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Onion Dishes
This magic vegetable, dating back to hundreds of years, is used worldwide to flavour all kinds of dishes. Sweet, bland, spicy, whether they be baked, broiled, steamed, cooked or fried. Onion is an inegral part of cooking all over the world. I have yet to come across a race of people who do not use onions in their cuisine.
English : Onions
Hindi : Kandha
Kannada: Eeruli
Marathi: Kandhe
Gujarathi: Kandha
Botanical name: Alliaceae
Varieties:
Common onions: yellow, white, pink and red. May be in large medium or small varieties. They are fairly pungent, can be used in a variety of ways: as in boiling, sauteeing, frying, stuffing, baking, broiling, grilling, etc. Most commonly used, and Have a globular shape. Excellent keeping qualities, will not go bad for months if stored in a dry, cool, airy space.
Spanish onions: More like the common variety but much more large. An onion may go upto a pound in weight. It has a milder,
Sweeter flavour than common onions.
Pickling onions: These have a pear shape, and are mainly used in preserves, pickles, etc. They are small and can be pickled whole.
Shallots: Small garlic clove shaped onions, which may be in twos or threes. They have a mild sweet taste, and are used widely in south indian sambars. Though difficult to peel normally, dipping them in boiling water will make the peels slide off easily.
Springonions and scallions: When the tender greens or the leaves of the onion plant, which are reedlike, they are cut off and sold as spring onion. If sold with the miniature onions, still attached, these are called the scallions. These may still be light green in colour and not developed into a full bulb. These are widely used in salads, dips, and many dishes requiring mild flavouring, like rices. Greens may be wrapped first in moist cloth and then in a plastic bag, and kept in the crisper of the fridge to last 7-8 days.
To store home grown onions, bend stalk bases just before flowering starts, and briad the stems together. Hang in a cool ,dry dark place. Or, break off at stem, spread on a jute sheet in a cool, dark, dry room. Allow air to pass around.
Nowadays even onion flakes, onion salt and onion butter are easily available.
Though there are many, many recipes using this wonder vegetable already online in my index, some which have this vegetable as the prime ingredientare: Stuffed onion vegetable, hasslefree onion sabzi,kandha bhajji, salads, as a base in curries and gravies of many vegetables, rices, south indian sambar, sagoo, onion tomato chutney, etc.
Some Oniony Tips:
- Munch a few mint or tulsi leaves after eating onions to dispel the odour.
- Rub used lemon over board, knife and hands after chopping onions, to erase traces of smell from all. Follow with a soapy wash.
- If onions are too sharp, chop, sprinkle some salt, and keep for 15 minutes. Wash off or drain salt, and pat dry. Use as required.
- Grind an onion into idli batter to make softer idlies.
- Have onion paste or flakes hand to add to soups, gravies, etc.in a hurry.
- Thin slivers of onion may be dried in sun till brittle. Then powder and mix with salt to make onion salt. This powder may also be added to dry masalas.
- Onions may be boiled whole, chopped, or slit, and frozen for further use. Peel the outer skins before freezing and seal tightly or its smell will permeate other stuff in the freezer.
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