Eggs Kejriwal

Eggs Kejriwal is fried egg (sunny side up) served with some mushroom sauce and cheese on top of a garlic toast. This is my version of Eggs Kejriwal. I found this on the menu of Soda Bottle Opener Wala in Bangalore. I tweaked the recipe to suit our family. This dish is filling, healthy, simple to make and has wholesome nutrition. It is packed with nutrients in the form of mushrooms cheese and eggs. Like most classic dishes that have a cult following, the Eggs Kejriwal is as brilliant as its simple. How more simple can it get than eggs, cheese and bread?

Yet, here’s the real story behind the name Eggs Kejriwal…

Arvind Kejriwal might be Delhi’s most famous Kejriwal and he might’ve had a few eggs thrown at him early on in his political career. But that’s not the Eggs Kejriwal we’re talking about here. India, rather Bombay’s most famous Kejriwal was the Eggs Kejriwal. This dish was invented and most likely perfected at the Willingdon Sports Club at Tardeo in Mumbai. The story of the Eggs Kejriwal is as peculiar as the name. A certain Mr. Devi Prasad Kejriwal was a very regular visitor to the Willingdon Sports Club. Aggarwals-Kejriwals are a strictly vegetarian community and non-vegetarian dishes of all kinds including eggs are frowned upon. But Mr. DP Kejriwal was a bit of a rebel and went against norms of his community. His favorite dish at Willingdon Club was Eggs on toast with cheese thrown in between and a healthy sprinkling of chopped green chilies on top. But how well its wonderfully put together and the healthy dose of green chilies makes this both, very Indian and brilliant.

Mr. Kejriwal is rumored to have this dish on a daily basis. And soon enough, its popularity grew first among his friends and then later to the other club members. And at some point, got added to the Club’s menu as Eggs Kejriwal. A fitting tribute to the rebel and his favorite snack. I believe this is also on the menu at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and The Bombay Yacht Club, and now also on the menu of Soda Bottle Opener Wala.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients	Quantity
Bread	4 slices
Eggs	4 large
Butter	2-3 tbsps.
Garlic Bread Seasoning	to taste
Salt	to taste
Cheese	4 slices
Pepper Powder	to taste
For the Sauce
Button Mushrooms	8 medium
Milk	1 tbsp.
Corn Flour	1 tsp
Salt	to taste
Pepper Powder	to taste

Method

Mushroom Sauce:

Wash the mushrooms well and pat dry with a towel. Chop them into thin slices. In a pan heat some butter, add the mushrooms fry till they start cooking add a pinch of salt. Add corn flour to milk, mix well, add it to the mushrooms. Keep stirring till the sauce thickens and mushrooms are cooked. Season with pepper powder and garlic bread seasoning. The sauce should be slightly less on saltiness or the whole dish will be more salty as we add cheese to the dish.

Apply butter on the bread and toast them to your liking. I like my toast to be crispy on the edges and soft in the center.

When the toast is hot, add a slice of cheese on it. Add the mushroom sauce. Add fried egg (sunny side up) on top and garnish with garlic bread seasoning. If you don’t like fried egg (sunny side up) you can add fully cooked fried egg, poached egg or even egg omlette.

Points to remember:

• It is better to use a non-stick pan to cook fried eggs (sunny side up). It will be easier to transfer the egg on top of the toast without breaking the yolk.
• I use Multigrain Bread for this dish as it gives some nuttiness to the toast.
• I use Britannia Cheese slices in this dish. I like the flavour better than other cheese slices. 
  
• Instead of plain butter, I use Amul Garlic butter. It gives more flavour to my toast and mushroom sauce. But you need to watch out on the salt as the garlic butter is pretty salty.

Cheesy Spinach and Corn Sandwich

Cheesy Spinach and Corn Sandwich is flavorous, healthy and most importantly very easy to make. This sandwich is inspired by the classic combination of spinach and corn, topped with the goodness of cheese.

Kids will love this sandwich and this is a good way to get them to eat spinach. It’s perfect dish for snack/lunch box. The filling can be made in advance and stored in the fridge overnight, which will help reduce early morning stress for mommies. You can try using different types of bread for this sandwich, like here I have shown a white bread version and a multi-grain version.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Makes: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients	Quantity
Spinach	1 bunch or roughly 1½ cups when chopped
Corn kernels	½ cup
Processed cheese	3 cubes
Pepper powder	½ tsp or to taste
Bread	8 slices
Onion	1 large
Garlic	3-4 cloves
Oil	1 tsp
Butter	1 tbsp. approximate
Sugar	1 pinch (optional)
Salt	to taste

Method

Wash Spinach leaves in water thoroughly, drain and dry them on a kitchen towel. When the water is almost drained chop them into ½ inch pieces. The chopped pieces should be about 1½ cups roughly.

Finely chop the onions. Peel and chop the garlic into thin slices.

Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, and let it sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add the onion, add a pinch of salt. Let it cook till onions are translucent. Add the spinach, mix well, close lid and cook till spinach is almost cooked. Add some salt and pepper powder, mix well. Add a pinch of sugar to reduce the pungent flavor from spinach. Add the corn, cook for about a minute. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. The mixture must be slightly bland as the cheese has some salt in it and spinach also tends to get salty soon when the water dries up. Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts.

Spinach filling

Grate cheese and divide into 4 equal parts.

Apply butter on the bread slices on the outer side, add the filling and grated cheese in between two slices and grill them till crispy in a sandwich maker.

If you don’t have a sandwich maker, apply butter to both the sides of the two bread slices, slightly toast one side of the bread on a tawa and flip it add the filling to the toasted side, add cheese and cover with another toasted side of bread on the cheese. When the bread slice is toasted on the bottom, carefully flip the whole sandwich and toast the bread slice on top. This way the cheese inside will melt.

Points to remember:

• You can use any bread for this sandwich and it will taste equally good.
• Try and use tender spinach leaves for this dish. If the spinach stems are too hard, discard them and use only leaves. The fiber in the stems will make the filling more pungent and stringy to bite.
• The cheese will make the sandwich better, but you can make it without cheese too.

Here’s another version of this sandwich made using white bread.

Sabbasige Paddu (Appo)

Paddu is a South Indian dish made by steaming or frying batter using a mould. The batter is made of black lentils (urad dal) and rice and is similar in composition to the batter used to make idli and dosa. It is a common breakfast item in all parts of Karnataka. Paddu is also known as – Guliappa, Gundponglu, and Paniyaram. It is called Appo in Konkani. This recipe is unique because of the addition of sabbasige (dill) and onions.

Sabbasige is known as “Dill” in English and is widely available everywhere. Dill weed is a unique perennial herb with pleasant anise-like flavor. Its sprigs (leaves) as well as seeds are used as seasoning in various cuisines worldwide. This popular herb contains no cholesterol and is very low in calories. Nonetheless, it holds many anti-oxidants and dietary fibers, which help in controlling blood cholesterol levels. It is also rich in many vital vitamins, including folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin A, ß-carotene, vitamin-C that is essential for optimum metabolism inside the human body.

You will require two equipments to make this dish:

• Wet grinder- the batter is best when ground in a wet grinder than the batter ground in a mixer grinder.
• Paddu tawa: The use of the special Paddu tawa ensures the best Paddus. You can find this tawa in South Indian stores across the country, and its non-stick variety is quite popular. As an alternative, a regular kadhai may also be used. It is always a good idea to buy a tawa with lid.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Soaking Time: 4-5 hours (Fermentation-overnight)

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Recipe Courtesy – Smitha Pai (My Mom)

Ingredients	Quantity
Urad dal (split, skinless)	¼ cup
Fenugreek Seeds	1 tsp
Rice (Dosa variety)	¾ cup
Chana Dal	2 tbsp
Dil leaves	1 bunch
Onion	1 large
Coconut/Vegetable Oil	to fry the paddu

Measurements tip:

The cup that I use here is the standard measuring cup and if you use the same measurements it yields the serving size mentioned. But you can substitute this cup with any cup of your choice where the measure of urad dal is 1 cup, rice 3 cups chana dal 1/3 of that same cup. Adjust fenugreek seeds accordingly.

Method

Wash urad dal thoroughly and soak in enough water, along with fenugreek seeds for about 4-5 hours.

In another vessel wash together rice and chana dal and soak in enough water for 4-5 hours.

Strain water from urad dal; keep the water for later use. In a wet grinder, grind urad dal and fenugreek seeds till it’s completely smooth and starts to fluff up (just like you do for idly). Drain water completely from rice and chana dal add it to the grinder; continue grinding till the rice is ground coarsely. Add water a tablespoon at a time to help grinding, but do not make the batter very runny. Stop in between to check from time to time. The rice should be grainy (about the consistency of rawa) but not very coarse. Transfer the batter to a deep vessel to avoid over flowing, close with a lid. Let it sit overnight on counter top.

In the morning wash dill (sabbasige) leaves thoroughly, chop to ½ inch long pieces. Finely chop onions. Add dill and onion to the batter, add salt, mix well and keep for few minutes. Add water if required. The batter should be of idly batter or porridge consistency. Basically if you take some batter in a spoon and tilt, the batter should flow easily.

Heat up the Paddu tawa for minute, add few drops of oil in each compartment, spoon the batter to the tawa, close the lid, turn heat to high for 30 seconds and then lower the flame to sim. Cook with lid closed for approximately two minutes. When you lift the lid up you should see the paddu would have started to brown on the bottom and sides, but the batter must be raw on top, then using a skewer prick the paddu and turn it over, the bottom side should be golden brown as shown in the image, if not let the other paddus cook for some more time before turning them. Once flipped, add some oil; continue cooking other side till its golden brown, this time with the lid open. Serve hot with Red Coconut chutney and Pudina Chutney.

Points to remember:

• When you strain water from ural dal save the water and use it for grinding. Use the same water to wash your batter from the grinder and preserve the water separately. Next morning you can see a thick layer of batter in the bottom and thin water on top. Add the same water to adjust consistency of the fermented batter. If the batter does not need all the water then drain the water on top and pour the thick batter settled in the bottom into the fermented batter.
• The quantity of dill and onions are completely your choice. You can also make them with just onions without the dill.
• To ensure that the Paddus taste just right and are spongy and soft in texture, the batter needs to be fermented for at least 8 hours.
• I use a nonstick paddu tawa. It needs very less oil and paddus don’t stick unlike the traditional paddu tawa.
• For best taste use coconut oil to fry paddus.

Paneer Pudina Paratha

Paneer Pudina Paratha is a kind of Indian flat bread filled with a filling made from cottage cheese flavored with cumin powder and mint leaves, fried on a skillet till crisp. The best way to serve paneer paratha is with some curd or homemade white butter. You can also have paneer paratha with some pickle.

Paneer paratha is one of the many popular paratha varieties from Punjab. parathas are popular breakfast recipes in punjabi homes and there are varieties of parathas made for breakfast like methi paratha, aloo paratha, gobi paratha, onion paratha and mooli paratha.

It is always better to make your own paneer – cottage cheese and use it in your recipes.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Makes: 6 parathas

Ingredients		Quantity
Paneer (crumbled)		1 cup
Pudina leaves (finely chopped)		1/4 cup
Green chilies (finely chopped)		2-3
Cumin powder		1 tsp
Turmeric powder		1/4 tsp
Lemon juice		1/2 tsp
Salt		to taste
Other ingredients
Chapathi dough	6 balls

Method

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and check for salt. Divide into 6 equal portions.

Roll out one dough ball into a small disc by dipping it into dry flour to prevent sticking. Place one portion of filling in the center of the disc. Wrap the dough around the mixture to form a ball. Make sure all the sides are completely sealed and no holes in the dough or the filling will come out when you roll it. Dip the ball into dry flour once again and roll out the parathas thin as you can. Shake off any excess dry flour and place the paratha on a hot skillet or tava. Fry till brown specs appear apply few drops of ghee and smear if you like it.

Store paratha in a covered or insulated container until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining dough.

Serve paratha hot with pickle, yogurt or butter.

MLA Pesarattu

Pesarattu is a delicacy from Andhra Pradesh. It’s basically a crepe made from green gram. It is very easy to prepare and it is also very nutritious. Pesarattu served with upma is known as MLA pesarattu. It can be combined with different kinds of chutneys like Onion Chutney, Peanut Onion Chutney or plain Coconut Chutney. It tastes best when hot and crispy.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Soaking time: 4-5 hours or overnight

Cooking time: 5-10 minutes

Serves: 4-5 people

Ingredients	Quantity
Whole Green Gram	½ cup
Split Green Gram (skinless)	½ cup
Rice (Dosa variety)	½ cup
Ginger	1 inch piece or 1 tsp
Green Chilies	3-4 or to taste
Coriander Leaves	½ bunch or ¼ cup
Water	¼ cup
Salt	to taste
Oil	2-3 tbsps.
For filling
Onions (finely chopped)	½ cup
Red Chili Powder	to taste
Lemon Juice	to taste (optional)

Method

Wash whole green gram, split green gram and rice thoroughly and soak in enough water for 4-5 hours or overnight.

Drain the water from the soaked dals and rice. Grind both the dals and rice to a coarse paste. Then add ginger, green chilies, salt, water, coriander leaves and grind till you get a smooth batter.

For filling:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add the finely chopped onions, ¼ tsp salt and cook till onion is soft. Add chili powder stir for a minute. Turn off heat and transfer to a bowl. Add lemon juice and mix well (this it totally optional).

Allow the batter to ferment in a warm place for 1 hour if you like a crispy dosa. Once the batter is ready, check for the salt.

Heat the pan on medium. Grease the pan with few drops of oil. Sprinkle water and wipe off with the paper towel.

Add two ladles of batter and spread in a circular motion till you get a 5 inch diameter round thin crepe. Take off the excess from the top to make the dosa thin. Add few drops of oil. Sprinkle onion on the crepe.

Look for the brown spots on the bottom side of the dosa, then release the dosa from the edges and serve it hot with upma.

Serve immediately with chutney.

Points to remember:

• The cup measure is the standard measuring cup used for baking etc.

Avrekalu Rotti

Akki Rotti is a yummy breakfast special from Karnataka. Akki means “Rice” in Kannada. Avrekai is “Hyacinth” bean in English. Avarekai is a seasonal bean grown during winter. It is available between November to March. It is also one of the favorite beans of Kannadigas. There a lot of dishes that can be prepared with this bean. For most recipes the inner skin is also removed for better taste.

It is raining Avare Kai in Bangalore! It has various names including field beans, lilva beans, hyacinth beans, navy beans and so on, but they seem to be used interchangeably with a number of varieties of beans!  The pods are removed, and the beans that are used in cooking are called Avre Kalu. It has a very distinct flavor which makes it a unique ingredient.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Recipe Courtesy – Smitha Pai (My mom)

Ingredients	Quantity
Rice Flour	2 ½ cup
Milk	½ cup
Ghee	1 tbsp.
Warm water	½ cup to mix dough
Avre Kalu	½ cup
Onions (finely chopped)	2 medium
Green chilies (finely chopped)	2-3 or to taste
Salt	to taste

Method

In a large mixing bowl add rice flour and salt mix well. Heat ghee in a small wok and when it hot, add it to the rice flour. Let it stand for 2 minutes. Then mix in the ghee into the flour by rubbing the flour between your fingers till the ghee is incorporated well.

In the same wok heat milk, when warm add it to the flour. After a minutes or so mix well. Add green chilies, mix well. Add enough warm water to make soft dough. Store in the fridge overnight in an airtight container. Keep at least for 4-5 hours.

The avre kalu that we use here is with the inner peel. Pressure cook avre kalu in enough water with salt for one whistle.

In the morning add chopped onions check for salt, and then add the avre kalu and mix well.

Heat dosa tawa on low flame. Add some drops of oil and spread well. Make a small ball from the rice dough. Press it on the dosa tawa and spread using water on the fingers. Keep a bowl of water handy to help spread the dough on the tawa. Spread as thin as you like. Close lid on the tawa and cook on medium flame for 1-2 minutes till you see some brown specs. Add some oil to the top side and turn it upside down. Cook till it’s crispy on the other side, this time without the lid. Both the sides need to be crispy.

Serve hot with Peanut and Onion Chutney or regular Coconut Chutney.

Points to remember:

• The cup measure is the standard measuring cup used for baking etc.