Onion-free Indian food?

January 2, 2009 12:53 PM

Is it worth making Indian food without onions? My husband is on an onion-free diet and I am wondering if I should bother attempting an eggplant bharta recipe this weekened, or if I should forget it and move on to a natively onion-free cuisine.
posted by crazycanuck to food & drink (15 comments total)

There are many Indian recipes without onions. Madhur Jaffrey's World of The East Indian cookbook explains that the onion is not appealing to many Indian palates. Go for it.
posted by Riverine at 12:55 PM on January 2

I don't know about bharta, but Manjula of Manjula's Kitchen cooks entirely without garlic or onions.
posted by needs more cowbell at 12:57 PM on January 2

Plenty of Indian food is onion free; specifically, Hari Krishna devotees avoid onions and garlic. Try this as a starting point. It's a great cookbook, with or without onions.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 12:58 PM on January 2

Many Hindus and Hindu sects (such as Hare Krsna) declaim the use of onions and garlic, and use asafoetida (hing) instead. Be warned - it will stink out your cupboards for a long, long time if not properly sealed.
posted by goo at 1:00 PM on January 2

I use this book a lot. I often add onions, even though there are not any called for (or very few) in this book.

Highly recommended, though.
posted by Danf at 1:14 PM on January 2

Thanks for the pointer to asafoetida and to Devi's book. He offers a simple onion-free recipe.

Do you think I will be able to get asafoetida at the Whole Foods, or will I have to trek to an Indian grocery or a specialized spice shop?
posted by crazycanuck at 1:16 PM on January 2

<>Jains also avoid onions and garlic. They eat a rather restricted diet so I am not sure about the awesomeness of Jain cooking.
posted by Foam Pants at 1:48 PM on January 2

Can he eat leeks? I substitute leeks for onions in many a recipe.
posted by ceri richard at 2:19 PM on January 2

Do you think I will be able to get asafoetida at the Whole Foods, or will I have to trek to an Indian grocery or a specialized spice shop?

Give Whole Foods a go before you try the Indian grocers. I found it only in specialist Indian grocers in Australia, but then in several of my local corner Indian-Mediterranean-Polski corner shops here in London (but in none of the large supermarkets, interestingly, despite the large Indian population in my area). It really does stink, though, so that may be why!

ceri richard, if he's following the tradition all members of the onion family, including leeks, are discounted. If it's just an onion issue, though, then leeks will be okay.
posted by goo at 2:30 PM on January 2

If you have the time to wait for delivery, you can buy asafoetida from Amazon.com -- I get a lot of hard-to-find pulses and spices now through Amazon -- for example, in the Great Lentil Shortage of 2008 -- and they always seem to be good quality.
posted by Susurration at 3:13 PM on January 2

I think you can just make your standard recipes and omit the onions. Sure, they'll be a little different, but who cares?
posted by Netzapper at 3:44 PM on January 2

I am almost positive that, in the past, Whole Foods has stocked asafoetida.
posted by wildeepdotorg at 4:02 PM on January 2

I would recommend not even touching asafoetida (hing) with your fingers - use a spoon or something as the smell just doesn't go away.
posted by bbyboi at 11:40 PM on January 2

Yeah, get some hing. I grew up in the Krishnas, and just don't like onions much after years of never eating them, I use hing a lot. It really does do the thing that onions do to foods, without being oniony. Funny how many people are talking about the smell, it never bothers me, and onions really smell funky to me the same way people are talking about hing here ... effects of upbringing are far out.

Hing tips:
It's bitter and not good unless cooked. Don't use in salads etc. You can just dry roast some a bit though if you really want to put it in a non-cooked thing.
Strength of hing varies widely, even with the same brand (possibly not so much the case with an american brand). I've had some that is really strong and you only need a bit, some that I need a ton of. No way to really tell without using a bit. Ideally it should do something special and enhance the flavor, but you shouldn't really notice it tastes of hing.
posted by 31d1 at 12:00 PM on January 3

Anecdotal, but hey I'll put it out there: I can't digest onions, but I can deal with garlic, leeks, shallots, and chives, so I often substitute them for onions. You have to experiment to see if you get negative effects from them, but they are quite tasty, so it might be worth it.
posted by melissam at 1:12 AM on January 6