Separating onions - how's it done?

[Secret Santa]

Having had a successful bhaji making session yesterday it struck me that a BIR would need to employ a person working all day just to prepare the onion for the quantities that they make - at least if they do it the way that I do.

I reckon I must be doing it the hard way. I slice the onion into two halves, then cut this into roughly 5mm slices and then laboriously separate these into the slithers that each one is made up from.

Am I doing it wrong? It takes ages!

[Malc.]

SS, I top and tail the onion being sure to cut the root end out. Then halve pole to pole as Chris once said. The onion is then sliced (also pole to pole) and thrown into the bowl as is. From the IG Demo, I noted the onion to be thinly sliced about 3mm thick.

You do not need to break the onion up slice by slice as this is done when you work the onion during the process of making the onion bhaji.

What recipe are you using for you Bhaji's?

PS I feel like i'm trying to teach you to suck eggs!

[Secret Santa]

SS, I top and tail the onion being sure to cut the root end out.

Yes that's what it is, I leave too much of the root end on through habit because a lot of flavour is concentrated in that bit, but it obviously holds the damn thing together too...DUH!

I thought I'd try the IG recipe and I had probably the best bhaji making session yet. I wasn't wowed by the flavour ( I may have got the proportions wrong scaling it down) but I got a nice even cooking right the way through for the first time and it's down to one thing only and that's the addition of egg!

PS I feel like i'm trying to teach you to suck eggs!

Not at all, bhajis were never my forte, until now that is, thanks for your help!   

[Malc.]

I used to slice my onions across the grain which meant I could get quite close to the core, but slicing pole to pole, you have to cut the root core out.

I have broken the IG Demo Recipe down and it it can be found at the very end of the first post on the IG Onion Bhaji topic (after the pictures).

It is essential that Aniseed is used as opposed to fennel as this really does change the depth of flavour. The Aniseed seems to inpart a little heat as well. I haven't tried other spice mixes with it but again, I would suggest you try the IG Spice Mix as it has its own character.

You can spice it up by adding finely chopped green chillies. I quite like the flavour and kick they give the bhaji without destroying the light texture and freshness of the original recipe.

[chriswg]

The aniseed is well worth the investment. It seems to add a bit of sweetness too which may sound strange but it works. I can't usually stand the aniseed flavour but I always add a generous sprinkling of them in my bhajis.

[Secret Santa]

Axe did you actually see how the IG onions were prepared, particularly how they got separated into the slithers?

[currymonster]

Axe did you actually see how the IG onions were prepared, particularly how they got separated into the slithers?

SS,

For slicing large amounts of anything a restaurant would often use a Mandolin Slicer --> http://www.zesco.com/products.cfm?subCatID=376&pGroupID=060405SS02

I've got one of these which works well --> http://www.swisscatalogue.com/swissmar/usa/FMPro?-db=swissmardb&-format=record_detail.htm&-op=cn&SKU=V-1001&-Script=Counter&-find=

I don't know if BIRs use these sort of things because I've never been into a BIR kitchen but it would certainly be cost effective for this sort of task.

CM

[Malc.]

Axe did you actually see how the IG onions were prepared, particularly how they got separated into the slithers?

SS,

If you look at the image below, you can see that the onion is simply sliced and thrown straight in. You can make out separate slices of onion that are cut from the outside of the core and then slices of onion held together by the core.

What you must remember here, is that there is approximately 15kg of onion in this cauldron sized pan and the process of truning it over massages the onion which 1, helps to soften it up and 2, helps to separate the slices.

Of course we wouldn't do this in our kitchen as the quantity is nothing near this so the weight is significantly less. However, the IG Recipe consists of a thick batter and if you follow the process exactly as they do it, you will by virtue of the process, achieve the same results. Which is to add each ingredient one by one and turn it into the onion.

I didn't see the onion actually being prepared, they do this the night before. But from what I did see the next morning and looking at the slices in detail. I can conclude that these are cut by hand with a chefs knife. If you look at the second picture, you can see the Head Chef in the back ground cutting yet more onion.

You may notice that the boards are slightly hanging over the edge of the table and that they seem to cut right on this edge. Underneath sits a pan like the one below and the prepared onion is simply pushed from the board which drops straight into the pan. Seeing them work is amazing, they all work in unison and perform like a well oiled machine.

[Secret Santa]

What you must remember here, is that there is approximately 15kg of onion in this cauldron sized pan and the process of truning it over massages the onion which 1, helps to soften it up and 2, helps to separate the slices.

This is what I thought must happen Axe because I couldn't see them trying to separate each little slice individually by hand. It's good to have it confirmed in pictures though, great stuff!

[Secret Santa]

For slicing large amounts of anything a restaurant would often use a Mandolin Slicer --> url=http://www.zesco.com/products.cfm?

Thanks CM, it was how they then separated those slices into the individual slithers that I was unsure about but I think Axe has answered that one now.