Pearl onions or baby onions, soaked in vinegar and water are called vinegar onions. Vinegar onions are soft but have a crunch. It is very common at Indian restaurants and dhabas. This simple onion salad can pep up any simple meal and add in zing. Vinegar onion recipe is very easy, simple and quick to make. I always have a jar of vinegar onion in my refrigerator. Be it the simple meal of dal chawal or a special one of butter paneer masala and butter naan, vinegar onion makes everything better. It is also to be noted that vinegar onion is much more than pearl onions soaked in vinegar. In this post, you will find step by step pictures along with the vinegar onion recipe.
Pearl Onions / Sambar Onions / Baby Onions: Certainly pearl onions work the best for this recipe. You can also use regular onions. Cut the same into quarters and follow the recipe.
Beetroot: You must have seen the vibrant color of these onions. That red hue is obtained by beetroot. You can also use red food coloring for the same.
Vinegar: I have used the regular white vinegar for the recipe. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
To make vinegar onion colored water is prepared using beetroots. It is important to cool down the water before proceeding with the recipe otherwise the onions might lose the crunch. The onions should be left on the kitchen counter for 5-6 hours. Thereafter the same should be refrigerated and used for a week or up to 10 days. The best part is that the vinegar solution can be re-used. You just need to add fresh onions to the same.
You might also like lachcha pyaaz, which is a very popular salad served at the roadside dhabas especially at the highways. Another very simple salad which can be prepared to pep up the meals is the kachumber salad. Other than these there is one more recipe very close to the vinegar onion recipe i.e. sirke wala pyaaz. It further calls for a few more ingredients.
Serve it with butter paneer masala and butter naan for a weekend meal.
1.This recipe makes 20-30 vinegar onions.
2.In a pan heat 1 cup of water.
3.Add 1 small peeled and chopped beetroot.
4.Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.
5.Strain the water. Let the water cool down.
6.In a sterilized glass jar, add the 20-30 peeled pearl onions.
7.Next add in ¼ cup of vinegar.
8.Followed by the beetroot water.
9.Close the lid. Leave it on the kitchen counter for 5-6 hours. Thereafter refrigerate.
10.Ready to use. Bon appetite!
PREP TIME 15 minutes + 5-6 hours resting time
COOK TIME 5 minutes
TOTAL TIME 20 minutes + 5-6 hours passive time
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