Mom's Secret Garlic Ginger Paste
This sauce is the the real secret "ingredient" that makes my mother's chicken curry in such high demand. I co-opted it for my own "secret chicken curry" (recipe to be available in the near future in a blog posting entitled "Secret Chicken Curry").
Equipment:
Food processor or blender. I use a mini food processor that I picked up in a department store for about $14.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Place the first three ingredients into the food processor. (Make in 2 batches if your food processor is small.) Now add 2 tbsps of oil to the processor. Pulse the mixture until it starts to form a paste. If your processor blade starts to stick, stop and add another 1-2 tbsp of oil, as necessary, then pulse again. Repeat as necessary until you have a smooth, slightly foamy, thick white paste with no lumps. For safety, use a rubber spatula to remove the processor or blender.
Use:
This paste has many uses. Besides adding a very rich flavour to food, it thickens broths. Ginger and garlic are also reputed to clean up your blood stream by thinning your blood out a bit. My mother and I use this paste in our versions of chicken curry, but it can also be used in stir fries, stews, or even thick, creamy-textured soups. It's very easy to make, but when you do use it, add it later in the cooking process or it may burn. But add it early enough that its flavours distribute well through the dish. This works best if you add it to a large quanity of liquid, such as water or broth. Keep in mind that because of the sugars in the onion, the paste will give a sweetish taste to whatever you add it to.
(c) Copyright 2005 Raj Kumar Dash, http://curryelviscooks.blogspot.com
Equipment:
Food processor or blender. I use a mini food processor that I picked up in a department store for about $14.
Ingredients:
- Peeled and sliced ginger - 1-2 tsps
- Peeled and diced garlic - 1-3 buds as desired
- Peeled and diced onion - 1 cup [Use white, yellow, or spanish onion for best results. You can use Vidalia, but the paste will already be on the sweetish side.]
- Olive or canola oil - 2+ tbsp, as necessary
Instructions:
Place the first three ingredients into the food processor. (Make in 2 batches if your food processor is small.) Now add 2 tbsps of oil to the processor. Pulse the mixture until it starts to form a paste. If your processor blade starts to stick, stop and add another 1-2 tbsp of oil, as necessary, then pulse again. Repeat as necessary until you have a smooth, slightly foamy, thick white paste with no lumps. For safety, use a rubber spatula to remove the processor or blender.
Use:
This paste has many uses. Besides adding a very rich flavour to food, it thickens broths. Ginger and garlic are also reputed to clean up your blood stream by thinning your blood out a bit. My mother and I use this paste in our versions of chicken curry, but it can also be used in stir fries, stews, or even thick, creamy-textured soups. It's very easy to make, but when you do use it, add it later in the cooking process or it may burn. But add it early enough that its flavours distribute well through the dish. This works best if you add it to a large quanity of liquid, such as water or broth. Keep in mind that because of the sugars in the onion, the paste will give a sweetish taste to whatever you add it to.
(c) Copyright 2005 Raj Kumar Dash, http://curryelviscooks.blogspot.com
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