Thursday, August 29, 2013

How to beat the onion crisis with these 'No-onion' recipes


“Who moved my onion?”, “Onion may touch Rs.100/kg by Puja”, “Onion free with purchase of tyres”, “Know your onions”, “Amid LOC firing, India plans to buy onions from Pakistan”, “Soaring onion prices brings tears across India”-these are all the headlines the humble onion is making in newspapers across India!
Get on to any social networking site and you’ll find hundreds of ‘original’ teary jokes and see ‘rings’ with the onion taking the pride of place instead of a diamond! So much brouhaha over the price of one of the most essential ingredient in most menus seems justified. Jokes apart, yes, they do make you cry when you have them and also when you don’t!!
I’m not a student of economics, but here’s a thought-if the demand for onions falls, won’t the rates too take a dive? What if we all use onions sparingly? Normally where you would need 2-3 onions/ day what if you can make do with just 1 onion in two days? How???? For starters, try making your regular dishes by reducing the amount of onions or even omitting the onion altogether or the next simple alternative: prepare dishes that don’t need onions!
Is that possible? Cooking Indian food without onions?? Of course it is- there are many communities who make delicious food without onions or garlic. Even Ayurveda advocates the ‘Satvik diet’ in which pungent foods like onion, garlic, green chilli and others are not recommended!
Here’s what I do- make dishes that does not require onions, simple! It’s not impossible-think about it. There are dishes in your menu books or that you regularly make which do not require onions-just make these dishes till the onion prices fall, which it will eventually. I’m sure most people are already doing the same, for those at a loss here are a few dishes that you can try out for the next few days:
Read more: Face the onion crisis with these 'No-Onion' dishes. Published in Citizen Matters (26th August 2013)

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