Knife Skills for Desi Cooking: Onions, Ginger, Garlic, Herbs and Tomatoes

Why the cut matters

In desi cooking, how you cut an ingredient changes how it cooks. Thin onion slices fry into crisp, even birista; finely chopped onions melt into a smooth masala; ginger cut into matchsticks stays as bright, crunchy bites in a karahi. You don’t need professional skills, just a sharp knife, a steady board and a few techniques.

Set up first

• A sharp knife is safer than a blunt one. A blunt knife slips; a sharp one goes where you aim it. A 20 cm chef’s knife or a good Asian cleaver handles almost everything.
• Steady the board. Put a damp cloth or paper towel under it so it doesn’t slide.
• The claw grip: curl the fingertips of the hand holding the food, so your knuckles guide the blade and your fingertips stay tucked away.

Onions

• Slices for birista and biryani: cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it, lay it flat and slice thinly along the lines (from root to tip). Slices cut this way hold their shape and fry evenly. Slices cut across the lines fall apart into rings.
• Fine chop for masala: halve and peel, leaving the root on to hold the layers together. Make thin cuts from tip to root without cutting through the root, then a couple of horizontal cuts, then slice across. The onion falls into small, even dice. Fine onions melt faster in bhunai.
• Rings for salad: slice across the whole onion and separate the rings. Soak in iced water for 10 minutes to make them crisp and milder.

No tears: chill the onion for 15 minutes first, keep the root on until the end, and use a sharp knife (a blunt knife crushes more cells and releases more of the irritating gas).

Ginger and garlic

• Julienne (matchsticks): peel ginger with the edge of a spoon, slice thinly, stack the slices and cut into thin strips. Used raw on karahi, kadai paneer and haleem.
• Crushed garlic: lay the flat of the knife on a clove and press with your palm. The skin slips off and the clove is ready to chop or pound.
• Paste: for large amounts, see our ginger-garlic paste guide.

Herbs

• Coriander: the stems have more flavour than the leaves. Chop them finely and add them to the masala, and keep the leaves for garnish.
• Mint: pick the leaves off the stems, stack them, roll them up and slice thinly (chiffonade) so they don’t bruise and blacken.
• Wash and dry well, because wet herbs turn to mush when chopped.

Tomatoes and chillies

• Tomatoes for masala: chop finely, or grate on a box grater and discard the skin. Grated tomato breaks down in half the time.
• Tomatoes for salad: cut into small, even dice with a sharp knife so they don’t squash. Remove the seeds for kachumber that won’t go watery.
• Green chillies: slit lengthwise for gentle flavour (they’re easy to remove), or chop finely for more heat. Wash your hands afterwards, and keep them away from your eyes.

Work faster

Prepare everything before you start cooking (mise en place): onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic and spices in small bowls. Desi cooking moves quickly once the oil is hot, and stopping to chop is how onions burn.