Topic: Prashad Onion (Banjara) Paste

[CurryOnRegardless]

This is my adaptation of an onion paste from the book Prashad: Cooking with Indian Masters. The book was written in the late 80's by two authors drawing on the expertease of a group of acclaimed Indian chefs in response to what they perceived as the alarming proliferation of Indian cookbooks written by "housewives" and similarly unqualified people! The book sought to establish a written tradition of Indian cuisine, wether or not it succeeded is not for me to say but it has sold 6 million copies to date (read that and weep PC). I had a copy from the library about a year ago and was intrigued by this paste but the book was a little vague as to its use so I didn't make it and have had to attempt to recreate it from memory but the basics are right.

Onion Paste

3 or 4 small/medium onions (preferably red) cut into thin strips
1 or 2 Indian bay leaves
cinnamon stick 4 inch
star anise
4 or 5 whole cloves
1 tbs ginger/garlic puree
4 tbs set yogurt
oil for frying

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. Add bay, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. Stir spices for 30 seconds or so then add onions and g/g and cook slowly, stirring regularly, until onions are caramelised (can take up to an hour or more, don't rush it). When done remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove whole spices and combine onions with yogurt in a blender and whizz to a smooth paste. Transfer to airtight container and store covered in oil, use as banjara.

[windybum]

hi,

great post, i have made the Ashoka onion paste and feel it gets me closer to the taste, anyone tried this onion paste before i make it? and what dishes is it best for?

Thanks

Windybum

[commis]

Hi

You can find a limited copy of this book on google book search!

commis

[JerryM]

i've not made this. i've made the original and the Ashoka. i can't decide which i prefer. the Ashoka differs to the original adding bay, turmeric, salt, chilli, tom juice. i don't feel the extra ingredients make a huge difference.

on this version i would certainly leave out the cloves. not BIR for me one bit. i not sure on the use of yogurt in terms of the pastes self life in the fridge (the oil onion version lasts more than 2 wks, i've got one batch on a 4wk test but have not tasted yet)

[windybum]

Thanks Commis i thought of that too but the pages are limited,
Jerry, thanks once again for your comments i read all of your posts and find the scientific approached experiments and detailed conclusions interesting and save us all a lot of time, perhaps Dr Jerry?
The secret onion paste looks tempting and differs greatly from the ashoka in texture so will give that one a go now.
I should try taking photos to do what i can.

Thanks again

Windybum

Oh i will be doing the chilli oil from Hey there over the weekend will let you know how it goes.

[adriandavidb]

JerryM, what do you mean by the 'original' bunjara?  I've only seen the Ashoka one on CrO, is there much difference?

Whilst I have not yet made a proper bunjara, I test-drove the process by attempting to caramlise onions by long slow frying in lots of oil, adding blitzed tinned toms later when the onions appeared right, and frying some more.  The first time I slightly burnt the onions (didn't help that I cut them too fine to start with!), the second time I ended up with paste that just smelt of fried onion and tomarto!  Is that what it should be like?

Admittedly, I used 'normal' onions not red, but that shouldn't make much difference  surely, even though red appear to stickier and richer in sugars?

Help!

[JerryM]

adriandavidb,

link to original bunjara (post was by Panpot hence the confusion) : http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3128.0

i only use normal onion and chop quite coarsely (as i do for base). the process is as u describe - for me it takes 3 hrs as i use v.low heat after the initial addition of the onions when the oil is hot.

the best i can describe it is as a very soft mushy caramelised onion that's quite dry but slightly oily. it's the cinnamon and tandoori masala in the original that are key for me. the additional ingredients in the Ashoka seem to make up for the absence of the tandoori masala. the pastes taste different but in the finished dish i can't say there's a significant difference. i've ended up making both recently but feel it's a bit ott and need to settle on one (i'm hoping the 4wk old will still be good which would mean i can alternate making 1 off batch each fortnight to coincide with base).

windybum,

will look fwd to report on the chilli in oil. i'm going to get some too and try them out in my std madras curry sauce for comparison next week.

[CurryOnRegardless]

... i not sure on the use of yogurt in terms of the pastes self life in the fridge ...

Hi JerryM

I've kept this stuff (covered in oil) for about a week in the fridge and have not suffered any ill effects...yet! It might be worth blending a tsp of set yoghurt with a couple of tbs of your preferred onion paste as a sampler and see what you think, I'd be interested in your comments.

CoR

[JerryM]

It might be worth blending a tsp of set yoghurt with a couple of tbs of your preferred onion paste as a sampler and see what you think, I'd be interested in your comments.

CoR

CoR,

will do. rest of your recipe gels with my taste buds (other than the cloves) and will give it a try if the yogurt works for me.

adriandavidb,

i'm on with a batch of paste at the mo and realised a few things which may be of interest:
1) after the initial "frying stage" which i aim just to get the rawness out i then turn the heat very low - as low as it needs so that there is no sticking on the bottom of the pan.
2) i stir quite frequently ~10/15 mins. after stirring though i pat the onion down flat and sort of mash it at the same time (i believe the patting helps it cook by keeping the steam in - a trick from cooking paella)
3) the taste is not good for quite a long time. at some point u can start to see oil in the paste ~2hrs in - this is when the taste starts to improve and u may need to stir more often to make sure no sticking and to scrap the oil from the sides of the pan back into the paste. 3 hrs seems to be about the time needed.

[JerryM]

pic before removal of cinnamon stick and blending