Cabbage With Bacon And Eggs

This is another dish the kids will enjoy. As with all my recipes, its an easy one to make. Unusual combinations of flavours with the bacon and eggs thrown in, but funnily it works so well. Who doesn't love bacon and eggs.. Throw in a veggie, and no one will be able to resist.. A sneaky way to get the kids to eat those veggies too.

Cabbage with bacon and eggs

Ingredients:
1 small cabbage or half a big one
bacon diced small (add as much as you would like.. I usually add around 2 or 3 strips of bacon)
3 eggs
1 stock cube (you could use a chicken or vegetable stock cube), or replace completely with salt
dash of pepper powder

Method:
Shred or finely chop the cabbage. Break the eggs in a bowl add a pinch of salt and pepper and a dash of milk. Adding milk to eggs keeps them soft and tender. In the same casserole that you would be cooking the cabbage in, heat some oil. Pour the egg mixture and scramble the eggs. Remove them from the casserole and reserve in a plate or bowl. By using the same casserole, it will save you having to wash another pan.

Add in a little more oil and then fry the bacon in the same casserole. When nice and golden, add in the cabbage and the cube. Cover and cook on slow, checking and stiring once in a while to make sure it doesnt stick to the bottom. It should be ready in 10 mins. Season with a dash of pepper powder, check if it needs more salt and then add in the previously scrambled eggs. Give it a good mix and your dish is ready.

Goan Mild Egg Curry In A Coconut Based Curry

This is a dish my kids absolutely love. This dish is extremely versatile. You can make it with chicken instead of eggs. And if you want to give this dish a more eastern feel, serve it over some noodles and garnish with fresh chopped spring onions and coriander leaves, sprinkled over with some chilli flakes and a squeeze of lemon. You could use this base to make a nice fish curry as well by adding some kokum (a dried berry fruit used in goan cooking) and some tamarind. The possibilites are endless.

 Even though I've called this dish mild, I have used 2 green chillies in it. But you can barely taste them there, and they just give a background hint of spice to the dish.

I have made this curry with coconut powder, but you could also use canned coconut milk. When I use canned coconut milk, I prefer to also add to the dish, about 4 tablespoons of coconut powder (mixed with a bit of water) to give it a richer, thicker consistency.

Although I generally like to use tomato paste in my curries, I haven't used any tomato paste in this recipe, as I wanted to keep the colour of the curry a nice rich, golden yellow.

Goan Mild Egg Curry in a Coconut Based Curry

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 onion chopped fine
2 whole green chillies
1 tomato chopped fine
8 tbsps of coconut powder
salt to taste
1tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp curry powder (I prefer to use Shan's curry powder rather than the Madras one, as it has a nice spice level to it as well)

Method:
In a casserole, heat some oil. Sautee the onions and ginger garlic paste and then add in the whole chillies. I have split and deseeded them and then cut them into 1"pieces.

NOTE:
 the spice of a chilly lies in the seeds and membrane inside the chilly.
To get the most heat out of your chilly, leave the seeds on and chop it fine.
If you want a milder heat level, slit the chilly lengthwise and remove the seeds. You can then chop it fine or in one inch pieces.
For the mildest result, just throw in the slit deseeded chilly whole into the dish.

Once the onion mixture is nicely brown, add in the tomatoes, salt to taste and the spice powders. Sautee this masala mixture for a little while, then add in a little water so it doesnt burn. Prepare your coconut milk. In a small bowl, add the coconut milk powder and about a cup of water, and mix till you get a smooth consistency without any lumps.
Add this coconut milk into your onion tomato mixture, adding about a cup more of water to get a nice gravy. Let the coconut milk simmer on a medium heat, taking care not to boil it. If you over boil coconut milk it could split. Check for seasonings at this point, and then gently add in the eggs. I've broken the eggs straight into the curry, and poached them for about 5 mins.

If you do not like the poached version, you can hard boil your eggs and then add them at the end to the curry. Give it a minute or two more on the fire and its done!

To hard boil your eggs, you must:

First you need to boil the eggs. I wash the eggs and then put them in a small saucepan. Fill the saucepan with room temperature water till it covers the eggs, add a teaspoon of salt (I find this helps you to peel the shell much faster).

Put the saucepan on the fire on full heat and bring to a boil. Once at boiling point, lower and time for 8 mins. When finished, remove immediately and run the eggs through cold water or dunk them in ice water. This keeps the yolk of the eggs nice and yellow and not that horrible grey colour. Peel immediately, run it under water again, just to remove any stubborn piece of eggshell and slice in half.

Goan Mild Egg Coconut Curry

Akuri (scrambled eggs) Parsi style

This is a dish my father used to make every weekend. He had a lot of Parsi friends and I guess he learnt how to make it from them. Not sure if he put his own take on it but it sure was one of the best I've ever had. I still, to date, make him make some, when I go back home to visit my Parents and love waking up to the aroma of this lovely breakfast dish.

From what I've understood, every family has their own version of it. A lot like it very spicy, but personally for me, I like it with just one green chilly (remove the seeds if you want to reduce the heat further). I like to add a mild chilly sauce or alternatively if I want it less spicy, a bit of ketchup to give it that extra oomph and a lovely finish to the dish.

You can use the same ingredients with the exception of the eggs and milk, to make paneer bhurji with crushed fresh or frozen paneer. I will post this version on a separate page, but the ingredients are basically the same.

Akuri Scrambled Eggs Parsi Style

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 tbsp of milk
1 onion chopped fine
1 green chilly chopped fine
1 red tomato chopped fine
2 cloves garlic chopped fine
1/4 tsp cumin/jeera powder
1/4 tsp coriander/dhania powder
1/4 tsp turmeric/haldi powder
1 tbsp Maggi's hot n sweet chilly sauce or ketchup
Fresh coriander/kotmir leaves for garnish

Method:
Start by beating the eggs in a bowl. Add the milk to the eggs (this helps to keep the eggs nice and soft when cooking). In a frying pan, heat the oil, add the onion and garlic and when translucent add the green chilly and tomato. Next add the spice powders and the chilly sauce or ketchup. Lastly add the eggs. Cook till they are nice and soft. Turn off the heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
It goes great with some hot buttered toast and a nice cup of tea.