Egg Masala

If I told you that I whip up amazingly gourmet meals at the drop of a hat for my everyday dinners, that I’d have to be lying. Truth be told, I seldom ever cook something that would have me whisking away for hours on end. Except of course, when I have company coming! Now that’s a whole different story altogether. Even then, I’m not spending all those hours on one single dish, but instead, I’m actually going nuts fussing over a minimum of five main courses.

Yes, I get like that while entertaining. But the diligent licking of everyone’s fingertips and perplexed weight-watching souls worrying over whether to go in for seconds (thirds, actually) more than makes up for all the effort.

When it comes to feeding family, I like to go more easy on myself. It’s not that I don’t enjoy feeding loved ones with rich palate pleasing favourites, but I’d rather spend my time with them enjoying simple, yet equally delightful food made in minutes. A recent email from one of my readers posed a question I have been subjected to many a times. This compelled me to come all out talk about my regular at-home meals. She writes,

All your recipes appear as if they leaped out of glossy magazines. While many them are quite easy to follow, it’s hard to imagine myself cooking lavish meals every night. Do you really cook all these wonderful looking food on a daily basis?

Well, dear reader, all I can say is yes. Well almost. You see, most of my recipes, no matter how elegantly sounding, are actually very simple and wholesome; and ones that I turn to on a weekly basis. While it may seem daunting to someone not so in tune with Indian cuisine, it’s not at all that hard. Most dishes can be made in a matter of minutes, whereas others, that seem to call for bucketfuls of spices, may just take a tad bit more time. But yes, sometimes even an adventurous cook like myself, wants to take a break and reach out to the nearest pack of instant noodles. And it’s often in times like these that I faithfully turn to my repertoire of quick fixes. And these, I assure you dear reader, can be whipped up real quick. Literally in minutes!

EGG MASALA
Prep time: 10 min | Cooking time: 10 min | Serves: 2

2 large 1 medium 1 medium-sized 1-2 1 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 2 tbsp

eggs, hardboiled onion, finely sliced tomato, roughly chopped green chillies, chopped ginger-garlic paste mustard seeds red chilli powder turmeric powder coriander powder light cooking oil salt, to taste

HEAT oil and saute mustard seeds till it starts to pop. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a few seconds before adding onions. Cook till onions turn tender and pink.

ADD red chilli powder, turmeric and coriander powder, and fry for a few seconds before adding tomatoes. Season with salt, and add water if necessary. Add boiled eggs, sliced in half, and let cook for another two minutes till eggs evenly coat with the gravy.

SERVE warm with rice or rotis.