How to make Ginger-Garlic Paste? ~ Indian Cooking Essential

There is hardly anything cooked in India without ginger and garlic. Most of the time, it is freshly peeled and pound to be added to the curry or stir fry or for whatever purpose it is being used. Being in a hurry all the time, nowadays a lot of them resort to the bottled ginger garlic paste. I was also guilty of the same. Being a working woman, it was really convenient for me to have a bottle of it in my fridge for my daily frugal cooking during that time. As the kids came along and we started staying with umma, I noticed she had moved on from freshly making to advance ground ginger garlic paste. When asked, she said it was convenient. And yes, it is convenient! The only work involved is the bulk peeling and cleaning. Once that is done, the remaining is a breeze. Not only that, you are saved from all those preservatives that threaten to get in to your food through the bottled ones on the supermarket aisle.

Once I started cooking more frequently, I used to make my ginger and garlic paste separately. I have already done a post before, which you can find here. Later it started getting a tad bit inconvenient and that is when I started making my ginger garlic paste, without grinding them separately. After a lot of research online, I settled down for a ratio of 2 parts of ginger to one part of garlic. What I understand is that equal portions may cause the garlic taste to overpower the paste. I am not sure, but it is my assumption! 🙂 The bottom line is – it tastes so much better that store bought! Whenever I make recipes that only require ginger or garlic, I peel them and pound them as per requirement. Otherwise, I use this paste. Initially, I used to have a problem of having a greenish tinge to my paste, which is Alhamdulillah gone now, thanks to Usha’s tip in the previous post of adding a pinch of turmeric. I normally soak up the ginger and garlic for an hour, making it easy to peel. Sometimes, I peel on one day and grind it on the next day! Hehe… Off to the way I make this basic!

5 from 2 votes

How to make Ginger-Garlic Paste? ~ Indian Cooking Essential

Course Condiments

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 450 gm ginger
• 300 gm garlic
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp salt
• Oil as required I use olive oil

Instructions

• Soak the ginger and garlic for an hour.
• Peel to remove all the skin. Wash under cold running water and pat dry.
• Chop them up into fair pieces and put into your grinder along with turmeric powder, salt and a couple of tablespoons of oil.
• Grind in little intervals till the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the blender using a DRY spoon and mix to ensure even grinding. If it gets too difficult, add little oil again.
• Empty into a clean and dry glass jar, store in the fridge, preferably inside and not on the door.
• Use when required with a clean and dry spoon.

Notes

This quantity makes approximately 500 gm of ginger garlic paste.
The paste keeps good in the fridge for a month.
Always use a dry glass bottle to keep the paste, preferably a sterilised one.
Ensure to scoop our with a clean spoon - a drop of water can cause the whole paste to get spoiled or get fungi attacks.