Frozen Garlic and Ginger

When building a curry, especially a meat curry, the three base ingredients are always onions, garlic and ginger, in fairly large quantities – I always say, “as much as you can be bothered to chop!” As I’ve already mentioned, with onions there is no shortcut. However, garlic and ginger are a different story. While tubes of puréed garlic and ginger pastes are available, they can leave a vinegary, astringent taste and come in fairly small quantities. All is not lost though, and for the pure, unadulterated punch of flavour that these dishes need, frozen cubes of crushed garlic and ginger are an absolute wonder. Not only do they save masses of the time in the kitchen, but you can keep large bags of them in the freezer, so you always have a ready stock to hand. They are garlic and ginger, pure and simple, with the only added preservative coming courtesy of the deep freeze. Find them in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores or large supermarkets. If I could only suggest one time-saving hack, it would be these.