Friday 22 October 2010

Frozen Fresh Ginger, green chilies & fresh garlic






Working full time and living away from any shops selling ethnic food stuff, I have to buy in bulk whenever I can get any fresh herbs or vegetables.   Most curries tend to need, ginger, garlic or fresh green chillies    I am sharing with you my tips on how to freeze ginger, garlic and green chillies.  It is really easy and simple and I am sure most of you must be doing the same.

Ingredients

Fresh ginger
lemon juice
a very small amount of salt
Fresh green chillies

Method:

For ginger:

1.   Soak the fresh ginger for at least half an hour.

2.  Peel the ginger and using a sharp knife or grater, cut it into small slices.

3. Wash it again and put it in a blender

4. Cover the ginger slices with fresh lemon and add a small amount of salt (less than a teaspoon). I tend to add enough  mixture of half lemon juice and half water to enable the blender to blend the ginger.

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5. Once blended, pour them into ice cube trays. (I picked up some cheap trays which I only use for freezing the ginger and chillies).   The cubes from my ice tray are just the right size for my cooking. You can half fill your trays if you feel you do not need a whole cube for your cooking. Or you can make your mixture slightly runny and freeze it if you don't want a big concentration of ginger.

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6.   Freeze this mixture overnight.  Remove the cubes and save them in a ziplock bag in the freezer.  

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For Green chillies:

1. Wash the chillies and remove the stems

2. Cut them into managable pieces.

3. Put them in the blender, pour in a mixture of half lemon juice and half water together with salt and blend. Again- you can make the mixture slightly runny if you don't want to use too much chilly concentration.  Once frozen - they should be the right concentration for your cooking.

4. Pour them in the ice trays.

5. When frozen remove and save in a zip lock bag in the freezer



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For Garlic


For Garlic, peel the garlic and blend it with a very small amount salt, 2-3 tteaspoons of lemon and some water. Once blended, pour into ice tray and freeze overnight.  remove and save in zip lock bags.

Tip:  You can blend ginger garlic and chillies separately or together.  Here I have frozen a layer of garlic and then frozen some green chillies in the same ice tray to make a combination of the two flavours.



Frozen Ginger, garlic and chillies are ideal to use in any recipe.  You can use them frozen or defrosted depending on the recipe.  They are perfect for any curries, dalls  and soups plus they save a lot of time.

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13 comments:

  1. superb idea of freezing ginger n geen chillies ...beautiful post ...but one doubt how much lemon juice we have to add??n later while adding these cubes in curry or any other dish ,wont lemon taste effect the dish??
    hope u don't mind mina

    Satya
    http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

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  2. interesting method to preserve fresh spices..

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  3. This is such a time saving method to have ginger and chillies at hand.

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  4. useful info and easy task mina..great for new learners ...i do this with ginger/garlic/chillies/onions/fruits..easy to use whenev u r in need....
    stuck and busy these days...wil catch up with all ur delicious posts soon....

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  5. I do the same with ginger garlic paste, helpful post..

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  6. very useful post.... i will through away my left over chillies when they become old... good way to keep them for longer days in a fresh way...

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  7. Jayshree Davé23 October 2010 at 18:00

    I too always have ground chillies and ginger in the freezer - makes life so much easier, specially when you are in a hurry! I used to freeze it in ice cube trays but now I put the crushed ginger(and chillies) in a freezer bag and pat it into a thin patty and freeze it. When needed I just break off a portion and put the rest back in the freezer. I do not have a big freezer so this works better for me as it does not take up too much room.
    Great idea though!

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  8. I do this to ginger-garlic paste. But didn't do for green chillies. Will do so, hence forth. Thank you for posting.

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  9. Hello, There is a surprise waiting for you at my place!

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  10. A wonderful space you`ve got here mina..Glad to be following u!!!

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  11. Finally! Sensible advice on how to use these strange frozen foods.

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