Shallots (small onion)
छोटा प्याज़ · ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി · சின்ன வெங்காயம்
Fresh Produce
The onion of the south — stew, sambar, chutney and most Kerala and Tamil tempering. Sweeter and less watery than a large onion, so it softens without needing to brown.
What to know
Not a small version of the same thing. Shallots hold their shape and turn sweet where a big onion goes soft and sharp, which is why a stew made with one tastes different from a stew made with the other.
- Choosing it
- Firm, papery skin, no green shoot at the tip. Sold by weight; peeling a cupful is the slow part of any recipe that uses them, so buy more than you need and peel once.
- Storing it
- Cool, dark and airy in a basket, never sealed in a bag. They keep for weeks and sprout when they get warm.
- If you cannot get it
- Standard across South India. Outside it, use the smallest onions you can find and accept a sharper result — European shallots are closer in sweetness but cost several times as much.Try: onion
Measures
- 1 piece ≈ 10 g
- 1 cup ≈ 125 g
Cups here are the Indian 200 ml cup, not the 240 ml US cup — a common reason a recipe does not work. Weigh where you can; the grams are the figure we cook to.