Crispy Fried Onions Recipe | Make Birista or Beresta at Home

Crispy fried onions or Birista or Beresta or simply called, brown onions are very easy to make at home. They are loaded with amazing flavours. Crispy fried onions are very essential for a good biryani. Biryani is incomplete without crispy fried onions. Not to forget many other recipes that taste super because of Birista or Beresta.

Golden crispy fried onions or beresta are heavily used for chicken pulao, mutton pulao ar any pulao of choice. Pulaos and biryanis are never complete without birista. At least, I cannot think of making most of my non-vegetarian recipes without birista. Just crush them into any recipe and you have a delightful meal ready any time.

What is Birista (Beresta) Really?

Crispy fried onions or Birista (beresta) is a basic no batter onion preparation for a lot of Indian and Mediterranean cooking. Beresta or golden fried onions are fried to a point until the thinly sliced onions are golden and crispy, is usually the first step in many vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes.

The thinly-sliced crispy fried onions are pleasantly flavorful and add both crunch and flavour to a recipe. Dishes made with beresta gets an aromatic, sweet and smoky taste.

How do you keep fried onions crispy?

For getting a perfect crispness to fried onions, always add onions to oil that has already started to heat up. Doesn’t need to be boiling hot, just warmed up. And keep frying your onions at high heat.

Golden Brown onions are really crispy and are used heavily in South Asian cooking as a garnish, a masala base and for layering. They can be stored (frozen) for a very long time.

How do I store golden fried onions?

To store your golden fried onions, all you need to do is store them in an airtight container. Freeze this container in a freezer until you wish to use the fried onions. Whenever you need the onions, just remove it from the freezer and scoop the required amount. Store the reminder immediately back into the freezer.

What is the difference between fried onions and caramelized onions?

Fried onions are browned to golden over high heat so the outsides are crispy browned quickly, but the insides stay mostly white. Caramelised onions are made over medium heat which is a slower process over low heat. And, involves the gradual browning of the sugars inside the onions after the liquid has evaporated away.

Crispy fried onions used majorly for biryani are also called as birista or beresta. Here is how to make perfect fried onions or birista (beresta) at home with step by step photos.