Ginger-garlic paste

Ginger and garlic are the two building block ingredients to endless home cooked Indian meals. It is the base on which many of your favourite meals rest. Although I have given you a specific quantity for the ingredients, you can always make extra and keep it in your fridge. It will last you up to 10 days that way and it is also easily frozen with a little water in an ice cube tray.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• ¼ cup garlic, roughly chopped
• A pinch of salt

Method(s)

There are three ways to do this and which one you pick depends on which kitchen tools you have at home. For the third method, it’s best to leave the ginger and garlic whole.

Mechanised method: Take the ginger, garlic and salt and put them in a high-speed blender or food processor and pulse until it turns into a smooth paste. You will need to scrape down the side of the jars once or twice to get it going. Most middle-class Indians have a “mixie”, which is a small (but powerful) blender that’s useful for making masala pastes. If you have one of those, use it here.

Muscle method 1: Place the roughly chopped ginger and garlic pieces mortar and sprinkle some salt over it. The salt helps to break down the skins of both roots. Pound it to a paste using the pestle.

Muscle method 2: Grate the ginger and garlic using either a Microplane or the small holes of a box grater. Mix them together and season with salt. If you’d like you can also break down the garlic by sprinkling salt over it and smashing it with the back of a knife.

Did you know?

You could peel ginger using a spoon?