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 only a question of degree. When anything is browned in oil for a sufficiently long time to make it soft, and salt and other spices are added to it, it is fried and is ready for the plate. All sorts of Saks and a few others are not browned before cooking unless they are specially intended for frying. It is expressly written in the body of the book wherever browning is necessary.

Little need be said about boiling except that there is a tradition that items cooked on wood and dung cakes are superior in quality than those cooked on coal, gas or electricity. It is held that the former method is more beneficial for health. The explanation for this lies in the fact that some vitamins contained in the items decompose at the high temperatures of coal-fire while many of them remain intact at the comparatively low temperatures of wood-fire. Rut everywhere and specially in big cities the conveniences we enjoy in the regular and cheap supply of coal, gas or electricity are the deciding factors in discarding the idea of wood fuel. Wood-fire is better than coal-fire in making some preparations, e. g. Sandesh, etc. which require slow heating. However, any oven or stove can be used whose heat can be regulated. In case a coal-fire is used it is sometimes necessary to remove the pot from the oven at intervals in order that its contents may not be destroyed.

Seasoning is the most important of the four stages of cooking. Success in cooking depends entirely upon it. The process of seasoning is as follows: Take the necessary quantity of mustard oil (cocoanut oil is used