Ok, so let’s talk ingredients. You’ll probably already know that curries contain a fair helping of garlic and ginger, so you are going to be using them. A lot! Knowing how to make ginger garlic paste for curry is key to making your curry taste authentic. In this quick recipe, we are going to show you how.
How to Make Ginger Garlic Paste for Curry | Recipe
Ok guys, let’s get straight down to it. You don't need much fancy equipment to make Indian Curry.
Here’s What Equipment You’ll Need: -
- A sharp knife
- A chopping board
- A metal spoon
- A measuring spoon
- A blender
- … Oh and some rubber gloves (seriously)
Ingredients for Garlic Ginger Paste
- 4-5 whole bulbs of garlic
- A hand-sized piece of ginger
- 5 tablespoons of oil
- 5 tablespoons of water
- ½ teaspoon of salt
Here’s what to do…
1) Your first chop is going to be to peel the garlic. Now here’s an easy way to do it that I learned in the Indian kitchen.
2) Break the bulb into cloves and place them all on their side. Place the flat side of a knife on top and give each clove a sharp bang. You should find that the skin breaks off!
There are other ways too… I haven’t tried them, but apparently, they work?
3) Place each peeled clove in your blender.
4) Now its time to peel the ginger.
Want another top Indian chef trick?
Don’t peel your ginger like you would a potato! Using a knife wastes good ginger!
Instead, do this…
Take a metal spoon and scrape it along the ginger. It is so much quicker and far less fiddly! Here’s how quick and easy it is
5) Once the ginger has been peeled, chop this into inch-long sections and place it in the blender with the garlic. Tip the oil over the ginger and garlic, and then add the salt and water.
6) Give it a blitz until you have a really smooth paste. We don’t want any big bits. Your ginger garlic paste should be quite loose.
That’s it! Job done!
Given the number of ingredients above, that should give you enough ginger garlic paste for around 15-20 curries? Not bad for a few quid?
How Long does Homemade Ginger Garlic Paste Last?
On its own in the fridge, covered?
Your ginger garlic paste will last for around 2-3 weeks. Due to the high oil content and salt, it will stay pretty good for a while.
However, it is a lot of paste. Even having a curry a day, you’ll still struggle to use it all. But here is the good news.
You can freeze ginger garlic paste really easily.
Read on to find out more…
How to Freeze Ginger Garlic Paste for Curry
So you’ve just made a huge batch of paste, perfect for use in loads of curries. But now you want to store it.
Well, here’s how to do it…
You are going to need an ice cube tray. I have two rules when it comes to ice cube trays
- I have a dedicated ‘garlic ginger paste tray’… Gin and tonic with garlic? No thanks!
- I use a silicone tray. That way, I can just pop the cubes out when I need them.
You don’t need to oil or line your tray before freezing. The mixture has oil in already, and it pops out pretty easily.
Just measure out spoonfuls of the paste into each tray. I like one cube to equal one tablespoon. It expands slightly when it freezes, so leave a little gap at the top to allow for this.
Place it in the freezer. Job done. It will last for around 6 months!
Why Not Just Buy Garlic and Ginger Paste?
You want to make your curry taste like an authentic BIR Indian takeaway, right?
Well, here’s the thing.
They don’t use shop-bought ginger garlic paste for curry in your local Indian. The shop-bought jars are really good value, and you get a lot of paste in there...
The downside is how they keep it fresh. If you don’t believe me, buy a small jar and see for yourself. Shop bought garlic and ginger is more like a kind of pickle. Give a jar a smell. Does it smell really acidic?
Yep, that’ll be citric acid. Here… Have a look at the ingredients. If you check out my curry recipes, see how often you can find ‘citric acid’ included... It doesn’t feature because it makes the curry taste a little bitter and sour.
I don’t like my curry to be bitter and sour.
If you don’t have the time, there is a way you can buy garlic and ginger paste without citric acid.
Pay a visit to your local Asian supermarket. Go to the freezer section. Often, you’ll find that they sell frozen cubes of paste with a water base. Sound like anything you’ve just seen?
How to Use Frozen Ginger Garlic Paste in Curry
So you’ve assembled your preprepared cubes of deliciousness? But your madras craving has hit, and you want to make a quick curry? Here’s how to use your paste…
I do it one of two ways.
- If I’ve got time, I’ll thaw the paste out before use. I either leave it in a bowl for an hour or so. Or if I’m in a bit of a rush, I’ll tip it into a cup with a splash of boiling water.
- If I am in a real rush, I add the frozen cube straight to the pan. When cooking curry with ginger garlic paste, you’ll normally start the curry with it, so you don’t need to worry about cooling the pan down and halting the cooking process. Just be careful if you are using hot oil as it can spit.
In Summary
This is probably one of the easiest recipes on my list. Along with base gravy, garlic paste is one of the key building blocks of authentic make at home curry. Knowing how to make ginger garlic paste for curry will save you a lot of time and effort, and you can really taste the difference. Have you tried making your own? How did it turn out? Let me know in the comments below
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