Do you remember the last time you thumbed through a dog-eared recipe book to find a new way of cooking your chicken curry? Neither do we. Sometimes we wonder how recipe books still remain to be profitable for publishers, since all the recipes are available online anyways. Smart phones and tablets have made working in the kitchen much easier than our parents had it. So, we put together a list of apps that would see you through the process of finding a recipe to making it perfectly.
- EPICURIOUS (Android and iOS)
The first step to expanding your dinner menu is to find a new recipe. With the Epicurious app you can choose between over 28,000 ways to toss a fab plate from across the world. Choose between dished grouped together according to cuisine, occasion, meal course or even your cooking abilities. The app also allows you to add the ingredients of your selected recipe to your shopping list.
Cost: free
- KITCHEN DICTIONARY (Android)
Ever come across a recipe that tells you how to bake blind? No it doesn’t involve tying a bandana across your eyes but to bake a pastry case without filling. To ensure you blind bake and shock vegetables properly, install a dictionary app on your phone or tablet. Kitchen Dictionary is one such app that lists over 1,800 cooking techniques, tools and foods.
Cost: Free
- RATIOS (iOS)
So now you’ve got your recipe and understand it but it is meant for four people while you’re serving six. In the pre-smartphone era this would mean sitting with a paper, pen and calculator to figure out the proper proportions of ingredients. We’ve got it easy though. Ratios is an app that calculates this for us by changing any one of the ingredient quantities. It even allows you to read measurements in your choice of units and make recipe notes.
Cost $4.99
- OUR GROCERIES (iOS and Android)
When you’re planning a dinner the last thing you want to forget is a key ingredient on your shopping list. Forget handwritten lists (let’s be eco friendly) and download a list-making app on your phone. Our Groceries lets you make a grocery list and allows you to share it with your partner or flatmate. The list is synced such that if both of you are shopping at the same time and one of you picks up an item and crosses it off the list, it is reflected in your partner’s list as well. Cheers to making sure you have everything you need and just the correct number of eggs.
Cost: Free
- HARVEST (iOS)
Do you know how to tell if a papaya is fresh or not? Don’t worry about remembering the tricks your grandmother taught you when you have the Harvest app on your phone. With tips and techniques on selecting for over 120 food items, Harvest ensures that you always have the freshest produce. It also indicates pesticide residue levels on the produce and gives you ways of storing it well until it comes onto your chopping board.
Cost: $1.99
- RECIPE CONVERT (Android)
What do you do when you’ve bought a kilogram of flour and the recipe calls for two ounces? Not all cooks are mathematicians good enough to handle constant conversions of this type. To help you out with this is a handy app called Recipe Convert. The app quickly converts pounds to grams, cups or even table spoons. It works equally well for liquids converting them from cups to litres etc.
iOS alternative: Kitchen Calculator
Cost: Free
- KITCHEN TIMER (Android)
Now that you’ve got all your ingredients in the required quantities set aside, the only thing left to do is cook the dish. When it comes to baked dishes timing is very important. Take it out too soon and parts of the dish might still be raw; take it out too late and it will be over cooked. Yes, we could just note the time on a clock and work accordingly but what if you forget whether you put the oven on at 10.20 or 10.25. To help you get rid of all your confusions download Kitchen Timer. With two timers that can run simultaneously this app will ensure you always have a soft boiled egg with a runny yolk as well as the perfect roast chicken with a crisp skin.
iOS alternative: Kitchen Timer
Cost: Free
- INDIAN WINE LIST (Android and iOS)
With your food ready and table set, all you need is to pick the right wine to make for a perfect dining experience. How well do you know your wine? If you’re scratching your head a little don’t fret and download the Indian Wine List app to help decide for you. The app helps pair wines, gives tasting notes on each wine and even tells you how to pronounce names correctly.
Cost: Free
- CALORIE COUNTER (Android and iOS)
With so much talk of food are you wondering how much weight you’re going to put on? Good food need not always be fattening and if you like keeping a check on your calorie intake use a counter such as Calorie Counter. This app is a tool that gives nutritional value for over 2,50,000 foods as well as records your daily weight and measures your body’s progress against weight loss goals.
Cost: Free
- INSTAGRAM (Android and iOS)
And finally, how can we enjoy our food if we can’t tell the world about it. Instagram has turned from a product name to a verb. So take a snapshot, apply a filter, upload it to your favourite social networking site and bon appétit.
Cost: Free
