Don’t throw away the extra food in your kitchen. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock Images)

Although many of us end up throwing away excess food in the trash, the guilt can be too much to handle. On World Food Day, we bring you food hacks with which you can make the most of your leftovers.

Repackage veggie water as stock

Next time you boil some broccoli, potatoes or spinach, don’t pour the leftover water down the drain. You can rather use it as a base for soup. You won’t have to buy vegetable stock from the market anymore.

Make use of leftover meat

If you are left with chicken tandoori, you can easily re-purpose it to make some quick-fix pulao. Stir fry some onion, tomato and bell pepper with some boiled rice and mix the meat with it.

Fermented rice mix

This one is a delicacy in Assam and is popularly known as Panta Bhaat. Leftover rice is soaked in some water/curd and mixed with finely chopped raw onion and chilies. This mixture is usually kept in the fridge overnight or just for a few hours before it’s consumed.

Dal sandwich

A day old dal is not something you would like to start your day with. But how about stir frying it with some roughly chopped onion and garlic until it’s dry and then spread it on your slice of multigrain bread? Enjoy it with a cup of hot masala chai.

Make a quick salad

Whether you have a few spoonfuls of leftover pasta, quinoa, chickpeas or oats, just add some fresh cabbage, cucumber and seasoning to it. Your side dish is ready.

Smoothie

If you have overripe fruits, just throw them in a blender with some yoghurt and flax/sunflower seed powder before they go bad. Delicious yet healthy, we say.