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[technicallyacook]

Ready-to-use mashed potatoes for your dishes

Mashed potatoes are used in so many wonderful dishes. It can stand out on its own to make things like fried cheese-stuffed potato balls or spicy potato cutlets, or you can use as part of a larger recipe such as aloo paranthas, shepherds pie, or pav bhaji. Sometimes I just feel like experimenting! Potatoes are cheap, delicious, and pretty dang nutritious!

But on some days, I don't feel like going through the whole process of peeling, cutting, boiling, and mashing the potatoes. Here's a great solution: keep mashed potatoes in your freezer!

I like to do this right after I buy my potatoes. I'll buy a 5 pound bag and peel, chop, boil, and mash the whole thing. I divide it into 10 sandwich bags, so each bag is 1/2 pound. Squeeze all the air out, flatten the bag evenly, and freeze the bags in a stack. Once frozen, the flattened bag thaws quickly in hot water! Just 5 minutes and your mashed potatoes are ready to use. It'll keep in your freezer for many months.

The most important thing is to NEVER salt your potatoes or add any other ingredients. Only potatoes. Adding other ingredients risks it becoming soggy when you defrost. And don't overcook!

I also highly recommend using a potato ricer, rather than an old fashioned potato masher. It will keep your potatoes soft and fluffy, not gluey. It also prevents lumps which in most recipes can be an issue. Overworking your potatoes with a masher ruins the texture! This is true whether you freeze it or use it fresh.

I often just thaw the potatoes and mix all the spices inside the bag rather than dirtying a bowl, then scoop it into a hot pan with oil for super fast potato cutlets. Or you can even snip the corner of the bag and pipe it on top of shepherds pie, or right into some hot oil for some fried potato sticks!

[technicallyacook]

Why I never use frozen or jarred garlic

Ok, that's a little misleading. I do use jarred garlic for some curries, but most of the time I use fresh or granulated garlic. I DO NOT recommend blending and freezing your own garlic, either.

The aromas and flavors which make garlic so tasty are created by cutting the cells of the garlic. Once those flavors are created, they will begin to break down and the garlic will lose flavor within days or even hours. The exception is in granulated/powdered garlic, as this garlic has been freeze dried which stops this process until water is added.

Look, I know you're looking for convenience, but garlic is already so convenient on it's own! A head of garlic is naturally shelf stable and does not need to be frozen. Simply peel the cloves as needed. Peeling is not hard, simply wack it with the side of your knife and you have a fresh peeled clove. Use a garlic press for instant garlic paste. Wash the garlic press right away and it takes only seconds, nothing sticks.

So, when do I use garlic paste? Well, if you aren't really looking for garlic flavor and are instead using it for acidity, for example in many Indian curries, you can use garlic paste. But if you're actually looking for that fresh complex garlic flavor, use the fresh stuff. Garlic powder will offer a slightly simpler but stronger flavor and with very little heat.

Fresh garlic is also usually a little bit cheaper, though the difference isn't as big as it is with ginger.

I strongly recommend watching Ethan Chlebowski's video on the subject. He goes into much greater detail about how to use garlic and the science behind all of this. America's test kitchen also has a great video about this!

[technicallyacook]

Save money, make your own ginger paste.

It's not that hard, and yes it will last. I make mine about every 3 months. It's pretty simple, but to keep it preserved you do need to add some extra ingredients. Oil, salt, garlic, and vinegar together all do a fantastic job of preserving it.

It saves you a ton of money. I was paying $5 for a teeny tiny jar, which lasted me 3 weeks at most. Now I make almost a liter at a time and it costs me $8 at most.

Here's your ingredients:

450g ginger

1/2 head garlic, peeled

45mL vinegar (3 tbsp)

45mL oil (3tbsp)

1 tbsp salt

Peel your ginger and cut into 1" pieces. It's possible your electric blender/food processor may be able to blend this with no issue, but mine needs some help, so I also use my motor and pestle to slightly mash it first before adding it to the blender. Once it's all the the blender, I just add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Just transfer to a jar, store in the fridge, and there you go! Fresh ginger paste for a fraction of the cost.

[technicallyacook]

A curry base you can use for anything

I know that's a big claim. But as long as you're making a curry with a base of tomato, onion, ginger, and garlic, this base will serve you well. You can use it for chicken, rajma, chole, paneer, pav bhaji, etc.

And it's only $1 per serving. In Toronto.

I'm a busy woman and I make a lot of curry. I make a double batch of this recipe and freeze it in an ice cube tray then dump the cubes into a freezer bag to use later as needed. I use it in various curries throughout the week. And no, they don't all taste the same. How? Because this curry base doesn't have spices. You're just taking the most time-consuming part of curry (browning the onions, simmering and reducing the tomatoes, etc) and doing that ahead of time.

Here's my recipe (makes 6-8 servings):

1 can Tomatoes (without calcium chloride) or 1.5kg (3 pounds) fresh. (See my post about canned tomatoes and why they're better)

750g (1.5 pounds) Red Onion

1 head garlic, peeled

4 small spoonfuls ginger paste, or 1" fresh (see my post on how to make and preserve your own ginger paste to save money)

Ghee or oil

Peel and slice your onions. You could chop them roughly if you'd like, because later we will be blending it. However, I like slicing them thin, to give the onion more surface area for browning. More browning gives more flavor.

Heat a pot or saucepan on medium heat and add ghee or oil, about 1/4-1/2 cup (50-100mL). I prefer a pot as it prevents those splatters from getting all over the stove, but a saucepan will do fine.

Add your onions and stir frequently

While the onions are browning, peel your garlic. If using fresh ginger, remove the skin and cut into smaller pieces.

Once onions are nicely browned, add your garlic and ginger. Continue cooking for a few more minutes, stirring frequently, until garlic is lightly browned. Do not burn.

Add the whole can of tomatoes. If using fresh tomatoes instead, roughly cut first and remove the stem. Use a potato masher to break up the tomatoes a bit and release all the juices.

Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low and simmer. Allow to cook until very thick, up to an hour or possibly more. Stir regularly to prevent burning.

Once fully thickened, transfer to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.

Transfer to an ice tray. Freeze for at least 8 hours before transferring to a freezer bag.

To use your curry base:

Simply add when you're supposed to add your tomatoes in a curry recipe, along with water as needed for the correct consistency. Use to replace onions, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes. You may need to add additional onions, garlic, etc depending on the exact recipe, but usually you don't.

Here's an example recipe for rajma. You can use the same process for other legumes, just alter the spices. For meat/paneer/soya you can either follow the same process, or you can first marinate and fry the meat/paneer/soya separately before adding it to your finished tadka. For pav bhaji, I recommend first boiling and mashing the veggies separately before adding it to the curry. I also recommend adding some extra garlic paste for pav bhaji. Aside from that, just use your imagination! The possibilities are endless.

Rajma (makes 2-3 servings)

In an Indian pressure cooker on medium heat, add: a large spoonful of ghee, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 black cardamom, 2-3 green cardamom, and 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Add 2tsp fennelseed powder, 1/2tsp tumeric, 2tsp coriander powder, 1/4tsp chili powder, 1/2tsp ground cumin, a pinch of hing, and salt to taste.

Quickly, before the spices burn, add a handful of frozen curry base cubes, and a splash of water. Let the cubes melt completely, then add more water to adjust the thickness. If it's too thick it will burn while cooking the beans.

Add red kidney beans. If canned, drain and rinse first. Close the pressure cooker and cook 20 minutes.

Release the pressure, open, and give the beans a slight mash with a potato masher. Adjust the thickness if needed with water. If too thin, simmer until reduced.

Finish with 1/2tsp garam masala. Taste and add any other spices as needed.

[technicallyacook]

Tomatoes are too expensive.

If you're making a tomato-based sauce or curry, try some canned tomatoes. Just trust me on this. Quality canned tomatoes are not only just as good as fresh tomatoes, they are usually BETTER. The "fresh" ones in the grocery store are trash! Here in Toronto you'll spend $3 for a big can of quality tomatoes. $3 will get you maybe two fresh tomatoes which are mostly water and have barely any flavor. Canned tomatoes usually have the skin removed and are partially cooked which will speed up the cooking for sauces and curries. It makes quite a lot of curry, too! More than an equal volume of fresh tomatoes.

Before buying them, check the ingredient list on your canned tomatoes for an additive called "calcium chloride".. this is a preservative which will alter the flavor and texture. It's no good. Check each brand until you find one with only tomatoes, tomato juice/puree, and optionally salt (sodium chloride). These are the ones to use.

Of course, you can't use canned tomatoes for everything. If you want a topping for your burgers or something similar, you'll need the regular stuff. But for curries and sauces, canned tomatoes are the best!

This tip saves money, saves time, AND improves the quality of your dish!!