Twinkle Khanna Onion Recipes
Photo: Arundhati Chatterjee
by Twinkle Khanna Food
December 6, 2019

Onions are the new avocados

Home science, zindabad

One of the problems with being a woman, aside from painful cramps and childbirth, is the fact that despite having full-time jobs, we are invariably compelled to practice the archaic art of home science. The course book states that this subject deals with ‘Reciprocal relations between the family and man-made environment and aims at getting maximum satisfaction through the efficient use of resources.’ Though I spent most of my college years studying accounts, home science is what I have honed over the last 19-odd years. Inherently frugal by nature, I vigorously apply these skills when I am trying to balance the household budget.

Last year, this led to a lament around the price of avocados. My workaholic partner and navel-gazing millennials probably have only one thing in common, a love for this peculiar fruit which, to be honest, often tastes like nothing more than mashed soap. I was all right with him eating the occasional avocado toast but when he began asking for chunks of avocado, to be cut and placed in a bowl with every meal, it led to a screaming match.

“Do you know how expensive avocados are? Do you really have to take it to shoots in your lunch dabba and share it with all your colleagues? Can’t you just eat it when you are alone?”

My husband’s nostrils began flaring, “My mother, even when we were not well off, has never said, ‘eat only one of this and not two.’ I am a pure Punjabi and in our homes, we have large vessels filled with food, not like your Gujarati house with small vatis of kadhi and undhiyo. You are really overdoing this budget nonsense, do you think Shah Rukh’s wife keeps nagging him over the price of tomatoes and potatoes?”

“Maybe she does!” I said, “From what I have seen on TV, they seem to spend a lot of time talking about curtains and carpets. So they must be talking about vegetables also, no?”

This battle ended with him rather childishly telling his assistant to order two kilos of avocados and place them in a  labelled container only for his use.

When onion prices started soaring to the point of daylight robbery — and I mean this literally as in the last week, a truck filled with onions worth about Rs 20 lakh disappeared in Shivpuri, 328 sacks of onions were stolen in Bihar and 700 kgs of onions have gone missing in Maharashtra — I again applied my acquired home science skills. I soon came to the conclusion that though these exorbitant vegetables would not derail my monthly budget like it would for millions of homes across India, it was something I needed to look at carefully nonetheless.

After the avocado fiasco I didn’t even want to bring up this pungent subject in front of my husband as he would probably just roll his eyes and who knows, get his assistant to lug a few sackfuls into my kitchen with his initials on each onion. Instead, I started looking at how other women were grappling with this situation.

It was when I saw our finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement around the price of onions that I got my eureka idea. Sitharaman, unlike Marie Antoinette, did not tell her countrymen and women, “If there are no onions, have kanda bhajiya instead”, but peculiarly enough, she stated, “I don’t eat much garlic and onions, so don’t worry. I come from a family where onions and garlics are not used that much.”

That was the moment, I decided that I would follow our usual menu, but just refrain from using onions in the same dishes.

I could have asked my Jain friends for help and saved some money on garlic as well, but since they are all having their last laugh over our onion dilemma, I requested Google bhai saab for some recipes instead.

After some extensive testing and experimenting, I would say that these are the five onion-free recipes that may just pass off as the real thing. And unlike cake, perhaps you can really have your Bhune Pyaz ka Ghosht and eat it too.

Pav bhaji from Cook with Renu 

Ingredients:

  • 2 big potatoes
  • 2 cups of cauliflower
  • 4 to 5 tomatoes
  • 1 big capsicum
  • 2/3 cup green peas
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 3 to 4 green chillies or as per taste
  • salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Pressure cook the potatoes, green peas and cauliflower. Do not discard the water post cooking and put aside in a glass.
  2. Mash the potatoes, green peas and cauliflower.
  3. Puree the tomatoes, capsicum and green chilly.
  4. In a big pan, add 2 tablespoon butter. Add the tomatoes, capsicum and green chilli puree. Let it cook for at least 5 minutes.
  5. Add the mashed vegetables, pav bhaji masala, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and mix well.
  6. Let it cook for 10 minutes on a slow flame. Cover it with a lid when cooking to avoid splatters.
  7. Add the water you put aside till the mixture reaches desired consistency. Keep in mind that the bhaji becomes thick after it cools down a little.
  8. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter and let it cook again for 5 to 10 minutes on slow flame.
  9. Garnish it with coriander and butter and serve hot with some pav.

Chicken curry from Yummly 

Photo: Amirali Mirhashemian/ Unsplash

Ingredients:

For the spice rub:

  • 1 kg chicken thighs
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala

For the marinade:

  • 2-inch-long piece of fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup yogurt
  • 1.5 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1.5 tbsp flavourless cooking oil (like canola)

For the sauce:

  • 2.5-inch-long piece of fresh ginger
  • 10 cloves garlic
  • 10 almonds (soaked in cold water for 30 minutes and then peeled)
  • 2 to 4 jalapeno peppers (2 for mild, 3 for medium, and 4 for spicy) (sliced lengthwise into thin strips)
  • 4 tbsp melted butter
  • 4 green cardamoms
  • 1 black cardamom
  • 2-inch-long cinnamon stick
  • 2 cloves
  • 3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (dana methi)
  • 3 to 3.5 cups tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) (very lightly toasted in a dry skillet and crushed)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • Lemon juice to taste
  • Cilantro for garnishing

Directions:

For the spice rub:

  1. Clean the chicken and place in an air tight packet inside a bowl.
  2. Add cayenne, lemon juice, salt, and garam masala.
  3. Rub to coat the chicken with the spice mix.
  4. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes while you prepare the marinade.

For the marinade:

  1. Peel and roughly chop the ginger and garlic.
  2. Put the ginger and garlic in a food processor with two tablespoons of water. Grind until smooth.
  3. Mix garlic and ginger puree with the rest of the marinade ingredients.
  4. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, add the marinade to chicken inside the packet, and toss to coat.
  5. Reseal the packet and refrigerate for at least four hours, and up to 24 hours.

Chicken preparation:

  1. Set broiler rack 4 inches from heat source and preheat broiler to high.
  2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  3. Remove chicken from the sealed packet and wipe off excess marinade. Lay out in a single layer on baking sheet and broil for about 10 minutes, until colour darkens.
  4. Flip chicken and broil until colour darkens on the other side and you see charring (Approximately 10 minutes).
  5. Set chicken aside to rest while you prepare the sauce. Refrigerate the chicken once it has cooled to room temperature.

For the sauce:

  1. Peel and roughly chop the ginger and garlic.
  2. Put the ginger and garlic in a food processor with two tablespoons of water. Grind until smooth.
  3. Rinse the food processor and add the almonds with a tablespoon or two of water.
  4. Blend until smooth, adding more water as necessary to blend the mixture.
  5. Set aside.
  6. Heat the butter in a heavy pot with high sides.
  7. Add green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
  8. Sauté for a couple of minutes or until they start to sizzle and smell fragrant.
  9. Add the fenugreek seeds. When the fenugreek seeds sizzle, add the reserved ginger-garlic paste and the jalapenos.
  10. Cook in medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the water from the ginger-garlic paste evaporates.
  11. Add tomato puree, cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the puree reduces to a thick paste and butter separates from the sides of the pan. Set aside and cool for 15 minutes.
  12. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Return sauce to pan and add 2 cups of water and reserved almond paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until sauce reaches desired thickness.
  13. Add honey and crushed fenugreek leaves.
  14. Strip chicken from bone and chop into large chunks. Add chicken pieces to sauce and stir well to combine. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes at medium heat. Lower heat and add garam masala and 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Stir and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add additional lemon juice, honey, and salt as needed.
  15. Garnish with fresh cilantro and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream.

Rajma from NDTV food 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups rajma
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup clarified butter
  • 2 cups Tomatoes (finely chopped)
  • 1/4 cup channa (roasted)
  • 1 tbsp ginger (chopped)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds (roasted)
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tbsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp red chillies (coarsely crushed)
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Directions:

  1. Soak the rajma with baking soda and leave for 4 to 6 hours.
  2. Change water and cook until the rajma becomes tender.
  3. Strain and put the water aside.
  4. Combine and grind to a paste with the roasted channas, ginger, garam masala, bay leaf and cumin seeds.
  5. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add tomatoes and stir-fry until the oil separates.
  6. Add ground ingredients and stir-fry further till the oil separates again.
  7. Mix in the salt, turmeric, coriander powder and the red chillies and stir well.
  8. Add beans and green chillies, stir until mixed and lightly fried.
  9. To the bean gravy, add enough water to make 4 cups. Then add the beans and green chilli mix to that.
  10. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer until the gravy becomes well blended.
  11. Serve rajma hot garnished with butter and coriander leaves.

Baigan ka bharta from Vidya’s Home Cooking 

onions
Photo: Wiki Commons

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium eggplants
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup coloured bell peppers (red, orange and yellow)
  • 1/4 cup peas
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp heeng
  • 1/2 tsp finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 to 3 tbsp oil
  • 2 tsp salt

Prep:

  1. Set the oven in the broiling mode at high setting.
  2. Coat the eggplants with 2 tablespoons of oil and broil them for about 40 minutes. Flip them once after 20 minutes.
  3. Let it cool
  4. Peel the skin and mash the eggplant nicely.

Directions:

  1. Heat the kadai and add oil.
  2. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and hing.
  3. As they start to sizzle, add the chopped tomatoes, salt and turmeric powder.
  4. Cover and cook till they become soft.
  5. Now add the peppers and peas and cook for about 2 minutes.
  6. Now add the dry masalas – red chilli powder and coriander powder.
  7. Mix them well and cook till the oil separates.

Mutton Kheema by home chef Yasmeen Hussain

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Ingredients:

  • 500gms mutton keema
  • 1 tsbp oil
  • 1 large or 2 medium bay leaves
  • 4 cloves
  • 3 small cardamom
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup of water

Directions:

  1. Wash the kheema and put it into the cooking pan.
  2. Sauté in little oil, add cloves, cardamom and bay leaves.
  3. Add ginger garlic paste, salt, haldi, jeera powder, and coriander powder.
  4. When all spices have combined with the kheema, add a cup of water (enough to cover the kheema).
  5. Cover the pan and cook on simmer till kheema is well cooked.
  6. When the kheema is soft and cooked, uncover and turn the flame up.
  7. Add a little oil if the kheema is sticky.
  8. Sauté till the kheema is brown, add split green chillies (split lengthwise), coriander and lemon wedges before serving.