Poha in a mug

Poha and I go back a long, long way.

From tiffin box lunches in school, to being the favourite 'hot' breakfast in LSR and SIMC canteens, to the sev laden 8am poha from aluminium drums provided by the enterprising ladies of *beep* Bombay Mumbai, to the legendary Indori poha jalebi, to Kavita didi's fantastic nimbu heavy poha, to MTR's ready-to-eat 3 minute poha version. Phew!

Today, the easy-to-make-tasty-to-eat poha makes for one of my favourite breakfasts on days I have time to make it in the morning. Only now-a-days, it's poha in a mug!

What is your favourite go-to 'hot' breakfast? Let me know, and I'll try it! :)

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!

French toast with berries: A recipe

I enjoy experimenting with various flavours and today a serving of french toast with a side of berry puree, as part of my spring themed brunch, did take me by surprise! If you want to try this slightly unconventional combination, here goes the recipe!

Ingredients

• Bread sliced into small cubes - I used brown bread with sunflower seeds but any bread would do
• Olive oil
• Eggs - I used eggs 4 for 2 people
• Salt and pepper
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Strawberries and berries
• Sugar

Preparation
Break the eggs, add salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and grated cheese. Whisk well.

One by one, dip the bread slices in the egg and let them soak in the egg mix.

On a low flame, heat some olive oil on a non-stick pan and place 3-4 pieces of bread.

Once the egg is firm, nice and brown, flip the bread slices.

Take off the heat once the egg is cooked on both sides. You don't need to keep adding oil to the pan every time you put in the bread if using a non-stick pan.

Serve with berry puree as a dip. Recipe here. Or with honey or maple syrup or just plain!

I would love to hear about the quirky combinations you enjoy. Do let me know!

How to make Scrambled Eggs & Vegetables in 4 simple steps!

Eggs. One of the most versatile food items ever. Like potatoes, eggs are always readily available in the house and don't take much time to cook.

One of my favourite egg recipes is scrambled eggs with vegetables (anda bhurji) to be had with 'paratha' or bread. It's easy to make, it's healthy, it's filling and it's delicious and fluffy! So here goes the recipe -

Ingredients -

• 3 eggs
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 green chilli
• 1/2 capsicum
• 1 tomato
• Asparagus
• Salt
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder/ chilli flakes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Four simple steps -

Cut the onion, bell pepper, tomato, green chilli and asparagus in cubes and keep ready.

Break the eggs, pour them in a bowl and beat them till frothy. Add 1/2 spoon olive oil to the eggs.

In the meantime, take 1/2 spoon olive oil in a pan and heat it.  When it is hot enough, on medium flame, add the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes till you can smell the onion and the bellpepper cooking.

Add salt, chilli powder/ flakes and mix well.

Once the vegetables are soft (but not squishy), pour the egg mixture into the pan. The pan should be on low heat.

The eggs will start cooking very fast so don't let the egg run together. Keep stirring to break up the egg. 

Let it cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally and your eggs are done!

This makes for the perfect snack/ breakfast or meal. You can make it as spicy or bland as you want. I like it slightly dry, some people prefer it runny or moist. It's totally up to you to make it the way you want to! :D

Let me know if you liked this recipe! And if you would like to know any more egg recipes. Also, how do YOU like your eggs done??

Scrambled eggs & vegetables / anda bhurji in 4 simple steps!

Yogurt Delight: An easy and delicious breakfast!

Like flavoured yogurt? Make it at home!

For you lovers of yogurt, fruits and breakfast, here is a simple, delicious yet energising start for your day!

This easy breakfast can be made the night before and stored in the fridge till such time you want to eat it.

Here goes the recipe!

What you'll need -

Low fat yogurt, blueberries, chopped strawberries, cornflakes, muesli, raisins and honey.

A juice glass

Step-by-step preparation:

Put two spoonfuls of yogurt in the juice glass

Put a layer of muesli and raisins on top of the yogurt

Top with a layer of yogurt

Top yogurt with chopped strawberries

Add a layer of yogurt

Add a layer of cornflakes - I use Kelloggs K yogurt and berry flavour

Top that with a layer of yogurt

Throw in the blueberries (you can also use banana, payaya, mango - any seasonal fruit that you like!) and add a little muesli

Add another layer of yogurt, that's the last layer

Take care that the layers are visible

 

On the top layer, lay down the strawberry slices, add 3-4 blueberries, sprinkle some cornflakes for the crunch and drizzle with honey.

Voila! Breakfast is ready!

The best part about the Yogurt Delight - you can make it as many layers, in any order with any fruits that you like. The idea is to have a breakfast which looks pretty and keeps you going on a long day!

Recipe: Great breakfast in under 6 minutes!

Weekday mornings are usually get ready, get out.

On such mornings, it's just so easy to miss the day's key meal - breakfast. Or, to just push down spoonfuls of cereal and scram.

One quick fix breakfast-on-the-go is grilled tomatoes on whole wheat bread. It's yum, it's filling and it's ready in less than 6 minutes!

All you need is -

• Cherry tomatoes
• Whole wheat/ brown/ multi-grain/ white... bread
• Olive oil
• Cheese (I used vintage cheddar but anything goes, including cheese slices)
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• Dried herbs - parsley, oregano or anything else you like 

Now, just cut the tomatoes and cheese into slices, put them on the slice of bread, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle herbs, salt and pepper. Pop it into the microwave and grill for 3-4 minutes.

Ta-da! Breakfast is ready in approximately the same time it takes for you to apply your make-up. :)

Breakfast guarantee: Puts a smile on your companion's face and makes you feel super efficient!

Breakfast!

This is my favourite breakfast. I really like this picture. I just had to post it!

Hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes with olive oil and parsley, multigrain bread.

Makes for a healthy, wholesome and filling breakfast!

What do you enjoy breaking your fast with the most? Please share some ideas! :)

Pancake day

Opened my eyes to bright, sunny Sunday morning. It was one of those days where you wanted to head to the kitchen and make something beautiful and vibrant. Not so much to eat it but to marvel at the colours and feast on it with the eyes. The sort of Sunday which makes you fall in love with cooking for someone you love.

Homemade pancakes to me make for the perfect holiday breakfast - easy to make, delicious to taste and allows for leisurely eating. And oh, did I mention, it's one of the things that is so open to interpretation and experimentation!

These Sunday pancakes were made with flour (maida), sugar, milk, hint of salt, dash of butter, whiff of baking powder and spoonfuls of honey. Topped with yogurt, fresh strawberries and grapes, and rounded off with honey for those with a sweet tooth.

Heaven!