Indian Onion

The most [blank] ingredient in Indian cooking, the [blank] element with which all dishes begin and, normally, the cheapest vegetable available, the pink onion is an essential item in the shopping basket of families of all classes. A popular saying holds that you will never starve because you can always afford a roti (a piece of simple, flatbread) and an onion.But in recent weeks, the onion has started to seem an unaffordable [blank] for India's poor. Over the past few days, another sharp [blank] in prices has begun to unsettle the influential urban middle classes. The sudden [blank] in prices has been caused by large exports to neighboring countries and a shortage of [blank] . But the increase follows a trend of rising consumer prices across the board - from diesel fuel to cement, from milk to lentils. With its capacity for bringing down governments and scarring political careers, the onion plays an [blank] role in Indian politics. This week's reports of rising onion prices have made front-page news and absorbed the attention of the governing elite.