Showing posts with label Basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basics. Show all posts



After spices, ginger-garlic paste is the second most used ingredient in Indian cooking. The paste is a staple in almost all of the Indian household refrigerator. It is super easy to make and the batch can last up to 5 months in the refrigerator. 



Ingredients:

Ginger 1 cup
Garlic  2 cups

Method:


Peel the ginger, and garlic. Coarsely chop ginger into pieces approximately the size of garlic.  


Blend the ginger and garlic together in a food processor. That's it, no need to add water it will blend on its own into a smooth paste.




Transfer the paste in a glass jar with lid and store it in the refrigerator. When handling the paste always use clean, dry spoon. 


*Depending on the amount of paste you want to make just remember the ratio is 1:2 ginger to garlic.



*you can add salt to the paste when blending, but just remember to reduce the amount of salt when cooking.
Before jumping in and starting to cook, I think it is important to learn the basics. One of the most important and often a mysterious aspect of Indian food is understanding the use of spices. Simply put spices, or masala (blend of spices), equals flavor, and fragrance. Almost all the dishes involve some combination of spices. For people like my mom, nanima (grandmother), and aunt it almost a second nature knowing which spices to use in combination or in a particular dish. But for right now I will stick to the basics. Below are some of the most common spices used in everyday Indian cooking, and are readily available in Indian grocery stores. 

1) Clove (lavang)
2) Cumin (jeera)
3) Turmeric (haldi)
4) Garam masala 
5) Fenugreek seeds (meethi)
6) Salt (namak)
7) Black pepper (mari)
8) Cinnamon stick (taaj)
9) Cardamom pods (ilachi)
10) Mustard Seeds (raai)