Moroccan Shakshouka

I was reading Friday’s Bombay Times entertainment section with its listings for Sunday brunch venues..had me thinking that there was a time when a Sunday brunch outing was a fairly regular affair .. that era was before the buffet rates touched sky-high heights that do no justice to the size of my appetite especially.

Coming back to the listings… after reading a couple of the entries, one restaurant specialising in its breakfast egg options had listed along with other egg dishes from the menu, this dish called– Shakshouka  . I loved the name instantly and went on Google or as Dad calls it - Googleshwar (Google +Ishwar as Google is God of all solutions:)))

So it turns out this is a Moroccan egg dish with a light gravy of tomato and bell peppers. To be eaten with bread which essentially is to soak up all the juices . This is my version after going through a couple of recipe sites…

Ingredients

2 tablepoons olive oil

Pinch of ajwain seeds

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon paprika (or red chilli powder)

½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) powder

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 medium sized tomatoes ,finely chopped

2 medium sized tomatoes, pureed

2 eggs

Salt

Chopped olives ,to garnish

1. Heat the oil. Add the ajwain and the garlic paste. Cook for 15-20 seconds.

2. Add the onion and cook till soft.

3. Add the red bell pepper and cook till soft

4. Add all the tomatoes ,salt, ketchup,paprika,cumin powder and cook on a medium flame till the gravy starts beginning to dry up .

5. At this stage, with the back of your spoon make two small indentations in the gravy on either ends of the pan. Crack the eggs into these indentations (one in each) and cover with a lid. Leave to cook for 3-4 minutes till all the egg white is cooked. Leave to cook longer if you want the yolk well done. 

6. Garnish with olives and a little olive oil (optional)

The tricky part was in serving as I thought that the eggs would break if I transferred the dish, so chose the easy way out..just served the whole pan :))