Chili-Fried Eggs from Sri Lanka from ‘Vegetarian India’
Every week, Yahoo Food spotlights a cookbook that stands out from all the rest. This week’s cookbook is Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey (Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House). The legendary actress and Indian cooking authority has written seven James Beard Award–winning cookbooks. Read more about Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week here.
Photograph by Jonathan Gregson
Chili-Fried Eggs from Sri Lanka
Makes 2
This is a simple and delicious version of fried eggs from Sri Lanka, inspired by those served at Sun House in Galle. Here I am using a new technique for frying eggs that I have recently learned. It requires the eggs to be broken into a cold pan and uses much less oil.
The recipe can easily be doubled; just use a medium frying pan instead of a small one. Serve the eggs with toast.
From Jeffrey Dobbs, the Sun House in Galle, Sri Lanka
4 teaspoons olive or peanut oil
4 tablespoons peeled and finely diced shallots
1 fresh hot green chili, finely chopped
¼ cup finely diced tomato
Salt
2 eggs
Put 2 teaspoons of the oil in a small nonstick frying pan and set over medium heat. When hot, add the shallots and green chilies and cook, stirring now and then, until the shallots start to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and a generous pinch of salt. Stir and cook for another 1 ½ minutes or until the tomatoes are soft, turning the heat down a bit if necessary. Set the spicy mixture aside on a plate, taste for salt, and add more if required.
Wash and dry the frying pan. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil and break the eggs into the pan while it is still cold, letting them lie side by side. Cover the pan and place over medium-low heat. Keep lifting the cover now and then to see if the eggs are done to your liking. I like my yolks soft and the whites completely set, which takes about 3 minutes to achieve. The yolks turn hard very quickly, so be vigilant.
Once ready, transfer the eggs to a serving dish and salt very lightly. Top with the spicy tomato mixture and serve immediately.
Reprinted with permission from Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey (Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House).
More vegetarian recipes to make at home:
Butternut Squash with Ginger Tomatoes and Lime Yogurt
