Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Garlic/Ginger Paste

[Cory Ander]

Posted by PanPot an moved to here by CA

Ingredients:

- Garlic cloves 180gms
- Ginger chopped 120 gms
- Turmeric 1 1/2 tsp
- oil 1/2 cup

Method:

- Blend and heat until beginning to fry and flavours are released
- Remove from heat and, once cool, cover with additional oil

Will keep for up to 15 days or can be frozen.

[gazman1976]

ok i made the garlic and ginger paste last night, later today i am going to make the bunjarra and then i will make the base this evening for a curry tomorrow and will report back with pics

[gazman1976]

ok made this , took a while peeling all the garlic lol

[Panpot]

Week done Gary I see you have prepared the G/G Paste, you won't regret it.PP

[Peripatetic Phil]

Just about to try the Ashoka marinade/pre-cook for the very first time, but am uncertain how to interpret "blend" in "Blend and heat until beginning to fry and flavours are released."  Is this "blend" as in "use a blender", or "stir together in the oil" ?

** Phil.

[Ramirez]

Phil, it needs to be blended (using a blender) then heated in a frying pan.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Phil, it needs to be blended (using a blender) then heated in a frying pan.

Many thanks, Ramirez : now full of confidence, I shall make a start !
** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

OK, I have now made the Ashoka garlic/ginger paste, but in the process this has raised as many questions as it has answered :

1) In "Blend and heat until beginning to fry and flavours are released", how significant is the word "fry" ?  In other words, is it necessary to heat the mixture until all the water released by the ginger and garlic has evaporated, and we are then clearly "frying" as opposed to "braising", or are we deemed to be "frying" right from the outset, despite the presence of the water released by the G & G ? And are we aiming for a colour change in the garlic and turmeric to indicate that cooking has definitely taken place ?

2) The recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric, and of course I used ground turmeric, but given the texture of the other two ingredients (and particularly of the ginger), I wonder whether anyone has experimented with a variant that uses fresh turmeric ?

3) Blending was not 100% successful; the mixture was so thick that it tended to stick in the goblet and not sink down onto the blades, and although I used a plastic masher to push the mixture back down, I clearly had to be very careful when doing this to avoid liquidising the masher :-(  Given that it is the ginger that is the hardest to liquidise, because of its fibrous nature, I wonder if there is any merit in liquidising the ginger first, and then adding the cloves of garlic only once the ginger has completely broken down ?  Or might it be safe to increase the volume of oil, thereby making the mixture thinner so that it slides more easily down the goblet wall ?

4) Despite soaking the garlic overnight, it still took a long time to peel 180g; has anyone tried one of these electric garlic peelers, and if so, how successful was it ?

** Phil.

[976bar]

There is a much simpler way of preparing garlic and ginger puree.

I always make these separately and I always keep them in separate jars. This way I can add as much or little of each ingredient as I want.

There is no set amount of garlic or ginger, just peel about 6-8 bulbs of garlic, peel and chop as many root bulbs of ginger as you want. (I guess this will depend on the size of the jar you want to keep it in really).

When cutting the ginger, cut in lengthways first then cut across the ginger. This is because it's very fibrous and if not cut down into small chunks first, it can be a bit of a bind trying to blend it too a smooth puree.

Then add the ginger or garlic to the blender/food processor, add 1 tsp ground turmeric and pour in about 3 tblsp of rapeseed oil. Blend away until you have a yellowish very smooth puree. If it seems a little dry add a little more oil. It should be the consistency of tomato puree out of a tube really, maybe a little more runny.

Pop it in the jar to about half an inch below the lid, then pour on some more oil. This prevents the air from getting to it and it will last 4-6 weeks in the fridge. Mine only lasts about 3 weeks as I use it all up in this time.

Do the same with the ginger

I don't think it needs frying at this stage as it gets all the cooking it needs when being added to the final dish plus you will get more aroma from it this way, rather than it being fried first, then stored.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I don't think it needs frying at this stage as it gets all the cooking it needs when being added to the final dish plus you will get more aroma from it this way, rather than it being fried first, then stored.

Many thanks for your advice, "976bar", but one more question if I may ?  As this is to be used in the Ashoka Chicken Marinade (and therefore won't get any more cooking until the final dish is prepared) do you think that the "heat until it starts to fry and the flavours are released" might be more significant in this context ?

** Phil.