i have to say that if u are allergic to onions the you will find it very difficult to cook indian meals the sauce its self has buckets of onions in it and owning a restaurant my self i dont think using onion powder will do the trick. i use onion powder or cebolla molida as they call it here in spain as enhancer not a substitue. ;D

i cooked cory ander version last night and it was spot on ;D

welcome its an awsome site and full of info for u to get cooking some great curries : :

chicken `pasanda is the way to go

Through a lot of trial and error I think that I may have stumbled across the BIR Dhansak taste that I have been searching for . I used a combination of Mike Travis' chicken curry recipe ( slightly modified ) and ifindforu's base .

         Dhansak - 2 servings

        500 g Chicken pieces.
        25g(1oz) fresh garlic,peeled.
        25g(1oz) fresh ginger,peeled.
        2 green chillies
        60ml(2fl oz) cooking oil.
        2 large onions,finely chopped.
        1 tsp turmeric powder.
        2 tsp garam masala.
        1 tsp tandoori powder
        1 tsp tamarind
        3 tsp tomato puree.
        170g(6oz) plum tomato's,peeled
        2 ladles of ifindforu?s base
        2 cups of pre-cooked lentils
        1 tsp salt.
        fresh coriander to garnish...

        (1) Place the garlic,ginger,green chillies,turmeric,chilli,garam masala,
              tandoori powder, tamarind , tomato puree,tomatoes and salt into a liquidizer and
              blend until smooth .

       (2) Heat the oil in a large pan and cook onions until golden brown then blitz until
             smooth .
       
       (3) Add the chicken pieces and the contents of the blender and stir for a few min .
             
       
      (4) Reduce the heat,cover and simmer for about an hour,stirring every 5-8 min .

 
       (5) Add the pre-cooked lentils and simmer for 5 min .

            If using pre-cooked chicken reduce simmering time .

           Thanks to Mike & Terry 

this recipe is very close to what i use except i think to give that real dhansak flvour u need lemon juice and cardomon powder, but that just my opinion.