Saadia, Ammi grinds them raw, though she once told me to grind after frying them, which wasn't fun :o For Daal and non-shorba saalan I do this too.
Don't brown the onions, they give you darker color and are harder to mash later. You should only fry onion golden when you want them to survive the entire process. I add garlic along with onion, but I don't have any rule as such, I fry everything for a long time to get the perfect shorba, on medium low heat.
If you fry onion, ginger garlic, grind and re-fry it gives another kind of taste.
i've never used blender etc. to make it smooth .....as shahreen said u need to cook the onion till its soft ....
my MIL cooks onion (fry in oil) adds garlic ginger...fries it for a while adds spices then tomatoes n then after a bit of bhoonifying ....she adds water n lets it simmer for a while ....her gravy is ALWAYS perfect ....n trick with her way is ...she doesn't cut anything finely .....onion n tomatoes both r like diced thick pieces n not finely chopped
i do the same ...but i like to remove the skins from tomatoes n then add them ....
when i'm in hurry n don't have much time .....i put everything in pot ,,,,that is meat ...onion , garlic , tomatoes , spices n water .....pressure cook it ....dry any excess water ...add oil ....bhoonify ....add dry corriander powder (here it gives the colour) ....n then add potatoes ...or peas or whatever i like ....bhoonify n add water for shorba ....bring to boil n then cook on slow flame just until the potatoes / peas are done .....never keep it boiling on high flame ....this way i always get perfect results
for koftay .....my ammi chops everything before cooking ....but MIL makes the masala same way as i wrote earlier .....i like MIL's better in appearance
Afia baji how does the thick slices of onions and tomatoes get smushed after the sauteeing process? I am curious now.
It would also be interesting to see how salans turn out by grinding raw onions, tomatoes etc and then bhooniifying like sabah mentions.
Buy one packet of that already fried onion from a desi food store ( tht way u will save urself half n hour of choppin n fryin onions). Then throw sum garlic,ginger, lil bit of yogurt, sara masala and tomato paste(or tomato) n the onions tht i have mentioned… all these things in blender n puree it.
Pour it in pan, over medium-high heat and stir ocassionally until the oil start to separate from the gravy. Tadaaaaaaa!!!
Ira .....as sabah explained earlier ....thicker onions are easily dissolved .....like u see when we cut thin fine slices of potatoes n fry....they become crisps....but when we cut thick ....like in french fries ...n fry them ....they r soft ....
n oh yes sabah is right ....donät cook chicken in pressure cooker .....
at my MIL´s parents place ....i saw they were using a prepared masala .....that was onion garlic ...tomatoes ....chillies ....turmeric n salt .....everything was chopped n mixed ....they kept it in a jar .... because of higher salt ratio ....it doesnt go bad ...salt preserves it .....n for every unexpected arrival ....all they did was adding this masala to oil .....bhoonifying n then adding meat waghera .....it was interesting but somehow i just didnät like to practice it myself
Chicken can and should be cooked in a pressure cooker. You just have to time it right. Pressure cooking retains all the nutrients andis highly recommended. Do a google on pressure cook and chicken.
we never have any problems like that..i like to cook mine on low heat..and in the end i bhonify it...you don't even see the onion or the tomatoes..that's for normal salans..
for special qormas...what we do is that we golden fry the onion and then blend it with yogurt, bhona masalas in a blender to safe time when it comes to those degh style chicken qormas..
and for ginger garlic..my mom usually blend them and make ginger garlic puree..and freeze them in ice cube tray...for me..i don't like ginger garlic..i use the powder or the cube if i really have to..
