Book, Film Review
In an extract from Home Bird by Megan Davies, we feature two great recipes for a long weekend lie-in
Indian scrambled eggs with naan or toast
My friend Ivan taught me this recipe, having come back from a year working as a naturalist guide at Kipling Camp in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh (home of The Jungle Book). The head chef at Kipling Camp, who has worked there for 30 years and who taught Ivan this recipe, serves the “anda bhurji” in a roll as a picnic breakfast for guests, ahead of a day on safari. I, however, first tried them in Surrey. Although the surroundings weren’t quite as exotic as their origin, I loved the recipe and have been making them ever since. I serve them on toast or sometimes naan bread, with tamarind chutney on the side.
Swap-ins
Any type of onion will do and use any fresh tomatoes you have, you just need about 130g-150g fresh tomato. Ground cumin works instead of seeds.
Leftovers
This recipe serves 2 people so there shouldn’t be much left, but you could cook basmati rice, then add to a frying pan/skillet with the leftover scrambled eggs and make an Indian-style egg-fried rice, with extra dried chilli/hot red pepper flakes and coriander/ cilantro. Make sure the eggs and rice are piping hot.
Serves 2 Time 15 minutes
Olive oil or ghee, for cooking
1 onion, finely chopped
4 eggs
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 garlic clove, grated
2 vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
10g freshly chopped coriander/cilantro
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 naans or slices of toast, to serve
Dried chilli/hot red pepper flakes, to serve
Tamarind chutney, to serve (optional)
Heat a generous glug of oil or a large knob/pat of ghee in a medium, non-stick frying pan/skillet on a medium-high heat and, when hot, add the chopped onion. Let sizzle and soften for 5 minutes.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl with a fork, then set aside.
Once the onions have had 5 minutes, add the cumin seeds and turmeric. Cook for a further minute, then add the garlic and chopped tomatoes. Stir to combine well and cook for a further minute.
Remove the pan from the heat briefly, add the eggs, mixing well, then return to the heat again and scramble for a final minute or two.
Once the eggs are ready, remove from the heat and fold through the coriander/cilantro and season.
Serve on warmed naans or toast, generously sprinkle over some dried chilli/hot red pepper flakes and a spoonful of tamarind chutney on the side, if you have some.