Spusht: ginger for tea

Problem 1: I developed a habit and liking for Tea in my last trip to India ("chaska", as called in Hindi)
Problem 2: I am not comfortable driving in the new city without a GPS (ours was stolen)
Problem 3: My fussy, moody husband would neither go do grocery himself, nor take me

So we did not go do grocery for over two weeks in January. Because the last time we went...
Alok: Man, I'm not going to come for grocery again for next few weeks. Make sure you bought enough.
Me: You mad? How am I going to extend the life of vegetables until then?

Oh Ginger, I have never loved you so much before

So the two weeks that I desperately longed for ginger to make tea, I went ahead and lived without it. Many times I wanted to just put my ginger paste despite the salt, but my sanity stopped me. However, some 17 days later when we went grocery shopping first week of this month, I bought enough ginger to last me for months so that I don't depend on him. For months.

Pound, grate, or grind ginger for tea - whatever works for you

If it were a small amount, I could have pounded the ginger in mortar and pestle or used a grater and then stored in freezer. But we are talking about a LOT of ginger here. Leaving some ginger to be used fresh, I threw rest of the diced ginger into blender and grate/grind into a paste with just few drops of water. Then I measured 1 tsp and 1 Tbsp of the ginger paste and froze them in ice cube trays. Next day, transferred into ziploc bags with date and measurements.

Now whenever I have to make Indian Chai real quick for myself, I put the 1 tsp frozen cube in boiling water. And when Mr. Fussy wants tea too, I put in the 1 Tbsp cube of this ginger paste for 2 cups of tea. It has actually made making tea a little faster too (than rinsing, peeling, grating fresh ginger and the cleaning up).

And now, every time Alok asks for the Indian Ginger Tea (adrak ki chai), a part of me ... ;-)

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