What kind of blender for making this spice paste?

[oofencocotte]

Hi there,

 

I've never had a food mixer or blender before, but I'm about to buy one.

 

I'm making Chicken Thukpa and it involves making a spice paste. The instructions for the paste are:

 

"To make the spice paste, combine all the ingredients, except the tomatoes, in a blender or food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the tomatoes and process until combined.

1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground Szechwan pepper or white pepper
1 pinch asafoetida powder or dash of garlic powder
1 long green chilli, deseeded, chopped
200 g tomatoes, chopped"

 

Sounds simple! But I've been researching online and I'm completely confused about what kind of blender I should buy. I don't really want to spend more than $50. There is juice blenders, veg choppers, hand mixers.... Some say they are just for dry chopping, others are just for juices. 

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction? 

Edited April 30, 2017 by happytown (log)

[JAZ]

Something like this mini-chopper from Cuisinart would work -- Kitchenaid makes a similar product, and there are other Cuisinart models as well. I used one of the Cuisinart ones for a few years, and they're great for grinding or mixing small batches of ingredients.

[oofencocotte]

Thanks Jaz- the link didn't work for me- maybe i'm in the wrong country... but could you re-post?

[JAZ]

Here's one of the other Cuisinart models -- on Amazon -- and on the Cuisinart site, the mini models are at the top of this page: mini processors.

[liuzhou]

That is exacty the sort of task I'd dig this out for.

 

 

It's a little hand operated blender. The handle on the left is attached to a string and you pump it to rotate the blender blades.

 

 

 

It would certainly cope with the recipe you give. And it's very cheap and environmentally friendly.

 

I cost me the equivalent of about $3 USD, but I bought it in Japan. Try hunting around wherever you are.

 

That said, any small blender would deal with that recipe and similar blending requirements. 

Edited May 1, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Smithy]

Similar hand-operated blenders are available on Amazon.  I bought this one in 2014 and it's still going strong, but its current version seems to be unjustifiably expensive.  Hand-operated blenders that look like liuzhou's show up on the same page.

[Paul Fink]

I would go with a blender like the VERSA. Not that large but big enough to do the job plus some.

The small blenders would have a hard time handling the cup of tomatoes.

[liuzhou]

4 hours ago, Paul Fink said:

I would go with a blender like the VERSA. Not that large but big enough to do the job plus some.

The small blenders would have a hard time handling the cup of tomatoes.

 

I've never had a problem blending a cup of tomatoes in mine.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I recommend the Waring Commercial WSG60 spice grinder:

http://amzn.com/B00WZ0ZASU

 

This is not a replacement for a blender if you are into soups or smoothies, but the Waring does wonderfully for pastes and sauces.  Not to mention grinding spices.  Plus the WSG60 is a fraction of the cost of a high end Vitamix or Blendtec.

 

 

 

[JohnT]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I recommend the Waring Commercial WSG60 spice grinder:

http://amzn.com/B00WZ0ZASU

 

This is not a replacement for a blender if you are into soups or smoothies, but the Waring does wonderfully for pastes and sauces.  Not to mention grinding spices.  Plus the WSG60 is a fraction of the cost of a high end Vitamix or Blendtec.

 

Jo, @happytown said it must not cost more than $50. That Waring spice grinder is priced at around $225 – a little over the required spend. Personally, I think just a smallish blender will do the trick and have plenty other uses - nothing fancy needed.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

18 minutes ago, JohnT said:

 

Jo, @happytown said it must not cost more than $50. That Waring spice grinder is priced at around $225 – a little over the required spend. Personally, I think just a smallish blender will do the trick and have plenty other uses - nothing fancy needed.

 

Oops, I missed the "not cost more than $50" part.  However I disagree with you about a smallish blender at that price point and suggest a mortar and pestle.

 

[paulraphael]

If the budget is $50 I'd go with Jo's advice and get a mortar and pestle. A bit more work, but will give a nice rustic texture that's great for this kind of thing. Just mince ingredients to a fairly small size first. Some coarse salt can work as an abrasive and help the pestle dig in.

 

I'd be afraid that a super cheap food processor or blender would disappoint. In my early days buying kitchen stuff, I got a cheap blender at k-mart; it died the first or second time I used it (frozen cocktails). I returned it and got another one. It died just as quickly. After the fourth one broke, I gave up and got my money back. Eventually I picked up a used commercial blender at a restaurant store ... it lasted 15 years, but it cost more than $50.

Edited May 1, 2017 by paulraphael (log)

[daveb]

M&P or a knife.  People were making spice blends and pastes long before lectriciy came along.

[haresfur]

Cooking teacher in Thailand claimed that a mortar and pestle is better than a blender for making curry paste because the ingredients get mashed instead of chopped and they stay cooler.

 

Next time, I'm going to use a stick blender.

[paulraphael]

4 hours ago, haresfur said:

Cooking teacher in Thailand claimed that a mortar and pestle is better than a blender for making curry paste because the ingredients get mashed instead of chopped and they stay cooler.

 

Next time, I'm going to use a stick blender.

 

I think the real advantage of the mortar and pestle is that it allows a consistently coarse texture that's hard to get with a blender. Blenders usually go all the way to smooth, or else fail on consistency. It's a matter of preference if you want the traditional rustic texture or not, but if you do, the old gizmo's the best way to get it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, paulraphael said:

 

I think the real advantage of the mortar and pestle is that it allows a consistently coarse texture that's hard to get with a blender. Blenders usually go all the way to smooth, or else fail on consistency. It's a matter of preference if you want the traditional rustic texture or not, but if you do, the old gizmo's the best way to get it.

 

In all seriousness I thought it was just the opposite.

 

[KennethT]

I agree with @JoNorvelleWalker.  When I was in Thailand, I saw a lot of curry pastes made by hand with m&p that looked EXTREMELY smooth.... - and when made into a curry, the paste basically dissolved into the coconut milk - there was no grainy-ness whatsoever.  A good, solid m&p and lots of time and arm-grease can make a very smooth paste - much finer (and drier) than my blender can do.

 

I've been thinking about those Indian motorized stone wet grinders typically used to grind lentils et al.  Like this: https://www.google.com/#q=ultra+pride+wet+grinder

 

But I have no idea if it can be used to make pastes out of harder ingredients such as galangal, which can be quite hard and woody.  Plus, they're pretty expensive, unless you're making pastes all the time.

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I agree with @JoNorvelleWalker.  When I was in Thailand, I saw a lot of curry pastes made by hand with m&p that looked EXTREMELY smooth.... - and when made into a curry, the paste basically dissolved into the coconut milk - there was no grainy-ness whatsoever.  A good, solid m&p and lots of time and arm-grease can make a very smooth paste - much finer (and drier) than my blender can do.

 

I've been thinking about those Indian motorized stone wet grinders typically used to grind lentils et al.  Like this: https://www.google.com/#q=ultra+pride+wet+grinder

 

But I have no idea if it can be used to make pastes out of harder ingredients such as galangal, which can be quite hard and woody.  Plus, they're pretty expensive, unless you're making pastes all the time.

 That was my understanding too.  Provided you had the time and the hand power the mortar and pestle would put a blender to shame.  Never had the patience mind you.

[chromedome]

...and/or conching your own bean-to-bar chocolate.

 

[lindag]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 8:50 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I recommend the Waring Commercial WSG60 spice grinder:

http://amzn.com/B00WZ0ZASU

 

This is not a replacement for a blender if you are into soups or smoothies, but the Waring does wonderfully for pastes and sauces.  Not to mention grinding spices.  Plus the WSG60 is a fraction of the cost of a high end Vitamix or Blendtec.

 

 

 

Seems terribly expensive for such a small unit (3 cups).  $218.47 on Amazon.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

Seems terribly expensive for such a small unit (3 cups).  $218.47 on Amazon.

 

How often do you need to grind more than three cups of spices?

 

[oofencocotte]

Thanks so much for all the help. Really appreciated. I'm hunting around town for a hand operated chopper. 

 

My thought about the mortar and pestle is that I'd need a heavy duty stone one, and I'm not sure it would be suitable for doing the tomatoes? Perhaps it's just me but I have an image of covering myself in tomato. 

[Smithy]

40 minutes ago, happytown said:

Thanks so much for all the help. Really appreciated. I'm hunting around town for a hand operated chopper. 

 

My thought about the mortar and pestle is that I'd need a heavy duty stone one, and I'm not sure it would be suitable for doing the tomatoes? Perhaps it's just me but I have an image of covering myself in tomato. 

 

Do keep in mind liuzhou's comment above, that he has no trouble with tomatoes in his hand-operated blender.  If "around town" doesn't help you, Amazon probably will.  Good luck!

[haresfur]

Just found this beauty at an Asian food store in town. The woman asked what I was going to use it for and I said, mostly to look at. But I'll at least try it out.

[sartoric]

2 hours ago, haresfur said:

Just found this beauty at an Asian food store in town. The woman asked what I was going to use it for and I said, mostly to look at. But I'll at least try it out.

I have one of them for making som tam. I've used it once or twice, but it is pretty to look at