Garlic paste on its own, without the ginger, gives you control over the ratio. Some dishes want garlic leading and ginger nowhere near.

It saves the job nobody enjoys. Peeling and crushing garlic in the quantities Indian cooking wants is genuinely tedious.

A spoonful into the onions, cooked until the raw smell has gone. Use it in curries, marinades, dal and anything Indian-Chinese, where garlic does most of the talking. Refrigerate once opened.

In the pantry aisle at Curry Corner, North Melbourne.