How to properly use dried garlic in cooking?

If everything is more or less clear with the use of fresh spices, then many people do not know how to use dried garlic. It's actually simple. It is added to the same dishes. All that’s left to do is calculate the proportions.

Features of using dried garlic

There are several types of seasoning: granulated garlic, dried slices, garlic powder, garlic salt. But they are all used approximately the same:

• In order not to spoil the taste of the dish, you should follow the dosage. If the recipe calls for 1 clove of garlic, use a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder (granules) or half a teaspoon of garlic salt.
• Seasoning is added to soups, borscht, casseroles, and stews 3–5 minutes before readiness.
• You can season the finished hot dish with dried garlic (salt, granules or powder). It gives off its taste and aroma almost instantly.
• Pieces of dried garlic are fried in oil for 2-3 minutes or thrown into boiling water to fully develop the flavor.
• The meat is rubbed with spice before cooking.
• For minced sausage, granulated garlic is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:2.

Try preparing the spice yourself - cut the cloves into thin slices and place in an electric dryer for 7-8 hours. The plates should become creamy and brittle. Grind them and pour them into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. From 3 kg of garlic you get 500 g of natural aromatic seasoning.

How is dried garlic different from fresh?

When dried, garlic retains almost all its beneficial properties, aroma and taste. It is not much different from fresh: just as sharp, piquant, invigorating. But there are still some differences:

• Lack of sharpness. The taste and smell of dried garlic is more noble and dull. It is more spicy than sharp and bitter.
• Variability of application. Fresh garlic changes its properties in dishes depending on how it is used: frying, canning, boiling, preparing a marinade. Dried, on the other hand, retains the same smell and taste no matter where you add it.
• Versatility. The seasoning is more versatile and harmonizes with a wide range of foods. It can be added to salads, sauces, mushroom and seafood dishes.
• Does not leave a bad breath. Everyone knows that after eating fresh garlic, your breath becomes not fresh at all. Dried seasoning is completely free of this side effect. You can safely eat it before a date or an important meeting.
• Ease of use and storage. Dried garlic takes up much less space and, if stored properly, does not spoil for a long time. In a dark, sealed container, the shelf life of the product is 12 months.

Garlic is mentioned in ancient Egyptian papyri that are more than 4,000 years old. Previously, it was used mainly for medicinal purposes. The spice was used to treat plague, typhus, and other infectious diseases, and was also used for snake bites.

What dishes is it best suited for?

Garlic appeared in Rus' around the 9th century. In the old days, it was believed that you could eat absolutely anything with it. The only exceptions were berry pies and sweet dishes.

Dried garlic is even more versatile than fresh garlic. It best reveals its taste and aroma properties in the following dishes:

• Meat and poultry. Dried garlic is rubbed onto meat before cooking and used for marinades. It goes equally well with fatty pork, lamb and dietary poultry and rabbit meat. When stewing game and poultry, garlic sounds especially good in combination with sour apples and plums.
• Seasoning for vegetables. For spiciness and a bright aroma, you can add garlic powder to stews, casseroles, and frying. It is sprinkled on grilled vegetables. The spice goes especially well with potatoes, white cabbage, bell peppers, tomatoes and zucchini.
• Aspic. The prepared hot broth is flavored with dried garlic. It is impossible to imagine jellied meat without it. There are even special seasonings available for its preparation with garlic and gelatin.
• Bread and garlic rolls. To give baked goods a nice spicy touch, garlic powder is added to the dough. Garlic slices are fried in oil and sprinkled on top of the buns.
• Semi-finished meat products and sausages. The seasoning can be used in the preparation of cutlets, meatballs, all kinds of homemade sausages and sausages.
• Dried garlic along with other spices is used for canning vegetables.
• Sauces. Spice is added to the famous sauces tkemali, aioli, guacamole, harissa and many others.
• Seafood dishes. Dried garlic perfectly complements the taste of shrimp, scallops, crabs, lobsters, and mussels.
• Salads. The seasoning can be infused with vegetable oil and used to season fresh vegetable salads. It goes well with meat and mixed salads: “Caesar”, “Red Sea”, “Inspiration”, “Royal”, “General”.

The only thing that garlic doesn’t go well with is fish. It is acceptable to use seasoning if you are preparing spicy fish in a marinade.In all other cases, it is better to replace it with lemon pepper, rosemary, cumin or something else.

Popular recipes

Dishes with garlic are found in all cuisines of the world: Spanish, Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Arabic, Chinese. But most of all he is respected in the Caucasus, Central Asia and, of course, in Russia. It can be used as an independent seasoning and combined with other spices: thyme, rosemary, star anise, marjoram, cumin, cloves, black pepper.

Popular food recipes:

• Creamy garlic sauce. Fry in butter (1 tbsp) 2 tbsp. spoons of flour. Add 100 ml of cream, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper, and 0.5–1 teaspoon of dried garlic. Simmer over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Creamy garlic sauce is served with spaghetti, seafood, and is also used as a salad dressing.
• Pork ribs in honey-garlic sauce. For 800 g of ribs, prepare a marinade from 50 ml soy sauce, 1 tbsp. spoons of honey, 0.5 teaspoons of dried garlic, 30 ml of cognac and a pinch of salt. Marinate the ribs for 10-15 minutes. Grease with mustard (1 tablespoon) and bake in a hot oven at 190 degrees for 40–50 minutes. 10 minutes before cooking, turn on the grill mode (if equipped).
• Roasted vegetable salad. Cut into large slices 1 carrot, 1 tomato, 4 radishes, 1 eggplant, 1 bell pepper, 1 leek. Add salt to taste. Place on a wire rack and bake at 170 degrees in the oven or on the grill. Sprinkle hot vegetables with lemon juice, add 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, chili pepper to taste and 3 tbsp. spoons of olive oil. Stir. Serve warm.

Garlic has been scientifically proven to prevent bacterial growth.The substance allicin, which is found in both fresh and dried cloves, has an antimicrobial effect.

Other uses of garlic

The use of aromatic seasoning is quite common not only in cooking, but also in folk medicine, cosmetology, and also in everyday life.

Here are other ways you can use dried garlic:

• To enhance immunity. It is recommended to add seasoning to hot first courses 2-3 times a week.
• Against colds and suffocating cough. Fry lard in a frying pan and pour the fat into a jar. To 3 tbsp. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to spoons of still hot fat. Apply the product to your throat and wrap a scarf over it. Use 2-3 times daily until symptoms disappear.
• For acne. Mix 1 chicken yolk, 1 teaspoon dried garlic, 1 teaspoon almond oil, 2 teaspoons each fresh cabbage and carrot juice, 1 tbsp. spoon of cream. Apply the mask directly to the rash daily for a week. Before using the product, you should test for sensitivity to garlic by dropping a little mixture on your wrist.
• For hair growth. Heat 5 tbsp in a water bath. spoons of olive oil (or any other vegetable), add 1 teaspoon of dried garlic. Continue heating the oil for 5 minutes. Then mix it half and half with kefir and apply to the roots of your hair. Keep the mask on for an hour, then wash your hair with shampoo. Repeat the procedure 2 times a week for a month – and your hair will grow by 3 cm.
• From ants and aphids. Pests cannot tolerate the smell of garlic. To get rid of them once and for all, dilute 30 g of garlic powder in 3 liters of warm water and leave for 3 hours. After the solution has settled, wash the floor and baseboards with it. Don't wash it off.And to get rid of aphids, treat the plants with liquid.

Garlic is used to prevent colds, worms, intestinal, stomach, and prostate cancer. It is believed that it prevents vascular and heart diseases, helps reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the blood, and also improves metabolism.

During pregnancy, hypertension, kidney disease, liver disease, epilepsy, and stomach ulcers, garlic is consumed with great caution.

Dried garlic has certain advantages over fresh garlic: it is easy to store, does not need to be peeled, and can be used in more dishes. But you still need to take into account that the taste and aroma of the seasoning are less pronounced. Dried garlic has proven itself best in sauces and first courses. It can be added to potatoes, in salads, or replace a fresh clove in a recipe. Try garlic powder in different dishes. It’s not for nothing that this is one of the most versatile and popular seasonings in the world.