Instructions

1. Chop the onions into about 1/8-inch pieces, known as "brunoise" in culinary terms. The pieces should be uniform to ensure that they all cook at the same time. A sharp knife gives you more control, hence precision, when chopping the onions -- or any food product.

2. Heat cooking oil in the frying pan over medium heat, about 2 tablespoons for every cup of diced onions. You can use any kind of oil or fat you wish, including clarified butter to enhance your Indian dish's flavor, or olive oil to increase its health benefits. If you use a low smoke-point fat, such as butter, monitor the frying pan closely and adjust the heat down as needed.

3. Transfer the chopped onions to the frying pan. Move them around the pan constantly with wooden spoon for the first 5 minutes or so, and then at 15- to 30-second intervals until they appear translucent and browned. Browning onions for an Indian dish can take about 25 minutes.

4. Turn off the fire and transfer the pan to a cool burner immediately if the onions start to get too brown too quickly. Pickier cooks can remove individual over-browned onions from the pan with a spoon if desired. But if the extra browning doesn't bother you, stir the onions together and return the frying pan to low heat. Increase the heat to medium to continue browning as needed.