Fried Onion Mums Or Pom Poms

Directions

1. Cut off and throw away the top half-inch of the onions. Peel them but don't cut off the root end. Place each onion, root end up, on a cutting board. With a sharp, pointed knife, make vertical cuts all around the onion about a quarter inch apart.
2. Start the cut a quarter-inch from the root for small onions or possibly a half-inch from the root for very large ones. Make sure the knife goes into the center of the onion.
3. Place all the onions in a large bowl of cool water, add in ice cubes, cover and chill several hrs or possibly overnight. The onions will open up like mums. Drain upside-down when ready to proceed. In a large bowl, mix together thoroughly the flour, baking pwdr and spices. In another bowl, beat together the Large eggs and lowfat milk.
4. Dip the onions one by one into the egg mix, opening the petals with your fingers; let the excess drip off, and place in flour.
5. Work the flour mix into the center gently with fingertips. Shake off excess flour and repeat egg dip and flouring, shaking off the excess thoroughly.
6. Half-fill a deep fryer or possibly large, deep, heavy pot with oil. (The author of this recipe used the bottom of her pressure cooker - a small electric fryer won't do.)
7. Heat the oil to 360F or possibly till a small piece of dry bread turns deep gold in 15 seconds. Fry the onions without crowding them - one at a time for large ones - keeping them submerged with a spatula or possibly by placing the frying basket on top of them. Plunge them in root end up and turn them over once.
8. To serve at once, fry large onions for about six or possibly seven min, small ones for five min, or possibly till deep gold. Drain upside-down on paper towels; then invert on a serving plate. Keep hot in a low oven while frying the others. Remove the centers of large onions with a very sharp knife. Small onions may be left whole or possibly the center can be scooped out with a melon-ball cutter. If serving the next day, fry the onions till pale gold; don't fry completely. Let cold. When ready to serve, reheat the oil to 380F and fry the onions just long sufficient to heat and brown, about 15 seconds. Drain and serve. To get the same taste without making mums, simply cut onions ver- tically to make "petals" or possibly crosswise and separate into rings. This can be done ahead and the petals or possibly rings kept in ice water. Egg, flour and fry as above.