Mumbai Street Egg

Since my mum has been in New York, she has been insisting on making her new dish for me. Apparently I would love it!! That wouldn’t be a huge surprise because I tend to love everything she makes. Expecting a plated ‘piece de resistance’, I was a little disappointed to hear that the fuss was about ‘fried egg’. Firstly, I am not a member of the ‘I love eggs!!!’ fan page and secondly, she refused to make it with just egg whites. Had she forgotten her audience!

Pardoning my lack of enthusiasm, I tried to steer her towards her biryani or pakoras (chick pea flour coated crisped vegetables) but no! Fried egg was what she was determined to make and she insisted that I would love it. She also insisted that I referred to her dish by the correct name ‘Mumbai Street Egg’ because she saw it on one of her favorite day time television Indian sopa operas – where it was cooked on the street side in Mumbai.

Then she went into the kitchen and all I could hear was chopping and sizzling as my nose drew in the aromas of wok fried onions, chili, ginger and tomatoes. Served with her ‘mother-knows-best-smile’was a plate of piping hot eggs that were lightly fork-broken and not beaten. Without exaggeration, this was the best egg I had ever eaten! Feeling slightly overwhelmed, I didn’t know whether to focus on its flavor or texture since both were utterly praise-worthy. Unlike the soft and gentle, easy-like-Sunday-morning egg dishes, this dish had zing that kept me ‘hooked’. As for the texture, the eggs were not whisked before cooking, in fact, they were cracked directly in to the hot skillet and barely combined, with the easy yolk lending itself to buttery creaminess.

This ‘Mumbai Street Egg’ would awaken any palate, but who is to say that this can only be eaten at breakfast! Throw a piece of naan bread on to the skillet and smother with butter, and you have a meal ‘a la minute’ minutes away from your plate.

Ingredients

1tbsp oil
½ a medium sized onion, finely diced
1 tomato, finely diced
1 heaped tbsp grated ginger
1 fresh chili, finely chopped
¼ tsp chili powder
Salt
Pepper
6 eggs
1 tsp butter, room temperature
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Method

1) Heat pan on high heat and add oil. Saute onions, tomatoes and ginger
2) Crack the eggs in to the pan and let the allow the white to set. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder
3) Once the whites have set, pierce the yolks and lightly combine to coat the white in the yolk, dot the butter around the egg, remove from heat
4) Garnish with cilantro

Serving Suggestions

Serve with toasted bread, naan or roasted potatoes

Pearls of Wisdom

Don’t over cook the egg and the yolk should remain a little gooey. This will lend itself to richness in texture and flavor. Since the eggs are not fully cooked, I strongly suggest using organic eggs.