Friday, April 10, 2020

Shakshuka or Shakshouka


Latest presentation from our kitchen, Shakshuka. A centuries old dish from Mediterranean parts, and we just love it.

Basically it's tomato sauce, eggs, spices and herbs. But the end form looks pleasing to eyes and is amazingly good to eat. It's almost like eating a colourful egg pizza but without cheese and pizza base.

Shakshouka (Arabic: شكشوكة‎, also spelled shakshuka or chakchouka) is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic, and commonly spiced with cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. The dish has existed in Mediterranean cultures for centuries


Disclaimer:
This is our version of Shakshuka. No claims of being the original recipe or taste. But trust us, it tastes great.

Ingredients:

Eggs, depending on your appetite and holding capacity of your frying pan. We used 3.
Tomatoes - 2 large size, ripe. Diced.
Tomatoes - 2 large size, ripe. Blanched, peeled and blended.
Onions - 3-4 medium size. Chopped or diced.
Capsicum/Bell peppers - 1-2 peppers. Chopped or diced.
Ginger - Chopped, around 2 tsp.
Garlic - Chopped/sliced, around 2-3 tsp.
Green chillis (optional) - 2-3 big ones. Sliced in large pieces so that it's easier to pick it while eating.
Spices (optional) - Quantity as per taste. Turmeric powder, Red Chilli powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, Cumin powder, Coriander powder.
Salt - To taste.
Sugar - For colour, yes.
For garnishing - Coriander leaves, Basil leaves, Pudina leaves.




Method:

Heat some cooking oil in a kadahi/deep frying pan and saute all the vegetables one by one, onions first (do not over fry onion, only till they become translucent).
Add in the turmeric powder, chilli powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt.
Mix the masalas nicely into the vegetables and cook for some time.
Then add pureed tomato, mix it and cook for some time.
Add the sugar and mix again.
Make some holes in the vegetables and pour egg carefully into these holes, sprinkle some pepper powder and salt over the eggs.
Cook on slow flame. You can stop cooking depends on how your eggs you like the egg to be.
After turning off the heat, garnish the top with coriander, pudina & basil leaves. You could add any other herbs too.
After adding the garnishing, cover the top and let it rest for few minutes before serving. This will help in infusing the aroma of the garnished leaves into the preparation.
It's now ready to eat.


If you have any questions, do ask in comments.