Ginger, Garlic & Onion Powder

These powders are made by drying the fresh vegetable and milling it fine. Ginger powder, called sonth in Hindi and sukku in Tamil, is warmer and more peppery than fresh ginger and goes into chai masala, sweets and the Kashmiri dishes that call for it by name. Garlic and onion powder dissolve into dry rubs, tikka marinades, batters for pakora and fried chicken, and the seasoning on homemade crisps.

Powder and fresh are not quite the same thing. Fresh ginger and garlic give a curry base its juicy, sharp start, while the dried forms are better in coatings, spice mixes and anything that should stay dry. White onion powder is mild and sweet, useful in gravies for people who dislike biting into onion. For a wet paste to start a curry, see ginger garlic paste.

As a rough guide, an eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder stands in for one clove, and a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger for a tablespoon of grated fresh root. Onion and garlic powders clump in steam, so shake them into a spoon away from the pan. For whole dried ginger to grind or simmer, look in herbal spices, and for the rest of the rack see pepper powder, chilli powder and other ground spices.