I was getting bugged by this crying business while cutting onions. Any Indian dish that you try to cook requires onions and invariably I end up shedding bucketful of tears. So is there any way out ?Quick survey of literature available reveals that an absurd amount of "solutions" exists for this problem. To quote a few :
(a) Cut out a cone at the bottom of the onion from the root, this is the part the makes you cry. (Maybe, but I don't want to waste half my onion just avoid a few tears, would I ? Especially with the prices the way they are in India now !! )
(b) Wear contact lenses (That seems a bit extreme )
(c) Chew a piece of bread while you chop onions ( Why not a glass of wine also while you are at it , eh ? )
(d) Wear protective glasses or incredibly a diving mask ( "Where are off to in that diving mask ?" , "Just chopping a few onions.." . Innovative for sure, somehow I don't think this option would find too many takers )
As is the case with most problems, the literature search gave me no conclusive answer. Ask and expert was the only option left. So I went ahead and posed this question to my North Indian cooking consultant. Predictably, she told me something not seen in literature yet : Soak the onion in water for 10 mins before chopping. I tried this technique today, and I must say it was surprisingly effective. Not a tear shed !!
Maybe I should listen to experts a bit more :-)
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2 comments:
One more thing you cna do is to peel and cut the onions in half and then refrigerate them.. Cold onions seem to be less tear-inducing :)
-C
The right mentor will shorten one's search for the truth.
I'll pass on this advice to my wife and daughters, the main cooks these days in our home.
Great blog!
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