Onions

Where would we be without onions?

Onions have been used in cooking for ages. They take the simplest of dishes to new heights. They add a depth of flavor to any recipe. They are great in salads and cooked dishes alike.

Add them raw to your salad, serve them solo with a dash of lemon or fry them up to make a tasty veggie or pasta. The uses are endless.

Few of my favorite dishes with onion

Chole Fry some onion, tomatoes and garlic. Add garbanzo beans to make this delicious earthy recipe. Serve with roti/naan/bread/rice + sliced onion with some lemon juice

Pasta Fry some sliced onion in oil to bring out their sweet flavor and add to your pasta/pasta sauce

Raita chopped onions, tomatoes and yogurt. Season with salt, pepper and some sugar

Where does onion stand nutrition wise?

Low in calories,

Low in sodium and

Zero in fats.

Great sources of Vitamin C, folate (B complex Vitamin) and dietary fiber.

Onions are also said to have quercetin, a flavonoid (antioxidant compound).

Awesome! That helps keep us young!

Onions contain phytochemicals - anticancer and antimicrobial!

Why do onions make you cry?

When you cut an onion, some enzymes (concentrated in the onion root) convert amino acids sulfoxides of the onion into sulfenic acid which gets released as Syn-propanethial-S-oxide and irritate the eyes. 
Tip: Try to keep the onion root intact till the end and you might cry lesser! Something that I am still trying to achieve.

So what kind of onions can we get in the market? 

Yellow Onions

Yellow onions have golden skin and yellow flesh. They are all-purpose onions and can be used in all kinds of cooking.

Red Onions

Red onions are milder in taste and the layers have a purple tinge

White Onions

White onions have a white papery skin and white flesh. They are wonderful when eaten raw. Great in salads.

Spring Onions

These are young onions, harvested before they mature. The leaves are green. Both the onion bulb and greens are used in salads and to prepare veggies.

Who produces onions?

Onions are predominantly Asian. Largest producers are China, India, United States, Turkey, and Pakistan.

Who shouldn’t eat onion?

Although onions are great sources of Vitamin C and dietary fiber, they also have certain ill-effects (conditions apply!).

Monitor your body’s response when you eat onions. If you are suffering from GERD/Acid Reflux (Heartburns), onions might be causing you more harm than good.

Onions in such cases create an imbalance in the stomach’s alkaline-acid balance (ideal is said to be 4:1 ratio) and disturb the pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter (food pipe) which is responsible for keeping the stuff in your tummy from not going back up!

That seems to be the science behind acidity. If that was too much for you, you don’t need to worry about what goes on inside your body. Just think whether you had onions (or tomatoes!*) earlier in the day whenever you suffer from acidity. And voila! You might just find the cause and prevent it in the future. You can thank me later! J

*Since we touched upon Acid Reflux, my next post would be on Tomatoes – another major cause of worry in Heartburn sufferers :(

Information sources: This paper on National Center for Biotechnology Information, this site, and BBCGoodFood

Image source: header, plant