Tid-Bits of North-Indian Dishes
To make 2G Paste:
- Take ginger and garlic (1:2) and roughly chop them.
- Add a pinch of salt and cooking oil.
- Grind them together to make a paste.
- I keep this paste handy as well as separate ones too for special dishes! And reducing quantities of garlic is always upto you… I love more of them, so I double the quantity than ginger :)
To make 3G Paste:
- Roughly chop green chillies too and grind along with 2G!
To make a Red Chilly Paste:
- Soak resham-patta chillies in water for half hour and take out all the seeds by cutting them.
- Pressure-cook them for 2-3 whistles and once they are cooled down, grind to make a fine paste.
- You can use this paste in any North-Indian gravy!
To make White Paste:
- Parboil cashew-nuts and melon seeds in water for 5 mins.
- Once they are cooled down to room temp, grind them to make a fine paste using minimal water.
- You can freeze it to store up to 2 weeks.
To make Brown Paste:
- Roughly chop onions and tomatoes (2:1).
- Heat oil in kadai and cook them with salt and turmeric powder until soft and tender.
- Grind to make a paste.
- It can be stored in freezer up to 1 week.
- Just take care while adding spices to make a gravy, as it already has salt and turmeric powder in it.
To make Red Paste:
- Roughly chop tomatoes.
- Cook them in oil with salt and turmeric powder until mushy in texture.
- Grind them to make a smooth paste.
- Store it in freezer easily for 1 week.
To make a Quick Marinade:
- Take 1/2 cup hung curd in a bowl.
- Add 2 tsp besan and mix to make a lump-free mixture.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, 2G paste, red chilly powder and tandoori masala (or garam masala) and mix well.
- Marinade your little entities in it and refrigerate as time permits.