We were out of garlic the other day and had to use a local corner shop for supplies.

Now I'm a big fan of one particular jar of garlic pur?e (its preserved slightly in oil and a touch of citric acid I think) But it does have a good strong garlic flavour and works very well in most dishes !

I know most of you are now screaming "use fresh" but we can't always get it and sometimes what we can get its brilliant ! (the particular jar we get is often better would you believe !)

However the stuff we got in our emergency was in a tube (again from a well known manufacturer of spices) but it had almost no garlic taste/smell to it at all ! So convinced there was something wrong with it, I actually squeezed a pea sized portion on to my finger and was able to lick it without any problem, still very little flavour !

We then went to another shop and got some different garlic "sauce" "no need to chop" and this did have some smell and flavour but it was more like a citrus and garlic sauce with plenty of salt.

Niether worked very well for cooking (we used the entire tube just to make garlic bread that tasted like it might have been near some garlic !)....

So my point?... well if I'd been introduced to garlic pur?e from one of those others I would have run a mile and never considered using it again !

It also makes me think that when I say "use 1 tsp of garlic pur?e" in a recipe that it could be a completely different thing in someone elses recipe (would have been more like 4-5 tsp of the particular stuff in the tube ! Its not the first time we've had to buy the tubed stuff and it was the same last time)

Steve

I came across one garlic puree at a food show once, it definitely had a strong flavour. ' course I can't remember brand or product name now!

As for the jars, the good ones are decent enough as a backup, I'd say.

We can nearly always get garlic so do tend to use fresh but I'm no snob about always using fresh / home-made.

Garlic slices preserved by dehydrating/drying seem to retain more of their potency - available from larger Oriental grocers, or you could try making your own in times of abundance!

P.S. Mamta, I made your Lamb Chop Masaledar -the marinade was good enough to eat by itself! Everyone was knawing on the bones so they must have been tasty.

LOL! You are funny Winton, gnawing at the bones indeed!

I am glad it worked, but which recipe was it?

Mamta

Thanks Mamta - it was your 'this and that' recipe or I call 'bits and bobs' with the marinade ingredients all available from the kitchen cupboards - great for a stand-by! 'Spicy Lamb Steaks/Chops' http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13398

Next time I might try it with a tablespoon of tomato ketchup as well as think that could be an interesting addition.

How difficult is garlic to grow ? Could you grow it in a pot ? how much grows per plant?.. do you plant a clove and it grows a full bulb ?

Steve

Hi Steve, I have grown garlic in a pot but can't claim it my most successful horticultural experiment. Just stick a sprouting clove in a pot with good drainage (if you overwater the bulb will rot,) don't overcrowd the cloves, as the bulbs need space to grow. Eventually you should get bulbs to harvest but they will be smaller than the mother bulb (apparently you should get special bulbs for growing from a garden centre.)

While I can get cheap garlic from the market it is not an exercise I'd repeat but other readers may have had more success.

Sprouting ginger on the other hand is easy to grow and even if you don't get much of a harvest you will have enjoyed a rather ornamental house plant in the meantime!

thanks for that and do tell me more about ginger ??

Steve

Garlic is something I rarely run out of but do like having something in standby - just in case. Rajah (those providers of fine spices!) do a garlic powder that is very good - half a teaspoon equates to a medium sized clove of garlic. This powder is also great when I'm trying to inject some taste into disgusting Bisto gravy which my husband loves!

For ginger as a houseplant, once you find some roots sprouting just break off the fingers with the shoots on and plant in a large, well drained pot with the shoots just peeking out of the soil (you can soak them in warm water first overnight to give them a kick-start.)

Place the pot in a warm bright place (but preferably out of direct sunlight) keeping the soil moist but not wet adding some plant food every few weeks.

After seven months or so hopefully you will be able to harvest the new roots and repot the plant. When the temperature cools for winter the plant will enter a dormant period during which you should stop watering.

The leaves are quite ornamental and if you are lucky you might even see it flower with very unusual pineapple shaped flowers!

I'm intrigued ! In want to grow some ginger now !

Steve

Give it a try Steve. In the right spot and when the ginger roots are established it is rather like something from 'Jack and the Beanstalk' - you can literally see how much it has grown each day!

Best wishes, Winton

so take any bit of root and leave it until it sprouts ?

In a nutshell YES! Being rather disorganised I usually find some sprouting ginger lurking at the back of my vegetable rack which prompts me to plant it.

You should then get green ginger roots developing, far more tasty than from the supermarket.

Thanks I'm going to give it a go... will get some ginger today, how long does it take to sprout?.. any I leave seems to go soft and grey like its not far from rotting...?

Steve

Good luck Steve. It is not very easy in UK, but with warmer summers, you just might get enough. It is fun growing it though, and the plant is pretty. My dad used to grow it in India.

See http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/ginger_grow_it.html

Mamta

I think it is just luck of the draw Steve. Sometimes I buy ginger and it quickly shrivels up and dies, next time it remains plump and shoots beautifully. Just persevere and you'll soon be watching your own ginger growing!

been shopping, got some ginger root that I think has a chute already appearing..

watch this space...

Think this is going to be another windowsill pot...

Steve

TAKE SOME PICTURES! lol!!

I have added a lot of dal pictures today, especially here;Dal selection, going to have some rest now :-)!

Mamta

as if I'd not have taken some....LOL !!

Steve

You can then write bout how to grow ginger in uk :-)!

This is a little worrying though -

"Best grown as an annual in the UK. Cannot be grown outdoors even in the hottest part of summer: minimum temperature around 28?C."

even indoors we rarely see it that hot !

Steve

"can of worms".... been reading on some gardening forums and heated benches, massive buckets, drying the soil, cutting back, spliting, certain soils, indoors, heated greenhouses, nothing but a rotten piece of ginger etc.... and 3 years and still no "tubers".... are all being mentioned... sounds like it might be a lot more difficult than the shoving it in a pot that I had in mind !

Steve

Do not give up now Steve! Forget the misinformation you have been reading (probably on American websites) and rely on the tried, tested and trustworthy information on Mamta's website.

"shoving it in a pot that I had in mind !"

Yes! that's all you need to do! As long as you have some plump and sprouting roots they will grow successfully best situated on a window sill in the UK, watered regularly.

Looks like I will have to 'shove some in the pot' too! As I remeber it, my dad shoved it in a little sandy soil and left it to fend for itself.

The problem is that unless you can grow it in the garden in reasonable amounts, there isn't much point (except for fun), it will never be enough, especially for people like me who often put it even in things like PIZZA!

Mamta

not being a gardener type.. what is "loam" type soil as that what it suggested?.. I'm thinking more of growbag soil...!

The chute that comes out is that a root or the stem ?

thanks

Steve

Ginger 'root' is a rhizome. The green parts that comes out are leaves.

I mean when you have the root (ie bought from shop) and the little bit that starts to come out from it...is that what will be the stem coming out or is it what will be the root? .. So do I put the little lump of ginger in with the chute sticking up to grow into a stem or down to grow into a root ?

thanks

Steve

Whoops! Wrong button pressed - still recovering from my Eurovision party!

The green shoots should be planted upwards just peeking out of the soil, they will form the stem of the plant growing upwards. Hope this makes sense!