Topic: Almighty disaster - questions chopped onion frying

[Panpot]

Cheers Jerry. PP

[emin-j]

2 out of 3 mains i cooked last night called for chopped onion (976bar Kashmiri & Admins Jalfrezi).

i pre cooked as stated above using the "par boil" method ie simmer 5 mins after the pan had returned to the boil.

last time i cooked i used 4tbsp (1 chef) of oil and the 5 min par boil worked a treat (as we all know the amount of oil being critical to the BIR output). last night i reduced the oil to 3 tbsp to gauge the envelop of the 5 min par boil onion. it was clear that that the onion took far too long to cook out during the frying stage (the g/g paste was starting to become far too sticky).

consequently i have increased the par boil time from 5 to 10 mins for the next go.

Hi JerryM , Just re-read this and now realise the ' little bits' are chopped Onion as intended , doh !
Adding chopped Onion at final frying stage would take too long to cook down as you have said and I wondered if you could pre-fry the Onion and keep a container of it in the fridge sort of Bunjarra style.

[JerryM]

I wondered if you could pre-fry the Onion and keep a container of it in the fridge

emin-j,

the pre fry in oil does work. particularly well if using reclaimed oil. i just use the par boil in water down to ease & health. if cooking for others i do pre fry though and not par boil.

i tend to make and use same day but feel would keep in fridge for upto 3 days - especially given it's going to be cooked in anger so to speak even though it is pre cooked.

[telecaster445]

Jerry

Completely agree on need to get onions right. Its Ok for finely chopped onions, as they will fry quickly. Look at Dipu's vid where after G/G, its almost throw everything in the pan. However, my favourite is a Dopiaza, and round my way, this is served with really chunky onion quarters (that would have been golf ball size before quartered). Now if these were fried in the standard TA cooking time, I reckon only the outer 3 layers will be cooked and the centre raw. I often wondered how such large on chunks could be so sweet and cooked through.

The answer really is the precooking. A mate of mine showed me how he "poaches" the onions in a gravy/water mix, for about 20 mins. They are allowed to cool in the liquor for another 15 mins. After that, they can be drained and set aside. This seems to have the benefit of softening and removing the bitterness. When introduced to the pan at cooking stage, it is for re-heating purposes, so in just before chicken/meat. Also, as well soaked, less likely to burn. So may be worth experimenting with poaching times and gravy/onion ratios(depending on onion size). This should have the benefit of avoiding burnings, reduce cooking time and have a more predictable result.

[JerryM]

telecaster445,

i use the pre cook only for the fine chopped - as i've never been able to cook them good enough during the frying from raw. if i want what i call slices of onion i don't pre cook and fry them from raw - to give a different texture - more crunchy.

i've not tried onion quarters - i guess i would treat them like sliced onion.

your idea of the dopiaza is a good example to explain it. i would use both pre cooked and sliced in this dish to give a moorish (pre cooked) but crunchy texture (raw slices).

the pre cook is exactly what you are calling poaching. i've heard it called blanching also.

best wishes,

[telecaster445]

Jerry Hi

Blanching is really quickly immersing in boiling water, for a very short time. poaching is slowly cooking in less than boiling liquid. I guess different results.


cheers

[telecaster445]

Jerry,just a thought... the large chunks of onion actually may be soft for a different reason. As the curry house I referred to is a takeaway, there has been time for the onions to sit in the hot sauce. So by the time I have collected, got the meal back, unpacked, cracked open a beer, 20 mins may have elapsed since the onions hit the pan. So they may not needed to have been pre-cooked. Perhaps we should let a curry "rest" 

[JerryM]

telecaster445,

no problems on your definitions - i'm no chef for sure.

the "sitting" time is important. in this time the dish taste does change for the better. i've timed it at 5 mins max.

the pre cook may not be for everyone. it really was a piece of the jigsaw for me. i originally thought i was not cutting the onion small enough and then thought i was not getting the same size consistently both in a batch and across batches.

the pre cook has simplified it all for me. of course you don't need chopped onion in all dishes either.

for those who remember the earlier discussion - i still use Bobby Bhuna's technique for chopping the onion (cut onion in half, pull dead skins off, leave the stalk on till the end of cutting).