A cupboard or shelf of your kitchen will display a sad look when a well-stocked pantry runs out of ingredients during the time of emergency. Sometimes while making something substitute of the original ingredient becomes absolutely indispensable and cannot be overlooked. Hence here are some handy tips and ready to use substitutes which can become very useful for you at times and help you to come out safe from an otherwise compromising situation with an unexpected guest sitting in your living room.



1. An unexpected shortage of self rising flour can be managed by adding 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt to each cup of all purpose flour.

2. Bread crumbs replacing cracker crumbs and cracker crumbs replacing bread crumbs: 3/4 cup of cracker crumb is equivalent to one cup of bread crumb and one cup of dry bread crumb can be used as a substitute for 3/4 cup of cracker crumb.

3. One tablespoon of corn starch can be easily replaced by two tablespoon of all purpose flour.

4. When you need to add a dash of lime but really don't have even a single slice of lemon in the kitchen, adding the same amount of vinegar will do the magic of bringing the tangy flavor to the dish.

5. You can use one cup of plain yogurt or use 3/4 cup of sour milk in place of sour cream.

6. If you need baking powder for your recipe and you see all dark due to its unavailability, you have a very good and handy alternative for it. Use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 5/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar. Another alternative is to use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 cup buttermilk and reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/2 cup.

7. Recipes that need butter and you are running short of it replace it with the equal amount of vegetable oil.

8. Buttermilk can be easily replaced with the same amount of plain yogurt or by adding one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon to one cup of regular milk.

9. You can win the same appraisal for your chocolate dishes even if you had no chocolates at all. Just mix 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon butter in place of one ounce of unsweetened chocolate. In case you need sweetened chocolate just add a tablespoon of sugar to the mix.

These handy cooking tips and ready to use substitutes would not just make your life easy in kitchen but at the same time uphold your reputation as a great chef amongst your family and friend.