Hi, Just wondering if I could use the fried onions I have in the freezer for fresh ones in a curry I'm making today?

Yes of course you can. See here;

https://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13933

the recipe calls for 3 large onions, what would that mean in the fried ones?

Probably around 3 full/generous tbsp. full. How much main ingredient by weight? After you have added onions, taste the sauce and see if it need more. It probably will be enough.

Thank you Mamta, used 3 and tasted lovely.

:)

It was 900 gms of chicken breast

can't underestimate the contribution of frying raw onions is to a dish, they provide vital sulphur containing flavours, essential when cooking meat. Garlic contains even more sulphur groups, and as with onions, should be fried with the meat for full flavour.

"can't underestimate the contribution of frying raw onions is to a dish, they provide vital sulphur containing flavours, essential when cooking meat. Garlic contains even more sulphur groups, and as with onions, should be fried with the meat for full flavour."

I knew that Sulphur rich soil is good for growing flavoursome onions, and that you need to fry them to brown, to release the best flavours, most Indian dishes require that. But I did not know that flavours in onions were contained in sulphur compounds. It is always interesting to understanding the chemistry/science behind these things. My late dad, a chemist, was always telling us scientific reasons behind certain things happening in the kitchen. I wish I had paid more attention ;)!

When making Indian gravies/sauces for curries/biriyanies/vegetable bhajies or for tempering dals etc., most Indians fry onions to quite dark brown, unlike in English/Western cuisine, where you often just soften them. We frequently use freshly fried to dark brown onions as a garnish on pilafs (pulao to us), biryanies, rich vegetable dishes with dark brown/deep fried onions. I always fry a lot of onions when making burgers or having a BBQ. They are popular hot dogs and burgers. There are never any left!

I do keep a packet of pre-fried onion in my freezer though, to use when I am in a hurry. they give pretty well flavoured curry sauce/gravy.

yes, sulphur-rich soil. The sulphur chemicals enter the onion by the roots, obviously, then it may come as no surprise that the root end of the onion contains the most sulphur, and this gets less the further away from the root the onion flesh is. So when one cuts up an onion, I always cut the root end a little finer. And I leave as much of the root end as I can, as this is where the flavour is concentrated. But, the sulphur compounds in onions combine with other chemicals in meat, for example, to make 'meaty' flavours, just as sugary foods combine with meat to produce the deeply satisfying flavours of roast meats (if one isn't a vegetarian!). To this end, I have found that Aldi are selling coconut nectar (sugar from coconut flowers) which, when added to meats (especially mince for burgers, kebabs and the like) provides the 'reducing sugars' necessary for the reaction.

My mix for meat, now, is usually salt, black pepper, celery seed and coconut nectar. Added sparingly, it seems to bring out the flavour of the meat without overpowering it, I find. The salt is either sea salt or Himalayan rock salt, the pink kind, not the black (volcanic) one!

Thank you for that detailed message :)