Crack it

Sunny side up or not,a breakfast is incomplete without the egg and its many forms

Sunny side up or not,a breakfast is incomplete without the egg and its many forms
The best way to get a chef nostalgic is to ask him about his favourite childhood breakfast. I remember my mother used to make egg paranthas or scrambled eggs stuffed in a roti, says Ravi Saxena,executive chef at The Claridges hotel in Delhi. Its a memory many can relate to. After all,the humble egg remains the first choice when it comes to a wholesome breakfast and is the perfect comfort food. But while almost everyone who has cracked an egg on the edge of the pan knows that getting the sunny side up can be difficult,we all experiment. The chef lets us in on how to make that perfect sunny side up,scrambled and poached eggs.

Egg Florentine
This is an Italian dish,and the word Florentine implies that spinach is used in the dish. We will be using an egg made sunny side up, says Saxena. He takes a burger bun and neatly cuts it into two. One half is lightly toasted on a pan and serves as the base of this dish. The chef takes a fistful of spinach leaves,dunks them into a pot of boiling water and adds a pinch of salt. We need to cook the spinach for a minute or two,so that it doesnt taste raw. Once done,strain the spinach and transfer it immediately into a pot of cold water. This stops the cooking process and keeps the colour a rich green, he says. Once the leaves are cooled,chop them.
The chef pours a smattering of olive oil into a pan and lets it heat. In it,he sautés chopped onions and garlic; the chopped spinach goes next with a pinch of salt and pepper. This mixture is layered on to the toasted bun base. He then takes a tomato and places it in boiling water for a minute. This will help us to take the skin off. This is not to cook the tomato, he says. The skin removed with a light pinch,the tomato is then cut in roundels and placed in a neat circle on the layer of spinach.
Now,for the egg. Saxena places a skillet on the fire and doles out the first lesson in cooking eggs. Use a non-stick pan and always heat it first. If you keep your hand over it,you should be able to feel the heat without touching it, he says. Into the pan,he twirls a mix of olive oil and butter. Olive oil is healthy and butter gives a good taste. Butter by itself burns, he says.

The next step has been known to give grief to the best of kitchen-hands: cracking the egg without a mess. The chef gently breaks one into a bowl. Unless you are an expert,the best way to get a good sunny side up is to break an egg into a bowl and then ease it on to a pan. If you crack it directly onto a pan,you may end up breaking the yolk, he says,sliding the egg into the pan. A yellow orb with a white halo stares happily at us from the centre of the hot pan.

Saxena turns down the heat Remember,you should always cook eggs on a low flameand cooks the egg for less than half a minute. He sprinkles salt and with one smooth action,transfers the egg with its wobbly yolk onto the spinach-tomato layer. He skewers some chopped fruits apple,kiwi,pear etc. and toasts them in a pan with a drizzle of olive oilthis to give the fruits a good glaze. This is a whole meal by itself, he says.

Scrambled eggs with vegetables and tortilla
In a hot pan,Saxena pours olive oil and adds the chopped onions,garlic,French beans,carrots,bell pepper and tomato and stir fries them. The eggs go into a bowl and are whisked hard. For scrambled eggs,you have to whisk to let the yolk and whites blend well. Whisking also gets air in which makes it fluffy. You should do this while making omelettes too. If you want your scrambled eggs to be runny,you can add milk and cream to whisked eggs, he says.

To the sautéed vegetables in the pan,Saxena adds a sprinkle of salt,turmeric,chilli,cumin powder and pepper. He pours in the whisked eggs and scrambles them with the vegetables into a vibrant mix of colourswhite,red,green and yellow. Then he takes a plate and lays out a flour tortilla. You can use a roti or a parantha, he says. In the middle of the tortilla,he lays out the scrambled egg mix and rolls the tortilla. Doesnt it look like a spring roll? This is a fun way to present, he says,as he cuts the tortilla in half and adds a dollop of sour cream on top with a garnish of chopped coriander.

Poached egg
And finally,for that most asked how to: the secret to a poached egg. Poaching is cooking in any kind of liquid, Saxena says as he fills the pan with two cups water. The water has to simmer,not boil. Let it boil once and then lower the flame. We then have to add vinegar to this water, he says. Two eggs are cracked and kept ready in a bowl. As soon as they are poured over the hot water,the whites become firm. The chef gently folds the white arms of the eggs over the yolks,making it look like a floating dimsum. The vinegar keeps the temperature constant and lets the white and yolk cook well. But we should remove it soon,within a minute,since the yolk has to remain runny. This is a great option for weight-watchers since no oil is used, he says. The poached eggs are removed from the water,with a perforated spoon and placed on the serving dish after a sprinkling of salt. A breakfast spread in no time at all.

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For egg Florentine serves 1
Egg: 1
Spinach: 1 small bunch,or handful
Tomato: 1
Butter: 15 gm
Olive oil: 10 ml
Salt: to taste
Pepper: to taste
Chopped onion and garlic: 1 teaspoon
Burger bun: 1
For scrambled eggs with vegetables and tortilla serves 2
Eggs: 4
Chopped onions: 1 tsp
Chopped garlic: 1 tsp
Diced French beans: 1 tsp
Diced carrot: 1 tsp
Diced red and yellow bell pepper: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Cumin powder: a pinch
Red chilli powder: a pinch
Turmeric powder: a pinch
Pepper: 1 pinch
Diced tomato: 1
Chopped coriander: 1 tsp
Sour cream: 1 spoon
Flour tortillas: 2
Butter: 10 gm
Olive oil: 20 ml
Poached eggs
Eggs: 2
Water: 2 cups
White vinegar: 5 ml
Salt: to taste