Pearl Onion Curry

Pearl onion curry is a delectable dish, originally from the state of Rajasthan in India. It wasn’t something which was made often in my house. I’ve only recently discovered just how easy and delicious this recipe is. One day my mom sent me a picture and I was hooked. I thought of this every time I walked through the onion isle at the grocery store. The pearl onions were calling to me. So one day I got them and then they stayed in my pantry for a good while. Thankfully I got around to cooking them!

This recipe is adapted from bharatzkitchen. He has the whole video on YouTube. However, not all of us have the ingredients he used on hand. So I made a bunch of them optional, but it still tasted amazing! This is especially good to make if you have yogurt lying around which is about to expire.. 😂

Servings: 4, Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• Pearl onions 10-12
• Chili pepper 1
• Tomatoes 2 medium
• Ginger root 1 inch piece
• Canola oil 2 tbsp
• Cumin seeds 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder 1 tsp
• Chili powder 1 tsp
• Garam masala 1 tsp
• Kasuri methi 1 tsp (optional)
• Chickpea flour 1 tbsp
• Asaphoetida (Hing) a pinch (optional)
• Yogurt 1/4 cup
• Water 1/2 cup
• Salt according to taste

Instructions

1. Peel the onions and remove the ends. Make sure the onions remain whole. Carefully make cuts into the onions at right angles to each other on the cut side. The cut should only go about 3/4 into the onion’s thickness. The onions should not get quartered! They should remain whole
2. Blend the tomatoes, ginger and chili pepper into a smooth paste
3. Heat the canola oil in a pan. Once smoking, add the mustard seeds and wait till they pop.
4. Remove the pan from heat and let it cool down for 4-5 minutes. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds.
5. Add the chickpea flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the blended paste to the pan. Cover partially and cook till oil separates, stirring occasionally. This can take up to 20 minutes. To hasten the process, use more oil or cook on high heat stirring continuously.
7. Add all the spices and salt. Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.
8. Reduce the heat to low and add the yogurt while mixing continuously. Add the water and mix
9. Add the pearl onions, cover and cook for 5-8 minutes or until the onions are cooked
10. Add the kasuri methi. Serve hot!

The only real threat with this recipe is that the yogurt can curdle. To prevent this, make sure the heat is low when adding yogurt. As long as you remember this, the dish is super easy to make. It also goes well with any Indian bread, or even rice. I’ve also tried this with scallion pancakes and it tasted amazing! The recipe for scallion pancakes is available on this link: https://everything-nothing.home.blog/2021/04/28/scallion-pancakes/ I hope you give this a try and as always let me know how it goes!! 😬