Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) is widely used as a flavoring in the Subcontinent, most often in the form of garlic mashed to a paste, in a mortar. In a kitchen without a mortar, it’s difficult to make a small quantity of garlic paste (though you can make a large quantity using a food processor or a mini-chopper). The best alternative to garlic paste is minced garlic or crushed garlic (crushed in a garlic press or with the flat side of a kitchen knife); in these recipes, we generally call for “minced garlic or garlic mashed to a paste.”