Onions have always been one of the most used veggies in my kitchen all year round. All blame goes towards the ultimate onion sambal, a.k.a, the newly discovered spicy caramelize onions, I often make between other recipes.
Onion continues to rank as one of the top veggies to have consumed worldwide for a reason. Read on to find out why and how onion benefits you.
Most eaten veggie worldwide?!
Yes, everyone loves its explosive sharp flavours so much, that these days, you can find onions pretty much in almost all the savoury dishes.
The recipes one can create using onions are simply endless. There are an unimaginable amount of onion recipes to choose from, some of which I love, like the caramelized onions.
The good, the bad & the ugly side of a caramelize onions
The ugly truth is, to some individuals, onions don’t do so well. They may experience digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (1).
The bad side to the onions is that they commonly produce unpleasant body odour, bad breath, eye irritation, etc.
Compared to both the ugly and the bad side, the good side of the onion is abundant.
The antibacterial properties of onions help improve your skin by protecting you from acne-causing bacteria and infections. There is a detailed post on how beneficial onions can be to your health and beauty.
As with any food, it is best to enjoy onions in a moderate amount. I find onions have a lot more contribution to health gains than not.
Keeping that in mind, use onions in your culinary creations anytime to enhance the flavours of your meal in moderation.
The contents provided on this site/post are mainly intended for educational purposes only and not intended to offer personal medical or nutritional advice. I’m not a nutritionist or a dietitian. Please seek medical advice from a qualified health care provider. Read Disclosure.
How to stop onion tears?
Caramelize onions take a lot of slicing onions. Freshly cut onions can cause temporary irritation issues. All thanks go to Propanethial-S-Oxide (PSO).
A chemical reaction that gets released into the air, which triggers tears when it reaches the eye.
There are a few proven ways you can control or stop the onion tears. Try a few and see what works best for you.
- Use a fan – A fan helps blow off the air away from your eyes during the cutting process.
- Refrigerate the onions – Let the onions sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or more before use.
- Do not cut the ends – The onion base has the highest concentration of the rest. It’s best to leave them still intact with the onion while cutting.
- Use a sharp knife – A razor-sharp knife helps cut an onion smooth without having to damamge them much. Which in turn produces much less gas in the air. The sharper and faster you cut the fewer tears run down your cheeks.
Now that the tears are under control. Let’s move on to how the recipe is made.
How is the recipe is made? The newly discovered spicy caramelized onions.
To caramelize, I tend to always reach for the yellow ones. Although, white onions work fine too. I find the yellow onions turn a darker shade of gold when caramelized than the white onions.
Typically, to caramelize onions, they are cooked at a slow speed. It cooks for an extended period to bring out the best flavours in them. This cooking method results in an explosive amount of intense flavours.
Some cooks prefer using butter over oil, some likes to add water to moisten it, but some add sugar to enhance its flavour.
I, however, do things differently to caramelize the onions the best way possible.
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This spicy version of caramelized onions requires a few extra steps and extra ingredients but with less cooking process.
I use curry leaves, mustard seeds, sun-dried red chilli peppers to enhance the flavours of the onion. Spices like chilli powder and chilli flakes help add some kick, to make you feel on the edge. The cooking process helps bring all the seasonings together to add just the right balance to justify the flavour.
Besides the onions, salt and oil, the remaining ingredients can be adjusted or even omitted to create a flavour you like.
To cut down the time spent in the kitchen, prep the onions ahead of time by slicing them a day before use and storing it in the refrigerator.
What’s the difference between caramelized onions and sautéed onions?
The cooking process and the quantity used are the ultimate difference between the two.
To sauté onions, we tend to use less quantity and less cook time. These types of onions made are great with other added vegetables or to use on top of other dishes.
Caramelizing is a slower and longer cooking process of sautéing onions.
When sautéing onions, they turn to a golden colour, but the edges turn lightly browned while caramelizing can turn onions into a darker brown and softer.
Serving style
This recipe is my favourite to munch on at any time of the day. Caramelized onion recipe for burgers. Spread it over an Italian or French toast for a quick breakfast idea. Serve it with rice and curry for lunch. Pair it with roti (flatbread) for dinner.
If you are a Sri Lankan, you can enjoy this sambal with ghee rice, pittu, milk hoppers, or with petti-paan (loaf of bread). Caramelized onion recipe for hotdogs.
There are countless ways to cook onions. One of my favourites is the caramelized onion, all because I often use this recipe to create other dishes too. This recipe satisfies my sambal cravings plus a chance to impress my family.
Try it yourself.
Sharpen up your cooking skills to impress everyone around you by cooking like a pro.
How to Caramelize Onions | The Ultimate Spicy Onion Recipe
Learn to caramelize onion to satisfy your food cravings. It's a berrylicious dish with a bursting flavour to impress anyone at the dinner table. Go for it!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Oil cooking oil of your choice. Add as you need.
- 1 Sun-dried red chili pepper
- Few Curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 2 medium-size Onions thinly sliced
- 1/3 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt or as you need
- 1 tbsp Chili flakes
- 1/4 tsp Chili powder Kashmira brand
- 1 Thai green chili pepper (option)
- 1/2 tbsp Maldives fish (option)
Instructions
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Use a non-stick pan on the stovetop & turn it on for medium/high to heat the oil first.
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Add the sun-dried red chili pepper, curry leaves then the mustard seeds.
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When the ingredients start to splutter in oil, lower the heat to medium, add the onions, turmeric powder, chili powder, and chili flakes with the salt.
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Stir well then close it with a lid and let it cook for a minute or two.
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Remove the lid. Stir & sauté further for another 20 more minutes without the lids this time.
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NOTE – Remember to stir the onions every few minutes to avoid it from burning. If the ingredients look too dry, burning and/or smoking up, remember to lower the heat and add a spoon of cooking oil or as need.
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When the onions are coming together cooked and looks glossy, add the sliced green chili pepper and the Maldives fish (both optional). Continue cooking for another 5-10 more minutes.
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Remember to stir as you cook. Towards the end, the onions would look reduced to half the portion, glossy and caramelized.
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Enjoy it with your favourite meal or have it stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for later.
Onion Sambal Recipe Notes
- You can accelerate the cooking process by not using a lid, increasing the heat level between medium/higher. This may create more steam/smoke. Constantly stir to avoid food burn.
- If at any point while cooking, the onions look too dry, smokes up too much or burns the bottom of the pan, try lowering the heat back to medium if not lower. Add a little bit of oil and keep stirring to avoid further burning or drying out.
- If your sambal looks too oily after cooking, use a drainer to drain the excessive oil from the onion sambal. This may take about 5-10 minutes.
Berry-secret note
On a busy day, when in need of this sambal, I go into all-in-one-go-mode.
First, I gather all the ingredients to cut and prep as needed. Throw it all in a non-stick pan with a lid to cover and cook on low/medium heat for about 5 minutes. Take the lid off, stir and cook for about 10 more minutes, remember to stir as you go and it’s done.
The overall cooking process can take between 15-20 minutes or even less, depending on the number of onions used. Just remember to stir in between cooking.
This way I can cut, prep, throw it all together and cook in one go. While that’s being made I’d be multi-tasking with another dish to complete a meal for the day.
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What do you know about onions, besides them being in recipes?
- One of the oldest food for the human race is the onions.
- The ancient Egyptians once worshipped onions.
- Onions can be a powerful Ayurveda medicine.
- To help cure or relieve earache pain, place half a cut onion faced down over the infected ear.
- Onions can rid of rusts and polishes metals.
- A natural dye to your fabrics.
- All onions grow underground. There are about 27 kinds of onions out there.
- Onions consist of about 89% of water.
Onions are not only the most used vegetable in my kitchen but also widely used worldwide for a reason. Whether it is to use as freshly on your meals, to enhance its flavour by cooking or to utilize for purposes other than in the kitchen, make the best of the simplest of ingredients.
