Ginger Garlic paste is such an integral part of any Indian Cooking and I can’t imagine having to cook certain dishes without this paste. According to my Grandmother there is a logic behind using ginger and garlic paste to any dish. Ginger, being big in size than when compared to garlic diminishes in volume when made into a paste whereas garlic increases in volume when ground to paste. So she would always advise on using fresh paste ground especially for the particular dish instead of grinding them in bulk and storing them.
Though I whole heartedly agree with her and much as I wish to make and use the paste fresh, there happens to be a factor called “Time” which many of us are hard pressed for. As far as I‘m concerned it is better to use homemade paste instead of using store bought which reeks of preservatives instead of giving out either ginger or the aroma of garlic. Keeping my grandmother’s advise in mind I usually go for 60% ginger and 40% garlic while making this paste. When I went to drop the kids off at my MIL’s place I came back with 2 kgs of both ginger and garlic bought from “Sandhai” aka “Farmer’s Wholesale Market”. I made 1 kg of this paste and kept a small amount that you see in this bottle for day to day use which I keep on the Fridge shelf and I froze the remaining.
Fresh Ginger – 600 gms
Garlic / Naatu poondu – 400 gms
Vegetable oil – 5 tbsp
White Vinegar – 2 tbsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Peel the garlic pods and keep aside. Soak the ginger in water till they are immersed for some time. This will loosen any clay particles. Scrub with your fingers and wash under running water till it is clean.
I used a mini cheese grater to peel and grate away the skin. Wash once more to get rid of the skin sticking to the ginger. Chop them into pieces as shown above.
Place both the ginger and garlic in a mixer jar or food processor and pulse at regular intervals till they become a coarse paste. Mix with a spoon for even grinding. Now add the vegetable oil, white vinegar and salt and grind to a fine paste. Remove with a spoon into a clean, dry sterilized bottle and store in the refrigerator. Use as required.
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