when I heard about them first, just the idea of using these tart sugary chips for decorating my desserts , cakes or to adorn a simple mocktail was exciting. I saw them from a distance in one of the bakeries. I thought it was some kind of sugar sweet crafted beautifully to resemble a lemon slice. A closer look and I knew what it was. I searched for many recipes on the internet but was not convinced about getting it right. One main reason for thinking this is the fact that the variety of lemon we get in India is very tart. There was no way to figure out how to make them taste sweet.

I sampled the recipe with few lemons straight out of the refrigerator. After hours of investment when I made the chip, I immediately spit it out of the mouth. It tasted horrible. I gave up the idea. Then when granny (inlaw) was making nimbu ka achaar (lemon pickle) I asked how does she ensure that the skin does not make her pickle bitter.

She said, she stocks up the lemon as and when she comes across lemons that have very less pith on their skin. The moment she comes across such variety, she simply chops them and add it to her jar that contains lemon juice. The lemons sit in their own juice for quiet some time even months. When she collects good amount of them she decides to season and temper it. The achaar recipe will follow some day but coming back to the chips I realized the effort required. So when I came across a lemon slightly green, more fleshy, with small seeds in it I decided to make chips again. The other test is you can try zesting the lemon, if it is difficult then you have found your catch. As the lemons with lesser pith cannot be zested easily.

Tomato chips - Alternative Sun dried tomatoes

Sundried tomatoes have such an amazing taste even for the one's who are averse to the idea of eating raw tomatoes. However it needs to be teamed up with something that complements it really well. The only thing missing in it is a crunch. As they are stored in olive oil they are soggy.


However, since I have my sun in the oven, I sometimes, also make a few crispy chips of tomato. These need to be consumed within a weeks time and trust they do not last that long.So essentially  you continue broiling or heating them post they have lost the moisture for another 5 min or so to get wafer thin crispy chips.


These are great in salads or in sandwiches.

Caramalized Sweet potato chips Caramalized Sweet potato chips

The snack is very popular maharashtrian fasting food option. Usually made in round discs these are deceptively tasty and addictive. They also work well with kids as they are sweet in taste. Making them in this form tricked many to think they were regular French fries.

It is a good light meal option on its own.

Ingredients ( 1 serving)1 medium sweet potato
4 tspn sugar
1 tspn Clarified Butter/ Ghee
Method
1) Peel the sweet potato  and chop it as fries. Keep it in water.

2) In a shallow frying pan, add a teaspoon of clarified butter.

3) Add the chopped sweet potatoes. Saute it for 5-8 min. They should look slightly translucent.

4) Add sugar and continuing sauteing until the sugar dissolves and slightly caramelizes and coats the fries.

Enjoy these with tea or coffee or as a light meal on its own

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Recovering from Party Hangover and leftovers

You might have heard this pretty often about arranging party or food. The actual arrangements, cooking, running around is never as stressful as the cleaning and re-arranging things back to normal.

This can be handled easily if we do some reverse planning. (Ahh so much for the word PLAN)

Make a list (the list again!) but this time mentally, about the things that drive you nuts post throwing a party or a get together.

Mine looks like this –

1) Clutter and mess around the place

2) Spilled water , cold drinks

3) Sink full of utensils and used dishes

4) Bloated tummy (if you were lucky to find time to feed yourself or even otherwise)

5) Refrigerator full of leftovers not enough for one meal or too much for next few meals when we are least interested in eating the same dishes over again. Actually it does not look like a lot of work now that we have listed it. Imagine planning ahead for it, you will have nothing to worry about even while you party.

Tips to lift your mood post party

1) Keep smaller fancy looking trash cans or buckets at various places around in the house. You will see that even the regular defaulters (Husbands mostly) are also taking efforts to throw litter where it belongs.

2) Keep sponge or dry cloth handy or a mop handy to wipe off any spilled liquid. Using paper napkins also helps for smaller spills. Do not cover it up with carpets or throw other mats to save face temporarily. Gracefully ask everyone around to move aside while you clean it with a sponge or napkin. Others would rather prefer clean surroundings than a better poised host.

3) If possible, use recyclable dishes or glasses. Do not use them for formal parties though. Use non-breakable dishes for children unless they are very few and are under their parent’s supervision. Always, set aside a large washing basket to hold the used plate. Rather than pushing them under the sink. It would be easier to sort them later on.

4) Opt for a simple menu for next day and if possible get someone to cook for you.

5) There are many services which are happy to carry your leftover food. They also come and pick up the food from the doorstep. Keep these numbers handy. If you have family and close friends attending, offer them to carry food back along with them. Keep the take away packs handy for such events. You can also put to use the takeaway boxes that you have been stocking now. And empty refrigerator offloads majority of the stress factor.

6) Re-arranging the rooms back to normal can be distributed over the course of few days. 

Enjoy the settings for a few days and feel happy for the spaces created.

7) Bask in the glory of hosting a good event by calling up friends and asking how did they enjoy their time. It is an instant mood lifter

At the end, start planning for your next event and how could you notch up further. 

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Formal party, dinner menu, venue, food and drinks

While with kids and elders you have to follow moulds of celebrations when it comes to celebrating a casual or formal dinner party with friends or colleagues you can easily make, bend or discard the rules. This event is for foodies to exhibit their skills honed over the years and sacrifices made of piling body weight in bargain of tasting and learning a new dish. Foodies go free spirited while planning .

If the event is planned to mark a special occasion like Birthday, Anniversary, Promotion, New Year etc. then you may have to plan around the occasion to ensure that you don’t forget marking it. Like birthdays and anniversaries call for cake cutting. Other events may call for announcements and felicitations. 

Arrange the venue such that it gives a comfortable, leisurely , laid back atmosphere.

Theme & Venue Arrangements – If you are partying with friends who are not mere acquaintances then you can encourage them to be part of mad fun. Pajama (pyjama) parties is my favorite theme in such cases. Besides dressing up literally in your nightwear you can throw in lots of cushions, pillows, order for DVDs, fill the house with pop corns and colas. Ahh … relive the days from college. If you are lucky to have packed off kids to grandparents place then you probably can do away with any other planning. If you are super lucky to have kids (pun intended) tagging along, then don’t fuss, pull them in. They need to see how parents rock parties early on. You can plan games and activities that you share as a group. Involve the kids in the discussions so that they do not get dragged off and eventually expect you/ parent to follow out of the party.
When it is non casual, formal or Dress Up party then pull out the best of your dresses out. Decorate the venue with chic upholstery . You can do flower arrangements or adorn the walls with paintings. You can also do a quick collage of photos (recent and old) so that guests are occupied with activities besides catching up with each other.
Keep your music collection on display for the guests to choose or pick or suggest some of them.

If you are expecting too many kids, then avoid displaying breakable items unless you can keep it out of their reach.
As time passes by and people are getting more comfortable, you can pull down the sofas or make way for spread out beddings, or settees for people to throw back and relax. This is to be done for parties running past mid-night.

Food
Although you should not do any experimental cooking you can still take some risk and display some unusual or uncommon dish or 2.

Beverages	Keep 1 variety of each – Fruit based, Aerated , Mocktails
	Spiced Orange Juice , Guava Blossom, Virgin Mary, Ginger Ale, Ice Tea
Starters/Apetizers	Opt for 1 variety per 5 people in attendance. Restrict to maximum of 4 to avoid clutter
	Tandoor Aloo/ Paneer Tikka / Mushroom Pinwheel/ Sev corn Puri
Main Course	Keep a healthy mix of Indian and continental (Opt for 1 or 2 of each row below)
	Salad, Curd Rice , Dahi Vada/Bhalla , Roti Basket – Stuffed Paratha, Naan, Puri Babycorn / Paneer Jalfrezi / Chhole /  Vegetable Paprika in cumin orange sauce & Spaghetti OR Malaysian Noodles Fried Noodles OR Vegetable Lasagna OR Pasta Pulav or Biryani or Jeera Rice with Dal Makhani or Rajma
Dessert	Keep these in plenty. The more the better.
	Chocolate Mousse / Berry Souffle / Apple Crumble / Blueberry Parfait

General tips
* Unless asked for do not ask kids to recite rhymes or poems. It may amuse for a while but can become drag. Let the kids and guests mingle comfortably with each other. Talent would be automatically displayed
* Do not drag people in or out of place , jumping or directing them to use or not to use a space. If possible lock away areas before they come. For e.g. rooms or balconies housing junk should be locked or barred before guests come in.
* Abide by the requests for changing music or dvd if someone asks. They are guests and besides are asking you to play one of your collections
* Do not overpower a conversation by talking too much or making your points strongly. Even if you disagree with certain views, politely opt out or change the topic. Settle your scores some other dayJ
* Do not spend time with select few guests more just because you find their company better or comforting than others. You have to distribute time evenly as all those present are here on your invitation.


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Traditional get together party menu, theme, ideas , decor

Traditional ceremonies come with a baggage of rituals. However it also works in favor as most of the planning is taken care by the same rituals. You are free to add but do not opt to delete oops, avoid any of it. Your intention is to enhance the experience so in the bargain do not end up displeasing elders.

Ask the elders on what have they been doing especially in the years when they had newly started following. Most probable answers would be when I was younger my mother or mother in law did so and so but then who does it now. Probe them here exactly to know what is it that is not done now.

You may end up finding some really exciting ideas. 

Theme & Decoration - You really do not have to do anything extra but follow the rituals. If there are guests expected encourage them to dress up traditionally. Once the food and guest list is confirmed decide on the decorations. Traditional decorations are really fun and can be a family activity on the previous nights. 

I am listing some of the ideas for events celebrated in this part of India. 

- Rangoli made at the entrance and near the pooja place. 

- Small flat pots filled with water having floating candles or seasonal flowers

- Embroidered & Jari borders cushions, table runners, clothes etc.

- Flower garlands for the entrance door.

- Pearls or beads garlands for the entrance.
- Knitted or Crocheted garlands can also be used for decoration to be kept under the pooja or Prasad dishes
- Fancy and traditional pottery, hand painted crafts can also be exhibited during this time. 

- Creative garnishes with vegetables and fruits can be displayed now

Activities & Favors  - Most functions are associated with some rituals which can be made exciting by being pompous. Invite everyone around to participate and give roles to each to ensure participation.

Haldi- Kumkum – Plan some games which are specifically focused on ladies. In Maharashtra we play ukhane (rhymes with spouses names), other small tele matches (sniffing the confetties with straws, threading needles, separating mixed bags pulses or beads etc.)
Holi – Besides playing colors you can also arrange antakshari, singing and dancing events while you are busy managing the food preparations.
Diwali – Popular game is playing cards, you can be innovative by deciding on the kind of games. You can also play housie or bingo to make it a test your luck event. Otherwise, bursting fire crackers (environment friendly) can also be included

Some customs ask for giving back favors to the guests. Most popular in Indian context is giving piece of cloth with coconut and rice (Oti bharne). You can add bangles, Bindi packets, accessories etc to jazz it up.
For diwali gifts you can consider including diyas, rangoli packets, garlands etc.

Food
Fortunately we have so much variety in the traditional recipes and luckily every festival or ritual has its standardized menu which means we just need to follow it.

Sankrant – Gul poli, payasam, kheer

Holi – Puranpoli, gujiya, pakode are more popularly made.

Ganesh festival – Modak, laadoo

Diwali – Sweets and Savories

 

You should look at the customary courses and serve all at one go in the standard sit down format(pangat). If space is a constraint, you can opt for move around with your dish option. Put all the food at one single place so people can help themselves. Normally, ladies serve the kids and males before they eat (Don’t hold me for gender bias – it is usually helpful) Once they are satisfied, you can easily sit down with the ladies and enjoy your meal peacefully chitchatting or gossiping.
To compensate , make the counterpart serve or help you with the post clean up process.

A detailed menu for vegetarian fare can be as described below. I have more western recipes, but will be updating with more dishes across India as I start collecting or posting them.

Snacks (farsan) – 1 or 2

Dhokla/ Alu wadi / Khandwi/ mutter patties/ kothimbir wadi

Roti
          Chapati/ Tandoori Roti/ Naan/ Puri/Puranpoli
Vegetables /Gravy
          Dry – Aloo Methi/Aloo Jeera/ Bhindi Fry/ Kale Channe/ Undhiyu

          Gravy - Chhole/ Usal/ Mix Vegetable Kadai/ Vegetable Kolhapuri/ Vegetable Kurma

Rice (1 variety)

            Pulav/ Jeera Rice / Biryani/ Masala Bhat/ Masoor Bhat

  Set aside some portion of plain rice as it may be required for naivedyam

Dal/ Kadhi 

               Katacha rassa(if puranpoli)/ tomato saar/ Dal tadka/ Gatta Kadhi/ Gujarati Kadhi/Dahi Kadhi/

Salad

           Koshimbir/ pumpkin bharta 

Sweet

           Gajar halwa / Gulab Jamun/ Jalebi/ Kheer/ Phirni

Serve  pickle, salt, chutney, curd, buttermilk along side.

General tips

-Do not serve it as separate courses, Serve all dishes except rice in the first serving including sweet. Serve rice as second serving only when they are done with the rotis. Vegetables, snacks, sweet and everything else should be re-offered at regular intervals. 

- Insist on serving even when the guest refuse the first time. But do not overdo as it also become an issue later on.

- Pooja place should be separate and out of general sitting area to avoid any untoward happenings.

- Do not force  elders or guests to participate in fun activities too much if they appear uncomfortable – this may not go well with all.

- For guests who are not familiar with your rituals, introduce them the same in detail, they would be happy to go along or step aside until we are done with it. It is also okay to ask them to join just before or during lunch time to avoid their inconvenience

 

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Birthday Party Menu - Kids focused themes,favors,food,games

The birthday parties or events centered around kids are exciting events. I have celebrated 2 birthdays so far and have thoroughly enjoyed my time. 
The key to arrange birthday parties or kids populated events is to kick off the planning with gusto that matches their enthusiasm levels. Nothing about their parties would be over the top so flow with the mood.


In my head there are a million things that I want to do but practically it may not be possible. I am listing some of the ideas below which would help you for your event planning


Themes - Following a theme is not mandatory and do not stress about it if you find it difficult. Although, I do feel that theme puts a lot of things in perspective for the party. 
The cake , the decor , kid's costume, favors need to match the theme. These days it is also easy to find dishes,napkins that match the themes.
1) Cartoon based characters - This works best for young children. Considering this is popular approach, you need to be very innovative here. 
For younger kids - Winnie the Pooh, ShinChan, Doraemon, Tom & Jerry & the popular Chota Bheem.
2) Sports theme - Cricket, Football, Tennis, Badminton are popular options with easily available cakes and other party kits
3) Princess theme - Very popular option for girls' birthday. Doll cakes, castle cakes, fairy like dress, Star wands for fellow girls.

4) Fancy dress theme- Asking the invited kids to dress up in fancy clothes will also take care of games and fun part
5) Traditional - If you wish to celebrate the birthday traditionally or have an event like hair  cutting, sankrant you can do so by making the other kids part of it by asking them to be traditionally dressed up. The food, decor, games can also be matched up. You can reach out to your parents or grand parents and ask them to introduce games that they played in their younger days with the kids.


Games help you keep the reigns in your hands. If let loose the kids will overpower the party. So it is always better to plan the games and execute them the way you want things to progress.
Since this is no school the kids will arrive at different timings. You cannot wait for all to arrive to start the games so plan games that could be played with different set of groups.
The first game always has to be create groups. The easiest is to make chits containing the names of differents groups and ask the kids to pick their own luck. The group names can be as per the theme. For e.g. for a cricket based theme, you can create groups based on team names or cricketer names.
For younger kids you can start with basic games
1) Passing the parcel
2) Tele games - box cricket, throwing balls in basket,
3) Blindfolding and marking the tail of monkey
4) Mask making 
5) Clay dough competition


For elder kids
1) Treasure hunt (Can be messy if the venue is small)
2) Quiz contest
3) Balancing acts
4) Dumb charades
5) Pictionary





Party Favors are the next best sought after items in a party post food or to be precise cake. This needs to be most thoughtfully planned. The party favors need to be aligned to your theme. The other constraint is that you should not buy anything very expensive as there are certain trends we need to follow. 
Few ideas
1) Goodie bag with fancy looking stationery (pen, pencil, eraser, sharpeners etc)
2) Theme aligned toy (soft toys, balls etc)
3) For girls - accessories , hair bands etc
4) For boys - Sports band, cricket kit 


Food runs on most kids (and adults ) on the mind during parties. The curious minds may even opt for a sneak peek in the kitchen or the more extroverts may directly ask on face. Considering that we also like to cook we should only be happy to play to their demands.
Generally the menu should be non fussy, nothing new. Opt for colorful menu. Simple dishes can be made attractive by planning about its presentation and the way it is served.
Avoid runny gravies or liquid based curries as you dont want to run with a sponge or washcloth from one corner to another. Health should not be compromised at any cost. Also, kids are supposed to eat fat and high calorie food their metabolism compensates. Avoid junk food though as you dont want to be at loggerheads with other mothers who painstakingly avoid this through the year.
The food should be classified broadly in 3 courses only
Starters should be simple , non fuss and easy to move. Ideally serve them in one large bowl(non breakable) and or set it at an easily accessible spot and encourage the kids to come and pick their own share
Chips
Cookies
Fries
Flavored Popcorns
Lollipops
Stuffed Toasts

Main course should be ideally one pot meals, non runny and easy to re-serve. Opt for minature versions as kids like small things (mini-idlies, mini pizzas, mini pancakes)
Pav Bhaji
Mini Pizzas
Pastas with Vegetables
Healthy Burger


Dessert
Doughtnut/ Donut
Cup cakes
Cake Pops
Chocolate Fondue





General Tips
* Always remember to offer food at regular intervals rather than at one go. The tiny packages need to be replenished with energy time and again
* Try to make the venue kid friendly. Stove back large objects and breakable items out of range.
* Make the food less spicy even at the cost of displeasing accompanying elders. Kids cannot compromise as it is beyond them


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Pantry Staples and Make Ahead preparations

Lifesavers is actually a category in my shopping list. The  term came to existence ever since I realized that I need certain things as must  haves in the kitchen. Each one of you who has been into cooking would have experienced the day when you wanted to cook some dish however ran out of 1 or 2 ingredients. These are the ingredients that seem unworthy of being listed on shopping trip but suddenly become a show stopper. To counter this  challenge  I started collecting and stocking up.

You would think  she is talking about pantry staples ,things  you must always stock up in a functional kitchen. Actually  I classify  Wheat  flour  APF  Rice  Potatoes  Cooking Oil  Sugar and Salt as staples and believe  these are  always stocked up especially for a party.

Life savers are ingredients that allow us quick fixes. Like...

•        If  your  kabab or  tikki is not coming together  you need bread or  cornflour to gather it back
•        Something  about your curry does not seem right  no matter what, Kasoori Methi or Chat  masala can cover up
•        You  run out of desserts  Milk and custard can help you whip up a quick  kheer
•        Everything  looks perfect  but the cake looks too basic. Choco chips in buttercream or as it is on the top can save  face
•        Someone  fusses about not being able to eat gravy or curry dish (spicy  or  plain uptight) instant curd  raita or tomato salad  with vinegar can help you come out.

Getting  my point now?

Some  life savers   I buy whether I need them for the menu or not are listed below.  These are stocked in sufficient quantities.

-  Curd/ yogurt
- Tomatoes
- Green chillies /red   chillies /black pepper/chilli flakes/cayenne pepper
- Milk
- Colored  vegetables
- Chocolate Chips
- Corn flour
- Chat Masala
- Cumin Seeds
- Plain Soda
 - Vanilla Icecream

My kitchen sometimes functions like a japanese assembly line. There are threshold levels marked  bottles and jars. The moment the ingredients reaches that level it is replenished with a new stock. (I may sound crazy to some  but this has been really helpful especially now when time is luxury)

Quantity of a substance is also an issue of concern for many while shopping. You can follow the rule of thumb that was once shared by a caterer with me. 100gm of vegetable per person when there are 4 varieties and 125 gms when there are 3 varieties.

- for e.g. when you are planning Mix Vegetable for 10 people to eat then the combined vegetables before cooking should weight 1-1.25 Kgs. This includes onions  tomatoes and potatoes.
-For rotis  breads you have to use 3 for elders when served without rice dish or 2 with rice.
- For kids make 2 rotis or 1 roti each.
- For rice  you have to count 1 small katori/bowl for 2 people as uncooked rice. This reduces further when you are adding vegetables to it.
- If you have good variety of starters  then you have to reduce the rice quantity.

- For starters & desserts count 1.5 servings per person as you will find people either opting or not for it in same numbers

Another important point while organizing a party is to reduce the D-day tasks to minimal. The key is trying to reduce it as much as possible. Make Ahead preparation help here

Assuming that all the shopping and organizing is done the previous days, the actual day would primarily focus on food preparations. No one wants to feed stale food to the guests. However there are still quite a few things that you can do in advance.

•        Chopping vegetables
•        Cleaning and separating stalks of herbs and leafy vegetables - Coriander  Mint  Fenugreek
•        Tomato based gravy / sauces
•        Cakes can be baked in advance
•        Custards  kheer  pudding are perfectly okay to be cooked a day before. Stock in refrigerator
•        Potatoes can be boiled and mashed if required
•       Some snack and farsan items like aluwadi/patras can be made a day ahead and deep fried closer to the party time%
•      Dips  chutneys  dressings are good be made in advance
• Based on my experience with various cuisines and menus  I have often noticed that the last
• servings / desserts  last course gravy etc are usually good to be made early on. The first  
• second servings are the one’s that need to be cooked near the serving time like starters etc.

Tips for additional relief during the D-day

 - Always de-clutter refrigerator as much as possible  when you start cooking you do not want to spend time re-organizing things around

- Separate the serving dishes from the cookware in advance  so that you do not spend time washing and cleaning dishes
 - Mark your serving dish against each item before hand. This is part of planning.

- Experiments have to be done before the actual party day
- Write down the recipe and ingredient if possible ,so that you avoid blunders while cooking - even if you are a pro.
- Try not to use a new pack of salt as the saltiness varies from packet to packet. If you are using it then always taste the dish while seasoning.

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