Blend equal amounts of peeled garlic and peeled fresh ginger (1/4 cup of each) into a coarse paste in a food processor - a few drops of oil will help it blend smoothly. Will keep refrigerated in a glass jar for at least a month. (If you don’t have a food processor, finely grate or mince a tablespoon each of ginger and garlic and mix together). This stuff is gold -- it makes a great base rub on chicken, fish and meats!
Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.
When the oil is shimmering, add a few mustard seeds to the oil, if they start to wiggle and pop, your oil is ready for tempering
Add the rest of the mustard seeds, curry leaves (if using) and turn the heat down to medium so the spices don’t burn
The mustard seeds will start popping in the oil so you may choose to place a lid over the pot for about 30 secs or so
Make sure the oil is hot enough that the mustard seeds actually start to pop, otherwise they’re not flavoring the oil
When mustard seeds stop popping, bring the heat back to medium-high and add the ginger-garlic paste and fry in the oil until starting to brown, about a minute
Add the turmeric powder and stir in the oil for 30 seconds
Add green beans along with a healthy pinch of kosher salt and saute until done (3-4 minutes)