Topic: Garlic and Ginger paste.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Remove clove from bulb, cut root end off, bash with the side of a knife, skin comes off easily.

Or, if you're in a rush, just cut the whole of the root end off the garlic bulb, lightly bash the bulb with the heel of the hand, and as above for each individual clove.

Yep, I'd go along with SS here : it is the lightly bash that is the key -- don't try to flatten the clove, just bash it enough to free the skin.
** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

I make it all the time, just my own view but I'm not keen on using pre-bought pastes, including spice pastes, it's just a step too close to using Lloyd Grossman sauces for my liking. I know people way say yeah but restaurants use them and that's fine but it's just not for me.

Steven you're a man after my own heart. Pastes are bad..mmmkay!

[Razor]

Hi SS,

I agree, a light bash, does help with the peeling.  I can't remember who it was that suggested giving them a bit of a soak in boiling water but I tried it, and it's even better than the 'lightly bash' method.  The skin almost slips off in one, once the root end has been cut away.

Still, would the restaurants do it though?  I just wonder that's all.  I'm thinking, how long does it take to knock up a nights service worth, half an hour - an hour.  Even if the guy doing it, is on minimum wage, it still works out cheaper to buy jarred than to make fresh!

Remember, I'm not asking which is best, only which is more likely to be used.

Ray  

P.S, I also agree with Stephen SS, pastes are bad, way too tart and shouldn't have a place in BIR or TA cooking, but unfortunately, this way of commercial cooking seems to be the way.

[Secret Santa]

All the gg pastes that I have seen in the videos are really bright white but whenever I have blended it with just water, within no time at all, it turns green, and I mean proper green.

Ray, if you blend with tap water you are adding all sorts of 'additives' to the mix, most of them copper based.

If you want to keep the colour then use only oil. And it is a 'mayo' of sorts but who cares, you're going to add it to a pan containing more oil.

Oh, and that greeny/blue aged GG mix is perfectly safe to eat.

[Razor]

SS,

Oh, and that greeny/blue aged GG mix is perfectly safe to eat.

I believe so, and I did use it but I couldn't enjoy my curry, just the thought of it made me wrench

So SS, what do you think that they do, buy in or blend their own?  Obviously, it's impossible to tar them all with the same brush, and it wouldn't be fair to do so, just can't help thinking that they are getting lazier and lazier, and is probably a good explanation as to why the food has gradually deteriorated over the years!

Ray

[Secret Santa]

Hi SS,

I agree, a light bash, does help with the peeling.  I can't remember who it was that suggested giving them a bit of a soak in boiling water but I tried it, and it's even better than the 'lightly bash' method.  The skin almost slips off in one, once the root end has been cut away.

Still, would the restaurants do it though?  I just wonder that's all.  I'm thinking, how long does it take to knock up a nights service worth, half an hour - an hour.  Even if the guy doing it, is on minimum wage, it still works out cheaper to buy jarred than to make fresh!

Remember, I'm not asking which is best, only which is more likely to be used.

Ray  

P.S, I also agree with Stephen SS, pastes are bad, way too tart and shouldn't have a place in BIR or TA cooking, but unfortunately, this way of commercial cooking seems to be the way.

Ray I'm convinced that this plays a part in my dislike of modern BIR fare.

I happen to dislike lemon in savoury curries because it is just not what I am used to from the past.

But, of course, lemon and the preservatives that are used in these commercial GG pastes have the same effect on the final dish, i.e. they make it taste sour.

I doubt very much that any run-of-the-mill BIR now peels and preps their own garlic and ginger. And I think that agrees with your opinion.

[Curry Barking Mad]

Hi All,
I can tell you that the three kitchens that I have been allowed to film in and the four others have all made the Garlic/Ginger paste fresh. Either with water or oil.
In my local I saw what I would describe as a small bucket of peeled garlic. I said that would have taken me all day. I was told that it took the chef, the tandoor chef and the cook/runaround lad about 20 minutes. It's one of those jobs that they all muck in for.
BTW they separate the cloves and leave them to soak in water for a few hours before peeling.
They do much of their prep between 12 and 2 pm for that evenings opening.
Mick

[Secret Santa]

Mick that's the sort of eye-witness experience we need here.

Why don't you post more often?

[Razor]

Hi Mick,

That's very reassuring indeed.  And thank god for actual first hand experiences such as this.

Ray

[Curry Barking Mad]

Mick that's the sort of eye-witness experience we need here.

Why don't you post more often?

SS,
I suppose because most of my time is spent on another site and although I don't have any issues with cr0 at all, I feel that on occasion people post on here and they can be faced with some less than pleasant responses,
I'm not saying everyone has to go round kissing everybody else's back side but some times it doesn't help and I feel without doubt it will stop people participating,
I am happy to post on here more often and see how things go.
Cheers,
Mick