Egg Paratha & Dal Tadka

Have you ever gone into your kitchen with NO clue as to what to cook and then come up with some really cool ideas?

Something similar happened to me the other day…

I knew I wanted to make Dal Tadka…but I didn’t know what to make along with it. After a while, I came up with an idea – egg paratha with dal tadka.

For the paratha, you will need

- Maida – 1 cup

- Water – to knead

- Salt – to taste

- Chilli powder – to taste

- Eggs – 4

- Onion – ½ big finely chopped

- Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon

- Jeera – 1 teaspoon

- Curry leaves – 5 or 6

- Chopped cilantro – little for garnishing

- Cumin powder – ½ tsp

- Coriander powder – ½ tsp

- Garam Masala – ½ tsp

- Turmeric – a pinch

Add a pinch of salt to the Maida, and knead with water…the maida will be sticky…add a little oil (maybe a ¼ tsp…not more than that) to your hand and the flour and knead until you get a chapati dough consistency and put it aside.

Heat up some oil (2 tbsp) in a skillet, add the mustard seeds and jeera and wait for them to crackle. Add curry leaves and onions and sauté until onion turns light brown. Add salt to taste, chilli powder to taste, cumin powder, turmeric, coriander powder and garam masala. Fry them all until you lose the raw smell – for about a minute or 2.

Meanwhile beat the eggs and once the masalas are all cooked well, add the eggs to the pan. Keep stirring continuously to scramble the egg well. Cook it to a desired extent and turn off the heat.

I know you realized by now that this is the famous “egg bhurji”…well I won’t deny it…it sure is…I thought by putting the recipe here, I can kill two birds in one shot :)

So now for the paratha…while the egg bhurji cools, take a big Ziploc bag or any plastic sheet that you can roll out the paratha on. And yes…this will be messy at first…but when you get a hang of it, it will be easier for you to plan around it.

Heat a pan while you press out parathas. Coat the plastic with a layer of oil. This ensures the maida doesn’t stick to the plastic. Likewise, apply oil to your palm. Take a small ball of the maida, put it in the middle of your palm (or if this is difficult, you can put it on the plastic)…with your fingers, keep pressing at the ball to make a small disc. (Note: the disc shouldn’t be thin…if it is too thin, the paratha might break out) Now take some egg bhurji and put it in the middle of the disc…now carefully, without the bhurji falling out, close the disc from all sides to form a ball of maida stuffed with egg bhurji.

Now put it on the plastic and with your fingers, keep pressing it in all directions to make a paratha of the size and thickness you like. The paratha will come off the plastic sheet very easily ‘cos of the oil. So lift the plastic sheet from underneath and with your other hand peel off the paratha and put it on the pan…you do not need to add any oil to the pan ‘cos there is enough on the paratha. Roast the paratha until both sides are done well.

And this goes amazingly with Dal Tadka…for which you will need

- Toor Dal – 1 cup

- Water – 2 cups

- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

- Jeera – 1 tsp

- Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp

- Onions – ¼ big finely chopped

- Garlic pods – 4 or 5

- Green chillies – 2 or 3

- Salt – to taste

- Turmeric – a pinch

Wash and pressure-cook the dal in the 2 cups of water for 3 whistles (or about 10 mins). While the pressure cooker cools, heat a ½ tsp of oil in a skillet and add mustard seeds, jeera and fenugreek seeds. Once they start to crackle, add the garlic pods and onions and sauté until brown. Add green chillies, salt and a pinch of turmeric and cook for another minute or 2. Add the dal and some water (not too much…maybe a ½ cup) and let it boil until it reaches the desired consistency.

Serve the dal and paratha, garnish with coriander and enjoy :D