Topic: Chopping Onion

[haldi]

Now this might sound unusual, but there really does seem to be a marked difference in result, depending on how the raw onion is initially prepared for curry gravy.
I made a recipe from this site which called for pureeing the uncooked onion
This affected the end flavour
It needed a really long cook to lose the bitter flavour it developed, but the finished meal was bursting with flavour
I have made several Pat Chapman recipes which purees raw onion
They all had this bitter taste
But that was because they weren't cooked long enough

I was given another recipe, for curry gravy, and the chef emphasised the need
for finely chopping the onions
Perhaps the missing taste, lies between pureeing, and a fine chop of the onions?

[naga dave]

    You have stumbled onto something really important here. The flavours of some vegetables - garlic is probably the best example - survive cooking much better if they are pureed first. For this reason, when making curry gravy, you must always add garlic as a puree, or for smaller amounts, blend it with some of the water. Of course, the opposite is wanted with onions. If pureed before cooking, the resulting flavour may be perfectly acceptable, but it won't be BIR.

                     Dave.

[Rai]

I think what santa says here is maybe relevant to this discussion? http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1787.msg15914#msg15914

I think its the sulphuric acid that also makes you cry when youre chopping them?

[haldi]

Yes, I think pureeing for a main batch of curry gravy is wrong, although this recipe does it
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1819.0
and it turns out really well
But I do wonder whether variations in chopping onion,will produce variations in flavour.

[Secret Santa]

I would never puree raw onions for anything, not just curry. I think haldi sort of confirms this by discovering that a very long cooking time is required if you do, to get rid of all that acid which is produced. It's interesting though because all of that acid is going to react with the other ingredients in a totally different way and haldi seems to imply that this actually improves the taste?
if anyone cares the acid is a natural binary weapon, two chemicals mix when the cells of the onion are cut. It's its own natural defence against cruel people with sabatier knives - well against insects actually.

[naga dave]

    Some trad. Indian dishes do use onion that has been ground by mortar and pestle along with garlic and ginger. Modern version of course uses blender or food processor. Loads of oil needed to cook of course, and flavours can be similar to BIR.

[Yousef]

This recipe calls for frying onion until softened, then pureeing.

I have not posted for a while but this recipe is very very close as a BIR curry sauce.
It just needs time to darken: -

Edited by CA - recipe for base sauce found in the recipe section here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1894.0