A great paste to have available when the dish calls for both garlic and ginger.
NOTE: This recipe was revised October 2021. Revision are indicated in the Kitchen Notes.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information.
Add all ingredients to a blender.
Taste. Adjust ingredients for desired balance.*
Transfer into a clean jar and refrigerate.
Refrigerate 3 - 6 months worth and freeze the rest in small containers.
Oil - There are a lot of recipes for ginger-garlic paste with slight differences. Some recipes use water while others use oil. I prefer oil because the paste doesn’t splatter when you add it to hot oil, plus I like the consistency better.
According to an experiment run by the testers at Cook’s Illustrated “steeping cut garlic in lemon juice mellows its flavor” (January/February 2011). I tested it myself and found it to be true; therefore, I add lime juice to my ginger-garlic paste to remove some of the bite from the chopped garlic. I chose lime instead of lemon because many of the dishes that I use this paste in, I also use lime.
Whenever a recipe calls for both garlic and ginger, replace with about 1/2 the amount in paste. For example, 2 garlic cloves and 2 slices of minced ginger can be replaced with about 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste. You may need to adjust to your tastes.
Revisions: The pungency of the fresh ginger dictates the amount of garlic needed. Some ginger is relatively mild and works best with a 3:2 ratio (ginger:garlic). However, fresh organic ginger can be quite pungent and needs and equal amount of garlic. This is why is important to taste after the initial puree.
Instead of draining and discarding the lime juice, I keep and add to the blender with the garlic.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen