Onion as a thickener

[Jim Stone]

I've been told a good way to thicken a curry is with finely minced onions.

What would be a good way to go about this? Finely chop the onions with a
knife and then fry? Or blitz the onion in a dry chopper then fry or boil?
Or with a small amount of liquid in a blender?

How would this most easily and best be done please? Thanks.

[notbob]

When I took a cooking class from a noted Indian chef, she did one dish
that required a whole lotta onions. I'm talking at least 5 lbs. She
minced them very fine and essentially sauteed them in a large pot. It
was a slow process and took quite awhile, an hour or two, because as
they cooked, they softened and became a coarse mush, like a coarse
applesauce. The intent and final goal was to carmelize them to a
golden brown, which she did, but it was a long slow process requiring
constant attention cuz the cooking temp was low so as to not burn
them.

nb

[Helpful person]

You cannot thicken a curry with onion, but you can give the sauce more substance. The method to use is to put a combination of onion and ginger and a little water in a blender. Put some oil in a your pan and fry on medium heat until the oil starts to separate. Then add your other ingredients as required. To thicken add some yogurt later in the cooking process. Spices can be added before, at the same time or after the onion mixture.

Just Google Indian cooking for more information.

http://www.richardfisher.com

[Brooklyn1]

What moroon questions... just eat a ton of onions and shit them into
the pot.

[Vegan Earthworm Holocaust]

Caramelized onions are the most flatulogenic food I know of, and no doubt
the gas produced would carry with it not only the onion essence, but also
the aromatics from the curry powder.
>
> nb

--Bryan

[Steve Freides]

If you'll forgive a pun, that all depends on what you mean by thicken.
(Bill Clinto reference there.)

Adding finely minced onions would add more solids to your sauce or soup,
but they aren't terribly absorbent so they wouldn't do what, e.g., flour
does, which is actually absorb some of the liquid. I think if we are
technical about our terms, onions wouldn't thicken the liquid, but they
would give the appearance of a thicker texture to the overall product.

-S-

[casa bona]

I've found that using a hand cheese grater works well.

The blender and liquid sounds reasonable too.

[casa bona]

At the risk of being obvious, a slurry of water and cornstarch does
wonders and adds a nice velvet texture.

[zxcvbob]

I thought Indians didn't eat onions -- that's why they use so much
asafoetida for a spice (because it tastes kind of oniony)

Bob

[sf]

On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 06:41:21 -0700 (PDT), Vegan Earthworm Holocaust
<bryang...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Caramelized onions are the most flatulogenic food I know of, and no doubt
> the gas produced would carry with it not only the onion essence, but also
> the aromatics from the curry powder.

Onions give you gas???? My, my, my... aren't YOU the delicate little
flower.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

[sf]

On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 09:30:38 -0600, casa bona <c...@chi.net> wrote:

> At the risk of being obvious, a slurry of water and cornstarch does
> wonders and adds a nice velvet texture.

The only curries I've ever made call for coconut milk and that
thickens up enough for me.

[casa bona]

On 6/21/2013 11:20 AM, sf wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 09:30:38 -0600, casa bona <c...@chi.net> wrote:
>
>> At the risk of being obvious, a slurry of water and cornstarch does
>> wonders and adds a nice velvet texture.
>
> The only curries I've ever made call for coconut milk and that
> thickens up enough for me.
>

Plus you get that fabulous taste, good stuff, fat content aside.

[Michel Boucher]

zxcvbob <zxc...@charter.net> wrote in
news:b2jdc6...@mid.individual.net:

> I thought Indians didn't eat onions -- that's why they use so
> much asafoetida for a spice (because it tastes kind of oniony)

Jains eat neither onions or garlic. Indians eat LOTS of onions.

--
Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected
from happening.

-- Barbara Tober

[notbob]

On 2013-06-21, zxcvbob <zxc...@charter.net> wrote:

> I thought Indians didn't eat onions -- that's why they use so much
> asafoetida for a spice (because it tastes kind of oniony)

A big country. You got the Nothern veggies, the Southern carnivores
(reverse?), the coastal fish eaters, the goat guys, etc.. No such
thing as one cuisine. One of my all time fave sides is a mint
chutney, which at its simplest, is pureed onion, mint leaves,
cilantro, and some damn hot chile peppers. This is very
popular in India.

[Nunya Bidnits]

Is this the real reason you refuse to buy a food processor?

[Nunya Bidnits]

But in slow moist cooking such as a mirepoix in the bottom of a dutch oven
braise, the onions and other ingredients basically cook to the point of
dissolving, or readily will dissolve with a touch of a stick blender.
Ideally this technique can create a very nice thick gravy without any
thickeners.

MartyB

[casa bona]

A slurry of ground trolls is always effective...

[ViLco]

casa bona wrote:

>> I've been told a good way to thicken a curry is with finely minced
>> onions. What would be a good way to go about this? Finely chop the
>> onions
>> with a knife and then fry? Or blitz the onion in a dry chopper then
>> fry or boil? Or with a small amount of liquid in a blender?

> I've found that using a hand cheese grater works well.

I use it a lot for both onions and carrots
--
"Un pasto senza vino e' come un giorno senza sole"
Anthelme Brillat Savarin