Dear all,

Looking through the various curry bases here, it is obvious that onions are the primary and common ingredient to all of them. 

However, there is one particularly significant difference in the way in which the curry basis are prepared; whether the onions are fried, boiled, or a combination of the two? 

I reckon one of the most difficult things to replicate at home is the sweetness of BIR curries.  I'm sure that this largely due to the way in which the onions are prepared.  It seems to me that poorly cooked onions are rather bitter and that only prolonged cooking times impart the necessary sweetness?

I would be very interested in people's opinions, therefore, on whether it is best to fry the onions, or to boil them, or to both fry then boil them, and why?

Thanks

I was always led to believe the longer you fried onions the sweeter they got. The thing I always have trouble with is when do onions become golden brown??......mike

Add a little salt to the onions as well when frying , as this will help to draw some of the moisture out .

Hi george,

The onions I have seen added in the final dish have always been pre-fried. Frying onions at maximum heat makes them bitter (alledgedly)

cheers

Mark

read this old post, it might answer some of your questions on onions and sweetness.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=176.0

Ashes