Shallot

Shallot

Shallots are called 'bawang merah kecil' (small red onions) in Bahasa Melayu, an official language of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore,also called Brambang in Java, and "hom" (หอม - literally "fragrant") in Thai. In South East Asian cuisines, such as Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines, both shallots and garlic ('bawang putih', white onions) are very often used as elementary spices. Raw shallot can also accompany cucumbers when pickled in mild vinegar solution. It is also often chopped finely, then fried until golden brown, resulting in tiny crispy shallot chips called 'bawang goreng' (fried onions)in Indonesian language, which can be bought ready-made from groceries and supermarkets. It enhances the flavor of many South East Asian dishes, such as fried rice variants. In Indonesia, sometimes it is made into pickle which is usually added in variable kinds of traditional food. Its sourness increases one's appetite.

It is widely used in the southern part of India. In Kannada language it is known as 'Eerulli' and used extensively in snacks, salads, curries and rice varieties. In Tamil it is called Sambar Vengayam and Kochulli in Malayalam and is used in Sambar (a type of curry) and different types of kuzhambu(curry).