Cheese and Tortilla Scrambled Eggs

This one is a fiesta on a platter. It's both a flavour fest and a colour burst on a skillet. I first saw a tortilla scrambled eggs on a Nigella Lawson show.But it was too simple for my taste. I am known for going over board! So I took it and made it my own. Bell peppers, tomatoes, shredded chicken, Mozzarella and strips and homemade tortilla laced in creamy scrambled eggs. This Mexican inspired scrambled eggs gala is for those who live it up big and colourful. I prefer to give it a rustic touch and serve it on the very skillet it is cooked. Great to put together for a big gang, after a night long of intoxicated carousing. Works for my hangovers too...somehow!

PS. This one might need some prepping in advance.

Ingredients 

Eggs - 6
Corn tortilla (homemade or store bought) - 3 (cut in thin strips)
Finely chopped spring onions - 1 cup
Thin sliced red bell pepper - 1/2
Thin sliced capsicum - 1/2
Sliced tomatoes - 1 large
Minced garlic - 1 tsp
Shredded boiled chicken - 1 cup
Salt and pepper to taste
Chili flakes to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Grated Mozzarella cheese - 1/2 cup
Olive oil

Method

Whisk the eggs and milk with salt and pepper

Heat olive oil on a skillet. Add the minced garlic and fry for a minute. Toss in the spring onions and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add the bell peppers and tomatoes and saute for a few minutes.

Add salt, pepper, chili flakes and sugar. And keep frying for another couple of minutes.

Toss in the tortilla strips and shredded chicken and mix well.

Finally add the whisked eggs and the grated cheese toss it up so that the eggs and cheese lace the other ingredients. The eggs should be just cooked and remain mostly creamy.

Remove from heat and serve with crusty bread. Or just on its own and eat right out of the pan. 

Doi Shorshe Scrambled Eggs

This is the simplest of the lot. So while I was making a list of all the different kinds of scrambled eggs I would make for this series I realised while I had different kinds inspired by different cuisines across the country and from around the world, there was nothing with a touch of Bengal. So, I concocted one myself. Bengali cuisine is synonymous with mustard oil. Now in Bengal an omlette is often fried in Mustard oil. By the way we are known to call our Omlettes, Mumlettes.Yeah, so I made scrambled eggs in mustard oil and added to it a little Kasundi, a typical Bengali Mustard relish. And instead of whisking the milk with cream or milk, I used yoghurt. The result was fluffy, soft scrambled eggs with a pungent kick that'll keep you asking for more!

Ingredients 

Eggs - 2
Yoghurt - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Finely chopped green chillies - 2
Kasundi - 1tsp
Mustard oil

Method

Whisk the eggs, yoghurt and salt together. Toss in the chopped green chilies too.

Heat mustard oil,but do not let it smoke. Reduce heat to minimum and add the egg.

Cook for about 30 second and add the Kasundi/mustard relish and then scramble and cook until soft and fluffy.

Serve with chapatis or on toast! 

Caramel Scrambled Eggs

Enough for sapidity, time to After tossing up 6 different savoury scrambled eggs, I reckoned one sweet version was due. So, I tossed up one. I was guided by pure whim while making this one, but I liked the result. You know it is the closest you can get to an instant caramel pudding. A mound of soft sweet flakes of egg and the luscious caramel oozing out from here and there. I loved it alright. Serve it with fresh fruits and cream for a sweet breakfast.

Ingredients

Eggs - 2
Fresh cream - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - a few drops
Icing sugar - 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
Granulated sugar - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp

Method

Whisk the eggs with cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Heat butter in a pan and add two teaspoons of sugar in it. One the sugar caramelises, it should be a dark golden (do not stir too much), add the eggs.

Scramble with light flips, do not stir rigorously. Cook until the eggs are soft and fluffy and laced in caramel.

Serve with fresh fruits and cream on the side. 

Brazilian style Chicken and Okra - Frango com Quiabo

A few hours to go before the month-long football extravaganza comes to a close. The past few weeks have been charged with emotions alright. We savoured the sweet ecstasy of victory and sulked over the bitter aftertaste of defeat, and every football lover, delirious with passion and charged with a vicarious adrenaline rush, let mundane life take a backseat. But in a few hours it will all be over. The thought inspires a sort of melancholy, isn't it? It's like that day after the fiesta, when the bizarre cacophony of boundless frolicking comes to a screeching halt giving way to an almost unnerving silence. Nonetheless, all good things must come to an end.

And yes today, is also the day I bring you the final recipe of the World Cup Special Series.

Yes, Brazil. I am a fan of Brazil - the football, the country, the culture, the people, I love all things Brazilian.I love the song too...Braziiiiillll la la la la la la. Brazil's performance this World Cup broke millions of hearts including mine, but that doesn't make the love any less. So, today, though the much cherished dream of seeing Brazil play the finals did not come true, I cooked a Brazilian dish to savour while I watch the finals. I made Brazilian-style Chicken and Okra - Frango com Quiabo.

I have always wanted to cook meat with okra, but never got around to doing it. In fact, I always felt a little intimidated. Today I mustered courage and did it anyway. I was so happy with the result. The dish is a little tangy, has a peppery zing to it and the flavours are refreshingly fresh. Traditionally it is served with Pirão, a mush made with Cassava flour and broth or simply water, but it tasted just as good with plain rice. I think it'll go well with Quinoa too. 

The recipe is adapted from the book Brazil: A culinary Journey by Cherie Hamilton. And Cherie also mentions in the book that this dish was purportedly the favourite dish of Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek best remembered for founding the country's capital city of Brasilia.

Ingredients 

Boneless chicken - 1 kg 

Minced onion - 1 cup 

Juice of one lime 

Minced cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup 

Salt to taste 

Pepper to taste

Minced garlic - 1 tsp 

Finely chopped tomatoes (seeded) - 4 medium 

Okra/lady's finger - 500 grams (chopped)

Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp

Method 

Marinate the chicken with 1/3 of the minced onion, garlic paste, cilantro paste, lime juice, salt and pepper. For 10-15 minutes.

Heat oil in a skilled and toss in the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken until brown.

Now add the remaining minced onion and the tomatoes. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until chicken is almost done.

Add the okra, give it all a toss, cover and cook for another 15 minutes, without stirring.

Serve with plain rice or quinoa.

Dutch Buttermilk Pudding

I have few regrets in life. I do not believe in looking back with disapproval, at things I did or did not do! But among the few things I do regret, is the time when I turned down an offer to join a few good friends on a trip to Amsterdam. It was right in the middle of the Fall Semester, back in university in England, and a few of my buddies there, a couple of South American Undergrad students, were planning a trip to Amsterdam during the Christmas vacation. They asked me if I cared to join. I was ecstatic - I did my happy dance, checked for flight schedules, planned the budget and the itinerary, downloaded the VISA form, decided on clothes to take and then...then I had this conversation with my father. He said it was a great plan, I must make the most of my trip, I must let him know if I needed money etc and finally he added casually, "Or you could come home for the vacation. We miss you, you know!" A couple of weeks later I boarded my flight to Calcutta. My friends went to Amsterdam alright. 

My dreams of chomping on bitterballen (bread-crumbed Dutch croquettes with a gooey minced beef filling) and poffertjes (small, fluffy buckwheat pancakes) was razed to the grounds as I returned to the familiar comfort of Machher-Jhol and Bhaat. 

And just as much as Amsterdam, the city, fascinates me, it was Dutch food that lured me. I have had the chance to feast on authentic stroopwaffles once and I consider myself blessed for that. The hearty soups and sumptuous stews, the meats and mashed potatoes, Dutch cuisine is all about clean and fresh flavours and I love it. In fact, a far as food habits are concerned, I think I share a common love with the Dutch -- their legendary love of potatoes, best captured perhaps in a particular painting by none other than Vincent Van Gogh, The Potato Eaters.

The other thing we have in common is our love for Buttermilk. Karnemelk (buttermilk) is a favourite among the Dutch. And this buttermilk pudding is a celebration of that love. It is extremely simple to make but a treat especially during the summer months here. 

I often make buttermilk at home by adding vinegar to milk and letting it rest for several minutes. But today I tried the Mother Dairy Buttermilk. They launched it a few months ago and this was the first time that it was available at out local Mother Dairy depot. And though it was initially difficult to resist the temptation of making South Indian style spiced buttermilk, this buttermilk pudding turned out to be one dessert I could have again and again. A tangy, sweet treat and you can top it up with fresh fruits, caramelised nuts or strawberry sauce. It is delicious. It does take some time to set (at least 4 hours) but it is worth the wait. 

Our World Cup Series is almost drawing to an end. You must have guessed by now, Netherlands is my pick from Group B. They have had a great World Cup Campaign and are facing Brazil tonight, fighting for the third place. Tomorrow is the grand finale and I promise to bring you one great recipe to bring this series to a close. 

Ingredients

Buttermilk - 300 ml
Heavy cream - 350 ml
Castor Sugar - 150 g
Gelatin - 3 tsp (heaped)
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Cherries, almonds or strawberry sauce for topping

Method 

Stir in the gelatin in the warm water and keep aside to cool.

In a pan bring the cream and sugar to a boil on medium heat.Let it simmer for a few minutes while stirring continuously.

Stir in the gelatin and remove from heat. Add the buttermilk and blend well.

Now pour the mixture through a sieve and then pour into molds.

Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or until set. Top with fresh fruits or strawberry sauce or caramelised almonds!

Recipe adapted from http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/buttermilk-pudding