Fried onions recipe for hyderabadi biryani with step by step photos. Crispy fried onions used for biryani are called as beresta. Hyderabadi biryani or a dum biryani is incomplete without crispy fried onions. These are used for garnishing as well for cooking too especially for dum biryanis, these can also be used to make baked curries like baked chicken curry or potato curry.
Fried onions are full of flavor and enhance the biryani to a great extent. They are available in the food stores too but they are dehydrated ones and not deep fried.
If you find deep fried ones, you can use them. But the aroma of the freshly fried onions brings in a lot of flavor to the Biryani.
To make them crisp they can be fried with some dry flour sprinkled on them. Corn flour works the best.
Use large onions that are fresh. You can use the left over oil after frying onions for making biryani or for dosa. Discard it if you are worried about the health impacts of reusing oil that has been used for deep fry.
one large onion would be sufficient to make biryani for 2 cups rice. You can make beresta in large quantity and store them in glass jar to retain the aroma and crispness.
You can use beresta to make
veg biryani
chicken biryani
Mutton biryani
paneer biryani
Step-by-step photos
How to make crispy fried onions for hyderabadi biryani
1. Wash, peel and slice onion to thin slices.
2. Sprinkle corn flour. Toss them.
3. Fry in hot oil until golden.
4. Drain on a kitchen tissue. Cool fried onions and store in a air tight steel or glass jar.
Recipe
Fried onions recipe for hyderabadi biryani | Beresta
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 1 onion large
- Corn flour as needed
How to make the recipe
- Wash and peel the skin of onions.
- Cut onions into thin slices and ensure they are almost of same thickness.
- Sprinkle corn flour on the slices and toss them.
- Heat oil in a deep pan till hot.
- Reduce the flame to medium. Add few onion slices at one time and deep fry until crisp.
- Transfer them to an absorbent paper. Cool them completely and store in a airtight jar.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
If you are new to cooking, follow my detailed step by step photo instructions for best results.
June says
Hi Swasthi,
Just wondering how many fried onion a large onion will yield? I am thinking if I can use the fried onion sold in supermarket?
swasthi says
Hi June,
You can use the store bought fried onions if the flavor is good. But unfortunately most brands don’t and they smell rancid. You can give a try. If you make biryani often I would suggest you spend an hour and fry a lot of them and store in a glass jar in the fridge. They will last long. 1 large onion doesn’t yield much – a little over half cup. Hope this helps.
Muryam Marsh says
Recipes are always exciting to make
Evans Gathaku says
looks so yummy! Will give it a try.
Sunita says
Hi, How long can I preserve the onion fry in the frige?
swasthi says
Sunita
it depends on what kind of oil you used for frying. If you have fried in fresh oil (first use) then they last for about 2 months in the fridge
JAYA says
Hi Swasthi Excellent picture of the fried onion good tips. Thank you very much.
swasthi says
Welcome Jaya
Letitia says
where can buy corn flour…is it the same as corn meal?
swasthi says
Corn flour is the same as corn starch and not corn meal. Hope this helps. Thank you
PT says
they looks too crispy.. perfect with biriyani..