Indian Ginger Garlic Paste
If you love cooking Indian dishes, a ginger and garlic paste bottle is a must-have spice blend in your refrigerator. Like garam masala, ghee, and spices, ginger garlic paste is also a quintessential part of our Indian pantry. It is a gluten-free, vegan wet paste of ginger and garlic.
Ginger is known as ‘adrak’ and garlic as ‘lehsun’ in Hindi. Hence, in India, this paste is also known as adrak lehsun ka paste.
The ancient Indian recipes required crushing ginger or garlic each time in a mortar using a pestle. But nowadays, due to a busy schedule, this ready-to-use paste comes in handy for everyday cooking.
It is a simple blend of fresh ginger and garlic with an addition of preservatives like salt, turmeric, vinegar, or oil.
And the best part is all you need is less than 20 minutes and only 4 ingredients to make it from scratch at home without any cooking.
Homemade vs Readymade
Nowadays, packaged ginger garlic paste is readily available in supermarkets worldwide. But I still prefer making it at home because:
there are no harmful preservatives, chemicals, or artificial tastemakers one can make it in desired quantity and store it for days to months the taste is natural and adds a great depth of flavour to the dishes making it at home is a fuss-free, no-cooking process it is full of nutrients and medicinal benefits meal prep, budget, and freezer friendly
What You Need
Ginger: Fresh ginger root without its skin and roughly chopped. Look for firm, mold-free ginger root. Wash and get rid of all the dirt/mud before peeling. Garlic: I prefer to buy peeled garlic from the supermarket. It saves me a lot of time and effort. You can use a head of garlic and peel the cloves at home. Salt: I add half a teaspoon of table salt to the paste. It acts as a preservative. But then make sure to add salt to the main dishes accordingly. Oil: I add refined oil while grinding the paste. It helps bring the paste together and extends its shelf life. Any light and flavourless oil work well. Do not use ghee, mustard oil, or intensely flavoured oil. Equipment: Wet Grinder or blender with a strong blade
Watch Ginger Garlic Paste Video
My Tried & True Tips
The perfect ratio for ginger garlic paste is 1:1 (equal amount of ginger and garlic). Make sure to wash ginger roots nicely with water to get rid of dirt and mud. Pat them dry using a clean kitchen towel before scraping/peeling them. AVOID USING WATER to grind the ginger garlic paste. It reduces the shelf life of the blend. If you want to use it within the next few days or freeze it, adding 1 – 2 tablespoons of water is OK to grind the paste. Else avoid using water. DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH SALT OR OIL. The ginger and garlic paste should not reek of salt and oil. The key flavour of the paste should be natural ginger and garlic. DO NOT LEAVE IT at room temperature for more than 1 hour, especially in a tropical climate. Always store it in the refrigerator or freeze it.
Storage Suggestion
For immediate use (within a week or fortnight), transfer ginger garlic paste to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. Always use a clean, dry spoon to scoop out the quantity needed. For freezing, transfer the paste to silicone ice cube trays and cover them with a lid or cling foil. Keep the tray in the freezer. Once frozen, you can store the paste cubes in ziplock bags or containers. You can store ginger garlic paste from a week to months at personal convenience.
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