Scrambled Eggs with Cumin & Fragrant Herbs
Submitted by gold28073
Indian-style scrambled eggs with cumin, cilantro, and green chili: eggs cooked cake-style with onion, then finished with toasted ground cumin and fresh herbs.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
10 minREADY
25 minThis isn’t your Sunday-brunch fluff. It’s an Indian breakfast classic, anda bhurji-adjacent, where the eggs cook in thick, tender slabs rather than soft curds. Big pieces of onion soften in oil first, then beaten eggs pour over the top and settle briefly before a fork pushes the mass inward to form cakes studded with crisp-tender onion.
The finishing spice is the whole point. Freshly roasted cumin seeds, dry-toasted in a pan until dark brown then ground, deliver a smoky warmth that pre-ground jar cumin can’t touch. Chopped cilantro leaves and a fresh green chili go on top just before serving so their fresh oils don’t cook off.
Don’t whisk the eggs to a froth. Lightly beaten just enough to blend whites and yolks keeps the texture dense and cakey, the way this dish wants.
Chef Tips
- Roast your own cumin. Pre-ground cumin has already lost most of its aromatic oils, toasting seeds in a dry pan releases them and the flavor difference is dramatic.
- Keep the heat low once the eggs go in. High heat browns the egg, which ruins the soft golden cake texture this dish calls for.
- Cut onions in ¾-inch pieces, not fine dice. Big pieces stay crisp-tender and give satisfying bite, minced onion melts away and loses its texture.
Variations
Ingredients
Directions
Break the eggs into a small bowl, add salt, and beat slightly to mix.
Do not overbeat, as eggs should not be foamy or frothy.
Beat the shortening or oil in a frying pan (9-10 inches in diametere), and add onions.
Over medium-low heat, sauté onions until they are translucent but still firm and crisp (about 3 to 4 minutes).
Reduce heat to low, and add the beaten eggs.
Let the eggs settle in the pan for 5 seconds.
Then, using a fork, begin pushing the egg toward the center of the pan so that it cooks like a thick cake.
When most of the egg has coagulated, turn it gently and cook the other side.
(Don’t worry if it breaks, as the finished dish will, in fact, look like little cakes of scrambled egg studded with onions.)
Continue stirring and turning until the eggs are fully cooked (about 3 minutes).
Do not let them brown.
Turn off heat, and transfer to a warm serving platter.
Serve sprinkled with roasted cumin, chopped coriander leaves and green chilies.
- To roast the cumin, add to a dry, preheated, heavy frying pan, and cook until the seeds turn a dark brown.
Grind fine, and you’re ready to go.
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