Once again, the humble onion has again made it to the headlines selling — in our city at least — at an all-time high of Rs 18 to 20 a kilo. And, to think, it was always seen as the poor man’s vegetable because it brought an extra zing to his simple fare of roti, dal and green chilli.Most find cooking incomplete without the good old onion. All my friends began complaining bitterly about high onion prices some months ago. Some explained how they put up with their family’s complaints and determinedly cut the number of onions used for cooking. Others revealed how they searched high and low for wholesale outlets in their bid to cope with the soaring prices. You would have thought that they were taking about artichokes and baby corn, rather than the distinctly un-exotic onion!They wanted to know why I appeared so unfazed amidst this raging tragedy. Well, that was when I let them into a little secret: no onions, no tension.In fact, I had stopped buying onions the moment it crossed the Rs 14 a kilo mark. The secret, of course, is that onions are not central to South Indian cooking. What my friends did not know was that there are several traditional Indian dishes that do not required onions and are still quite delicious.“What, no onion sambar?” one friend wanted to know. I told her that a sambar made with seasonal vegetables like pumpkin or brinjal tastes just as good.I found it cheaper to use coconut and came up with innovative coconut-based gravies which had the family smacking their lips and asking for more. Very soon, I found myself dishing out recipes without onions to a whole lot of friends. My domestic help can’t get over the fact that there are no onions to chop. She has got used to grinding masalas made of coconut, cummin, coriander seeds and pepper or red chilli.As a child growing up in Shillong, I would always ask our maid, Draupadi, what she had eaten for lunch. I still remember dear Draupadi replying with a laugh: “Chawal, aloo aur pyaj ki chutney.” Her “pyaj ki chutney” was truly out of this world and my sister and I hankered for it. But I learnt as I grew older that while the onion does hold exceptional delights, one can always manage without it when it disappeared from the grocery shelves.And there are some who even cash in on the shortages. One of the catchiest slogans during this year’s Diwali shopping season went like this: “Buy two shirts and get half a kilo of onions free.”Truly is it said that the humble onion is the king of vegetables. It has proved that it has the power to make and break governments.
