How to make onion, garlic, and chili powder

There are times of the year when certain spices are abundant and thus come very cheap. There even was a day in 2010 that a sack of onions would just sell for around 350 pesos in my province. For many farmers and entrepreneurs who got opportunity to invest on spice processing, it would be a good idea to invest on making powdered onions, garlic and chili and make a good business about it.

Here is a guide how to make powdered onions. You can try this for your home use, and scale it up commercially if you think it is feasible.

Ingredients you need:

* Onions

How to prepare:

1. Peel and finely chop the onions.

2. Spread the onion pieces out on a tray and heat in a 150 degree oven or in a food dehydrator until dry or even under the sun if it is summer. You will know the onions are dry and ready if you can easily crumble the chopped pieces in your hand.

3. Let the onions cool. When cooled, grind with a coffee grinder, spice mill, food processor or mortar and pestle until you reach your desired consistency. You can sift the material in a strainer to separate the chunks from the fine powder.You can use a much larger grinder or food processor if you decide to go do it commercially or in large scale.

4. Store your finished onion powder in an air-tight container in a cool, dry spot or freeze. If you do it commercially, you can ask for an advice for proper packaging from DOST including where to purchase packaging bottles suitable for the product.

Similar procedure can be done for garlic and chili.