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In Poland, onions are very juicy. In addition to that, gas has low intensity. As a result, it takes a lot of time to sauté onions, and onions are almost impossible to deep fry on the pan. To fight the situation, I bought 1kg of dried onion flakes.

Today, I tried to cook pilaf/plov/pulau/polao using onion flakes. The onion quickly acquired the color of chocolate, and the dish tasted bitter.

What can I do to cook pilaf/plov/pulau/polao using onion flakes properly so that the dish doesn't taste bitter?

Recipe:

Ingredients:

  1. 400g of basmati rice
  2. 4 cups of water
  3. 2/3 cup of dried onion flakes
  4. 1 teaspoon of ginger powder
  5. 1 tablespoon of dried garlic flakes
  6. 1.5 teaspoons of salt
  7. three tablespoons of butter chunk
  8. 0.25 cup of sunflower oil
  9. 0.5 teaspoons of cinnamon powder
  10. 0.5 teaspoon of cardamom powder
  11. 10 whole black peppers
  12. 5 cloves

Procedure:

  1. take a Chinese wok
  2. heat butter and oil together in the wok
  3. fry onion, garlic, and ginger in the oil for a few minutes until they seem fried
  4. add rice
  5. add salt
  6. roast the rice and mix it well with onion, garlic, and ginger until the rice looks well roasted
  7. add water and cover the wok with a lid
  8. cook for 10 minutes
user366312
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    Can you share your procedure/recipe for making plov? Probably you need to change your ordering, but we need to know what it is now. – FuzzyChef Jul 12 '22 at 23:54
  • @FuzzyChef, edited. – user366312 Jul 13 '22 at 00:52
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    The dried onion flakes I have are fully pre-cooked. Others seem to be slightly cooked as part of the drying process. What about yours? – Chris H Jul 13 '22 at 12:00
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    The Title should perhaps be "How to use dried onion flakes as a substitute for fresh onion?". As it stands now, it's asking for answers that will be completely different from what you really want to know (e.g. add them boiled potatoes just before mashing). – Ray Butterworth Jul 13 '22 at 16:47
  • Try reconstituting the onions in a little water about 5 minutes before you add them to the pan. They won't be as wet as fresh onions, and they should not burn. – Jason Jul 14 '22 at 16:31
  • "The onion quickly acquired the color of chocolate" ... "bitter" did you mean the chocholate with > 90% cocoa? – EarlGrey Jul 14 '22 at 23:20

2 Answers2

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Add the dried onions when you add the rice, or even a couple minutes after you add the rice. That way they won't burn.

FuzzyChef
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Dry stuff cooks fast.

If you just used your regular recipe you had the opposite problem that you had wiith the wet onions. Wet onions cook slow because they are wet. Dried onion cook fast because they are dry. You burned them in the oil.

But they forgive you. Dried onions are super understanding. They are still ready to be part of something delicious.

Next time try soaking your dried onions for 10 minutes in some water. They will get wet. Let them sit on a towel to get rid of extra moisture. Then see how it goes!

I must say the thought of juicy Polish onions makes me hungry. I bet they are sweet and lovely. I might make my pilaf without onions and then add a juicy chopped onion raw! I might save half that raw onion and eat it by itself with salt and pepper and Tabasco. Yum!

Willk
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    I'm pretty sure if you soak store-bought dry onion flakes (which look more like a powder), they will turn into a thin paste that you don't want to spread onto a towel. – mustaccio Jul 13 '22 at 20:09
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    @mustaccio the dried onion flakes I buy from a local market are typically about 3/16" across and maybe as much as 1/16" thick. They're nothing like onion powder. – brhans Jul 14 '22 at 15:53
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    This is what I picture when I hear "dried onion": https://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Dried-Onions-4-oz_p_1745.html – erickson Jul 15 '22 at 19:03