Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: noble ox on October 30, 2014, 08:25 PM
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Noticing a bucket of chopped onions in water in a local Bir a few weeks ago I had to ask why assuming it was to stop the fumes irritating eyes etc :'(
To my surprise the chef said it takes the bitterness out of the onions
At home the experiments began 1st was a bitter onion chopped then put in very cold water for 20 mins
drained then I made some dips red onion and WOW no bitter tastes
Onion bargee was next WOW again
A base was next 4kgs in water 25mins drained JBs base it was which I like WOW again
After a search on google its quite common in Spain and Mexico to tame the raw onions
So have we all missed this so obvious technique
For me this is a revolution ;D
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I'm in. NO, have you made a dish out of the base? Did you find it was a milestone?
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This is not something new in my book.
Peel and chop onions, allow to sit in 3x their own volume of water for 1/2 hr, drain & rinse, then use said onions to make a base.
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...or cook a the 4 kg onion base for 3 hrs minimum. Chuck some coconut block in if you want it sweeter. That's why its used
I'd agree with you about raw onion though, the type used in the burger chains are great & can't be bought in supermarkets as far as I know
ELW
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Livo
A much better base and curry taste the onions before and after for evidence
Geezah
If its not new why has it not come to our attention ?
ELW
Even when adding coconut it does not hide the bitter harshness sometimes found
Much easier with agreeable onions
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Surely soaking in water first removes some of the magic that creates the flavour and aroma of a bir base ;)
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I do it regularly for my spiced onions but never for my base. I never get a bitterness coming through in the base that I can detect??
barry
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When I first moved to France I had endless problems trying to get onions as sweet as the Dutch ones we used to get from the Indian wholesaler in the UK. I even tried growing my own! But we found that simply cooking the gravy for longer solves the problem. Soaking in water is worth a try too though, N-O - thanks.
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Very useful snippet of info. Personally never had a bitter tasting base. If could certainly have its uses though. And I too am surprised this has not come to light before :o But at least it's on here first. Thanks NO
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MA
My thoughts exactly until I tried it out
So simple :D
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And I thought you already knew your onions N.O.
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But at least it's on here first
Hate to say it ch but I think someone , maybe snoopy(aka stevejet) posted it on bir (thou shall not have an opinion) site, hopefully Im wrong
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MA
And I thought you already knew your onions N.O.
No matter what we know its nice to know some more and share it so others know some more and can help others wishing to know some more as well ;D
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Maybe if you don't have time to experiment with onions you should just stick to ordering take-aways
lol
I do believe , as happens with milder (Spanish onions), that washing them first could remove some of the chemicals (or whatever you want to call it) that produces the bir taste after correct cooking of the said onions
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Yes I am sure you know best MA :D
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I think our Dutch onions here are pretty mild anyway at the moment but I did a 1kg batch of base yesterday and soaked them for 30 minutes then tipped off the water and started from there. Made for a pretty good base so it certainly doesn't do any harm.
It is worth noting that while some recipes / chefs stipulate either Spanish or White while other's say it doesn't matter at all.
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But at least it's on here first
Hate to say it ch but I think someone , maybe snoopy(aka stevejet) posted it on bir (thou shall not have an opinion) site, hopefully Im wrong
But i wouldn't know about stuff posted on the dark side now, would I MA ;D ;) Ah, that's who snoopy is. I'll refrain from any comments for fear of giving George some extra work to do ::)
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But at least it's on here first
Hate to say it ch but I think someone , maybe snoopy(aka stevejet) posted it on bir (thou shall not have an opinion) site, hopefully Im wrong
I'll lay claim to have posted a similar process on here many years ago. I said I'd par-boiled onions in water for a few minutes because I'd read that Pat Chapman recommended it. I never did a side by side comparision of the resultant base sauces though (with/without par-boiling) and I soon gave it up. As others have said, I've never noticed any bitterness in my base sauce.
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I did some deliveries for a ta recently the only thing i seen of interest was a big saucepan of onions that had been boiling getting seived and blended then poured into anothere big saucepan that looked like it was full of oil so i guess the onions are cooked seperately then put in the base,solves the bitterness problem some people seem to experience i suppose.
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I've never noticed any bitterness in my base sauce.
I spoke too soon. For the first time ever, the base sauce I made this evening tastes of bitter onions.
I used the same ingredients as normal but a different method.