Tid-Bits of North-Indian Dishes

To make 2G Paste:

1. Take ginger and garlic (1:2) and roughly chop them.
2. Add a pinch of salt and cooking oil.
3. 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:

1. Soak resham-patta chillies in water for half hour and take out all the seeds by cutting them.
2. Pressure-cook them for 2-3 whistles and once they are cooled down, grind to make a fine paste.
3. You can use this paste in any North-Indian gravy!

To make White Paste:

1. Parboil cashew-nuts and melon seeds in water for 5 mins.
2. Once they are cooled down to room temp, grind them to make a fine paste using minimal water.
3. You can freeze it to store up to 2 weeks.

To make Brown Paste:

1. Roughly chop onions and tomatoes (2:1).
2. Heat oil in kadai and cook them with salt and turmeric powder until soft and tender.
3. Grind to make a paste.
4. 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:

1. Roughly chop tomatoes.
2. Cook them in oil with salt and turmeric powder until mushy in texture.
3. Grind them to make a smooth paste.
4. Store it in freezer easily for 1 week.

To make a Quick Marinade:

1. Take 1/2 cup hung curd in a bowl.
2. Add 2 tsp besan and mix to make a lump-free mixture.
3. 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.