Pickled onions |How to make quick hotel style pickled onions at home ?

Pickled onions is one accompaniment which you will find in many indian restaurants especially with punjabi dishes

Small white onions or shallots /madrasi sambar onions (small red pink onions ) are best suited for this recipe but you can even make it with our regular red onion sliced .

Pickled onions are a pickled food consisting of onions pickled in a solution of vinegar,sugar and salt, often with other preservatives and flavourings.

Have you ever had pickled onions? they are remarkably easy to make at home.
 This bright, jewel-toned condiment offers a zesty tang to countless dishes and adds a lovely splash of color as well.  It takes about ten minutes to assemble and lasts for weeks in the refrigerator.  
Their bright pink color, crunchy texture, and piquant flavor will perk up almost any dish.  They're also perfect for serving with sandwich and salad buffets at parties.use them in tacos,burgers ,salads or even sandwiches

Onions

use red onions for my picked onions, but yellow or white onions can be used as well. a small piece of beetroot is added for the red coloring 
If using a big onion , cutit into rings or half moons.  They can be sliced paper thin or thick.  Be sure to use a firm onion that is free of soft spots and blemishes.  

Vinegar
use a pale-colored vinegar such as rice vinegar or white wine vinegar OR apple cider vinegar will do.  Do not use the industrial white vinegar  as it is too harsh-tasting


 Sugar
The sugar provides a nice balance to the salty vinegar brine, but you can leave it out if you are avoiding sugar.  Honey or another sugar substitute can be used.

Flavourings

At their most basic, pickled red onions are simply sliced onions that have been covered in a mixture of vinegar, salt and sugar, and allowed to marinate.
 You could keep it clean and simple and add none or add a combination of the following: cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, crushed red pepper flakes, whole garlic, star anise, bay leaf, mustard seeds, fresh ginger slices, fennel seeds, coriander seeds or cumin seeds.


Ingredients

15-20 small red baby onions/shallots OR 1 big firm red onion
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt/black salt /sendha namak
1/4 cup rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp grated beetroot

Flavorings (optional):
1 small clove of garlic, halved
5 black peppercorns
1 small dried chili


Clean jar or container

Method:

1.Peel and rinse baby onions /shallots .If using big onion ,peel and thinly slice the onion into approximately 1/4" moons. 


2.In a small bowl ,add the sugar, salt, vinegar,grated beetroot and flavourings and whisk till sugar and salt is dissolved. 


3. Place onions in a glass jar or glass container; pour vinegar mixture over. stir gently to evenly distribute the flavorings. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.



4.The onions will be ready in about 30 minutes, but are better after a few hours.  Store in the refrigerator.

5. Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Cover and chill. Drain onions before using.



Storage
Over time, the onions will eventually turn a uniform shade of vivid pink. Be sure to store your pickled onions in a glass or ceramic container.  
Most metals will react with the vinegar and plastic will absorb the flavors.pickled onions  will keep for several weeks but are best in the first week.