Tag Archives: egg

Goan Egg Curry

By Posted in Mains, What's cooking Tagged , , , , 12 Comments

DSC_1213

Any decent cook needs to have tried and tested recipes for classic dishes which are used so frequently that one can make it in her sleep. I have been searching for a fool proof egg curry recipe for quite a while now but somehow the recipes I tried so far failed in one of the key criteria – husband and kid should like it, has to be easy to make, should not involve tough to get ingredients. Finally I found this one and it has succeeded on all three counts. Except coconut milk, all ingredients are usually always available in my kitchen and thanks to my everlasting love for Thai curries, I have coconut milk as well. If you don’t have coconut milk, increase the grated coconut quantity by 3-4 tbsp and add regular milk. 

DSC_1216

Protein – Egg 

Recipe from here

Serves 3-4

WHAT WE NEED

Coconut milk                    1/2 cup

Tamarind paste                      1 tbsp

Green chillies                          2-3

Cumin seeds, roasted             2 tbsp

Dried red chillies, roasted    2-3

Coriander seeds, roasted       2 tbsp

Poppy seeds, roasted              1 tbsp

Coconut, grated                       3/4 cup

Garlic cloves                            6

Chopped ginger                      1 tbsp

Oil                                             1/4 cup

Onions, finely chopped         2 cups

Curry leaves                            2 sprigs

Tomatoes, finely chopped    2 cups

Garam masala                         1 tsp

Turmeric powder                   1 tsp

Eggs, boiled & shelled            6

Salt

Coriander leaves to garnish

WHAT TO DO

  • Grind together the grated coconut, ginger, garlic, green chillies, roasted cumin seeds, roasted dried red chillies, roasted coriander seeds and roasted poppy seeds to a fine paste
  • Heat oil in a pan and add onions and curry leaves
  • Cook until onions are translucent and add the tomatoes
  • Cook till the oil separates, around 6-7 minutes
  • Add the ground paste, garam masala, turmeric powder and salt and cook till the oil separates again
  • Add two cups water and cook till it boils
  • Simmer for 10 minutes and add coconut milk and tamarind paste 
  • Let it come to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes
  • Add the eggs and garnish with fresh coriander 
  • Serve hot with rotis or paratha
  • Enjoy!

DSC_1218DSC_1245

This is my post for the Mega Marathon under the theme, ‘Protein Rich Dishes’.
BMLogo

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 80

Mushroom Egg Rice

By Posted in Mains, What's cooking Tagged , , , , , , , 14 Comments

DSC_1245

My second recipe with vegetable sources of protein is this simple mushroom and egg rice. Mushroom is one of the veggies to be high on protein. But like I mentioned yesterday, most of my recipes for this week has an additional protein source to truly qualify as a ‘protein rich’ dish.

This dish is one of my go-to mixed rice variations. Usually I toss in whatever vegetables I have on hand and name the dish later. I usually make it when I have just shopped for the week’s vegetables and so I would be able to spare a little of everything or the day before vegetable shopping when I have bits and pieces of everything. The mushroom and egg can be replaced with any vegetable of your choice. Carrots, peas, corn, mint, baby corn are all good options.

DSC_1251

Protein – Mushroom and Egg

Serves 2-3

WHAT WE NEED

Basmati Rice                               1 cup

Button mushrooms                   150 gms

Eggs                                              3

Oil                                                 2-3 tsp

Cloves                                           3

Cinnamon                                   1″

Cardamom                                  3

Star anise                                    1

Garlic cloves                               3

Red chilly powder                     1/2 tsp

Garam masala                            1 tsp

Salt

Water

 

WHAT TO DO

  • Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for half hour
  • Drain and cook it in a pan with 4 cups of water
  • Once the rice has been cooked, drain the water and pass the rice through running water to stop cooking. Set it aside
  • Chop the mushrooms and set aside
  • In a pan, heat the oil
  • Add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and star anise
  • After a minute, finely chop and add the garlic cloves
  • Once the garlic starts turning brown, add the red chilly powder and chopped mushrooms
  • Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes on low
  • Beat the eggs in a bowl and pour it in the pan
  • After a minute, stir the eggs to scramble it and let it cook for 2-3 minutes
  • Ensure any water from the mushroom has been fully absorbed before adding the rice
  • Add the rice, garam masala and salt and mix well
  • Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes
  • Enjoy with raita or chips of your choice!

DSC_1257

This is my post for the Mega Marathon under the theme, ‘Protein Rich Dishes’.

BMLogo

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 80

Khachapuri

By Posted in Breads, Snacks, What's cooking Tagged , , , , , , , 19 Comments

DSC_1305

At first glance, the name Khachapuri does sound like a chaat available at Chowpatty beach in Bombay, somewhere between sookha puri and pani puri. But probe further and you discover that it is a traditional Georgian bread filled with cheese. In fact, it is the national dish of Georgia. It is usually shaped like a boat and filled with cheese, egg and sometimes few other ingredients. The crust is ripped off and used to dip in the cheese for a mouthful of bliss. Sulguni is the most commonly used cheese in Georgia but it is replaced with mozzarella and other cheese in other countries. Since it is a staple food in Georgia, the price of making the khachapuri is used a measure of inflation, called the Khachapuri Index. I am unable to think of any reason for why I should not migrate to this European country. Sigh!

I made a few changes to this dish because the husband and daughter are not big fans of cheese plus they need a spicy version of every dish. So I replaced part of the cheese with some fresh paneer / cottage cheese. Then I crumbled it and mixed some chilly powder, mixed herbs and salt into it. So, for the first time the husband asked for seconds and that is when I realized how much happier I was when he would not and I had all the delicious bread to myself.

DSC_1300

Country – Georgia

Recipe adapted from here

Makes 2 large breads to serve 3-4 people

WHAT WE NEED

For the dough

All purpose flour                            1 3/4 cups

Sugar                                                 1 1/2 tsp

Salt                                                     1/2 tsp

Instant yeast                                    1/2 tsp

Lukewarm milk                              1/2 cup

Lukewarm water                           1/4 cup

Oil                                                     1 1/2 tsp

For the filling

Mozzarella, grated                          1 cup

Fresh cottage cheese                      1 cup

Mixed herbs                                     1-2 tsp

Red chilly powder                           1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves                             5-6

Eggs (optional) (see notes)            2

 

WHAT TO DO

  • Mix the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a large bow;
  • Add warm milk and water and knead till the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes by hand
  • Add oil and knead again till the oil is absorbed, about 1-2 minutes by hand
  • Set aside the dough in a greased bowl and cover it till it doubles in volume, around an hour
  • Punch down the dough and press it a few times and set it aside for another 30 minutes
  • Crumble the cottage cheese and add the chilly powder, mixed herbs and some salt and mix well
  • Preheat the oven to 230C for 20 minutes
  • Take the dough and divide into 2 halves and roll out the first half into a 9″ circle
  • Spread the paneer mixture on the circle leaving an inch gap from the edges
  • Roll the circle from two opposite sides three times leaving a large gap in the middle
  • Pinch together the edges and shape like an ‘S’ to make it look like a boat
  • Fill the open section with paneer mixture and top it with mozzarella cheese and few finely chopped corainder leaves
  • Repeat the same procedure with the other half of the dough

unnamed

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it well with oil / butter
  • Transfer the two breads on the baking sheet
  • Bake for 15 minutes or till the top of the dough is nicely brown
  • If you are adding eggs, take out the bread from the oven and make a small hole in the cheese at the centre of the bread
  • Break open an egg at the hole and bake for another 5-6 minutes till the egg whites are set but the yolk is a bit runny
  • Take out and let it cool slightly
  • Using a fork, scramble the egg into the cheese and serve warm
  • Enjoy!

 

NOTES

  1. It is not mandatory to add eggs and can be skipped. If so then bake for 18 minutes instead of 15 minutes or till the top of the dough is golden brown. When I baked one bread without the egg, it seemed a little dry while eating. So, I suggest you mix 1-2 tsp of milk with the paneer when you add salt and spices. It should reduce the dryness.
  2. Instead of paneer, you can add feta cheese, farmer’s cheese, etc. I plan to add some veggies next time like mushroom, boiled corn, cherry tomatoes, etc to make it a little healthy
  3.  It is better to use freshly made paneer / cottage cheese. The store bought ones are usually dry and may not be the best option for this dish but maybe you can adjust the milk a little more and make do. I used paneer made from 1 litre milk and it was almost used up in this dish
  4. On hindsight, I thought it would be better to make 3 portions instead of 2 with the same dough which would result in a smaller size, more filling and less dough per person.

DSC_1338

This is my post for the Mega Marathon under the letter ‘K’.

 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 75

Bhurji and Sprouts Noodles

By Posted in Mains, What's cooking Tagged , , , , 16 Comments

   

My cravings for the day never matches up with what needs to be cooked or the ingredients in the house. Don’t know why but I have been wanting to have some noodles for the past two days. But crazy schedules and backlogs mean that I have to cook and post on the same day for the BM.

So I have combined the theme of Bhurjis and my noodle cravings to make Bhurji noodles. I came up with the recipe as I went along and the end result was pretty lip smacking! So here goes –

Serves 2-3

WHAT WE NEED

Noodles (any kind)         200 gms

Olive oil                              2 tbsp

Garlic                                   2 cloves

Onion, medium                1

Mixed vegetables             1/2 cup

Moong sprouts                  1/4 cup

Eggs                                      4

Red chilly powder            1/2 tsp

Soy sauce                            1/2 tsp

Vinegar                               1/2 tsp

Salt

WHAT TO DO

  • Cook the noodles as per package instructions
  • In a pan, heat the oil
  • Finely chop the garlic and onion and add them to the oil
  • The mixed vegetables can be any or all of carrots, beans, mushroom, corn, baby corn, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.
  • Once the onion is translucent, finely chop and add the mixed vegetables and sprouts and mix well.
  • Cook on medium high flame and toss regularly
  • Once the vegetables are soft, in about 3-4 minutes, move thyme to one side
  • Break and add the 4 eggs. Scramble it well and mix it with the vegetables.
  • Add red chilly powder, salt, soy sauce and vinegar.
  • Cook on medi low flame for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the noodles and mix well
  • Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
  • Enjoy!

 This is my entry for the Blogging Marathon under the theme – Bhurji

IMG_0187-7

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for other marathoners doing this BM. 

 

Egg & cheese toast

By Posted in Breakfast, What's cooking Tagged , , , , , 5 Comments

  

This is my favorite start breakfast because it’s easy, quick and filling. If I have bread at home, I usually make one of these for each one of us and since it’s quick, I can sleep an additional 15 minutes in the morning which is absolute bliss!

   

The funny part is I just saw this series of images on Twitter or Pinterest long ago with bacon and it seemed like a nice idea then. I obviously did not use the bacon and substituted it with a tomato. On very lazy days ( which is more often than I care to admit) I omit the tomato too and just go with the egg and cheese. It’s a must try.

So here goes –

WHAT WE NEED

Bread slice 1

Egg 1

Tomato slice (optional) 1

Cheese slice 1

Butter for greasing
WHAT TO DO

  • Cut the interior of a bread slice somas to have a small square and the frame of the slice with a hole in the centre.
  • Heat a pan and grease it with butter.
  • Put the slice frame on it and break an egg into it and let it cook.
  • Once the yolk sets, add the tomato slice on top of it.
  • Add the cheese slice on top of the tomato slice.
  • Once the cheese slice starts melting and sticking to the bread slice, add the cut smaller square of the bread on top of the cheese.

  

  •  Add some butter on top and slowly flip the entire toast with a spatula.
  • Let it cook for a minute.
  • Once you see the cheese slice lifting off the pan, remove the toast carefully with a spatula.
  • Enjoy! 

NOTES

  1. If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to cut the bread slice into a square, just use a small cup and cut it into a circle. 

This is my post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme – Instant Breakfast.
 
IMG_0187-7

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for other marathoners doing this BM.

 

 

Baked Pisto with Eggs

By Posted in Mains, Other Bakes, What's cooking Tagged , , , , , 10 Comments

   

Today is the second day in the ‘Do the eggplant’ series as part of the Blogging Marathon. Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the husband has been throwing more tantrums than my daughter when it came to eggplants. But he loved the baked eggplant with Parmesan. So at least I have one go-to dish in desperate times! Yay!

Today’s dish is the Spanish Pisto which is basically eggplant with a whole lot of other vegetables sauted and baked. I have used eggs in them but you can forget about it and it would still be yumm. Plus, as an additional precaution I grated some cheese on top after baking so that the husband won’t groan. So again, it’s optional and can be done away with.
  

I have adapted the recipe from here. Mine is a lot more simple with fewer ingredients. So here goes –

Serves 2

WHAT WE NEED

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finley chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped 

1 large eggplant, diced

1 large capsicum, diced

4 medium to large tomatoes

salt & black pepper

 a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed from stem

2 eggs (optional)

Grated Parmesan / Cheddar cheese for garnish

WHAT TO DO

  • Soak the tomatoes in hot water for 15-20 minutes and peel off the skin. Chop them and keep aside.
  • Heat the oil, add the onions, thyme, garlic and chilli and cook till the onions are translucent 
  • Add the eggplant, salt and pepper and cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes
  • Add the capsicum and cook till all vegetables turn soft. It should take another 10 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 190C
  • Transfer the vegetables to an 8 x 8 baking tray and spread it out evenly.

  

  • If using egg, make two small dips in the vegetables and crack the eggs into the dips. 
  • Sprinkle salt and pepper on the eggs.

    

  • Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the white of the egg is just set but the yolk is still runny.
  • Remove from the oven, sprinkle the grated cheese and serve with any bread for dipping in the pisto and egg yolk.

  

NOTES

  • You can add zucchini as well. Tropical countries don’t seem to have them 😔 so I had to omit those.
  • If you don’t have fresh thyme then you can use dried thyme but then you need to add it in at the end of the cooking, just before adding the eggs.
  • One of my yolk was funny while the other was not. That’s more to do with my oven hot spots than anything else. This was when I baked for 15 minutes. So I suggest you bake for ten minutes or so if you want a runny yolk.
  • From my limited research, I found corn bread to be the most recommended one with pisto but you can serve it with any other bread and it will taste just as good. I am letting you into a secret – I served it with pita bread. Yes, you read that right, pita bread. It was quite good, if I may say so myself. So go ahead and pick any bread. You can do worse than me 😊

  

This is my entry for the Blogging Marathon hosted by Srivalli. 

  
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for other marathoners doing this BM

Blogging Marathon – Tokneneng

By Posted in Snacks, What's cooking Tagged , , , , , , 14 Comments

 IMG-20150612-WA0030

Today is the final day of this week’s Blogging Marathon on Fritters! My recipe for today is perfect for for days when one is too lazy to make an elaborate snack. It is the recipe for a street food from Philippines called Tokneneng which is frying hard boiled chicken eggs in a fiery orange batter. The same recipe is also used with quail eggs and is called kwek kwek.

WHAT YOU NEED

6 Chicken eggs

1/2 cup plain flour

1/4 cup corn starch

2 tsp annatto powder (See Notes)

Coarse table salt

Pinch of ground black pepper

1/2 cup water

extra corn starch for dusting the peeled eggs

Oil for deep frying

WHAT TO DO

Boil the eggs for around ten minutes. Cool the eggs and peel the shells Combine all the dry ingredients together

Heat the oil

Add water to the dry ingredients and mix till the texture of the batter becomes really smooth and free from any lumps.

By now the oil should be hot enough for frying.

Roll each egg in corn starch and coat them with the batter

Lower the egg one by one into the oil with a spoon. You can fry as many eggs at a time depending on the size of your pan. You only need to ensure that the eggs don’t come in contact with each other in the oil

Once the eggs floats on top of the hot oil, let them cook for  5-10 seconds before removing them.

This is another dish which is recommended to be served immediately.

Notes 1. Annatto powder is a food colouring derived from the achiote tree. You can simply use orange food colouring like I did. The uniqueness of this dish is in the bright orange batter. So use the food colouring a little generously to get the perfect colour.

IMG-20150612-WA0028

2. If you are a pure vegetarian, then you an try this recipe by replacing eggs with paneer. The additional step would be to sprinkle some salt on the paneer and leave it for 15 minutes before dunking it in the batter.

3. After peeling the eggs, hold them under running water for 30 seconds. This will remove any minuscule shell pieces from the egg.

IMG-20150612-WA0031