Guwahati, March 29 -- Making vegetable stock at home is a simple, budget-friendly way to add flavor to soups, stews, and sauces while reducing waste by using vegetable scraps that might otherwise be discarded.

With just a few ingredients and a bit of time, you can create a delicious stock that enhances your cooking.

Start by collecting some vegetables. Onions, carrots, and celery are the usual choices, but you can add garlic, leeks, tomatoes, or mushrooms for extra flavor. You can use whatever vegetables you have in your kitchen, but try to avoid potatoes, which can make the stock cloudy, or strong greens like kale, which may taste too bitter. Fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, or bay leaves, and a few peppercorns, can also make the stock...