What memories taste like

"Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels... These are a few of my favorite things."

Just as Maria sang and sang about her favourite things, I wax lyrical about a long gone visit to Singapore with my mom and sister, undertaken more than 9 years back. Everybody who knows me, knows about that trip. And I have been wanting to go back ever since with then boyfriend, now husband.

Sometimes, dreams come true when you least expect them to and last weekend found us both in Singapore thanks to forces beyond our control. And that's when I learnt, much like Maria, what memories of my favourite things are made of and what they taste like. They taste like Chunky Monkey from Ben & Jerry's at the Night Safari!!

And like choley bhature from Kailash Parbat, Bombay Colaba Causeway ki yaadein and idlis, thalis and filter coffee from Sarvana Bhawan, Delhi Defence Colony ki yaadien and Indian Chinese! All found at Little India, in the vicinity of the incomparable Mustafa.

 

In all my travels, I have never ever proactively looked for Indian food, but when I travel from HK to Sing, all I want is the taste of good old Indian khana.

Recipe: Shakshouka

After an extremely long hiatus, I am back! And back with one of my new loves - the single-pan Tunisian, Libya, Algerian, Moroccan, Egyptian (phew!) breakfast, shakshouka.

I saw a friend's picture on Instagram taken while making shakshouka and was instantly fascinated. I absolutely had to make this eggy delight. I looked up the recipe online and shared it with my recipe-hungry (that's a compliment) mom. And as co-incidences happen, we found ourselves making the same thing on the same day, at the same time!

This recipe is a variation of the one I found online and is not will not yield an 'authentic' shakshouka but this is the one I liked the best, after making the dish 3-4 times. Hope you enjoy this truly spectacular, and simple dish.

Pictures are from both, my mother's kitchen and mine! :)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 chillies
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• 2 tomatoes, squashed and squishy
• salt, to taste
• 4 eggs
• 3 sausages
• 1 tablespoon parsley or dhaniya patta
• Feta cheese (optional)
• Serve with bread, toast or pita bread for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

 Place the tomatoes in a bowl and squish them with your fingers and hands till they are nice and pulpy. Add the tomatoes and their juice to the skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.

Prepare the sausages in a separate pan (either fried or boiled), cut in slices and add to the skillet with the tomatoes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface.

Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle shakshuka with parsley and feta and serve with bread, for dipping.

Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk.

Don't forget, it's a single-pan preparation and it only tastes good if the family digs in as one!