fftf: simple(ish) Indian-inspired breakfast 🔆

Really hits the spot when you need to change up your eggs!

Hello and Happy Friday!

I’ve been putting off writing today’s newsletter for a while, because I’m nervous to write about this topic 😬 - I want to do it right! - but here goes. I’ve been dropping recipe hints here and there, but haven’t explicitly shared that: essentially since I met my husband in September 2020, I’ve been slowing and intentionally trying to learn how to make more Indian & Pakistani food, and incorporate it into my regular cooking repertoire. Since having our daughter 14 months ago, I’ve been even more motivated to learn (despite having less free time), because I want her to grow up with her dad’s home foods and flavors.

I often think about how I WISH I knew how to cook Lebanese food (my grandfather was born in Lebanon). But because he didn’t cook, we only ever ate Lebanese food out at restaurants with him. I do have a very strong memory of asking my Nonna about this once - whether she knew how to make any Lebanese food. Upon my request, while my Pap Pap was still alive, we once made a Lebanese stuffed zucchini dish that one of his aunts had taught my Nonna to make. (It was extremely labor intensive! No wonder I had never had it before!) We also attempted to make stuffed grape leaves, and I remember my Pap watching Nonna and I attempt to roll them (so difficult!) and him being very sure and critical of our technique! Haha!

Anyways, I want Jazzy to grow up eating and learning how to cook Pakistani food (since she is half Pakistani), and as the main cook in our family - a job I obviously love/wouldn’t trade since it’s my passion - I am excited for this lifelong learning project¹.

Delving into an entirely new cuisine is at once challenging, fun, fascinating, and has allowed me to jump back into a beginner’s mind in cooking, which has been really refreshing. I’m also super curious to understand the culture around the foods - for example, in which context do you eat X dish? What are the special occasion meals versus everyday meals? Which foods do people usually eat out versus make at home²?

The hardest thing about cooking from a new cuisine is that I have no idea what each dish is “supposed” to taste like. And also, I don’t know what a “delicious” version of X dish tastes like. Slowly - by eating at restaurants and at the homes of my husband’s family, and by interrogating him/observing him taste different dishes, I am learning. (I did not grow up eating Indian food, as there was maybe one Indian restaurant in the Pittsburgh suburbs that I even knew about while growing up.) In my cooking attempts, I have hits and misses. It’s been humbling to remember that cooking as a newbie really does take a lot of patience and practice!

A natural byproduct of my Pakistani/Indian³ cooking endeavor is that it will inevitably influence my “regular” cooking, which I would call mostly “Californian” (by which I mean seasonal, veggie-forward food with a variety of flavor influences).

I am nervous to publish any “recipes” in the Pakistani/Indian realm, as I will never have the expertise, cultural context, or authentic experience of an Indian or Pakistani person. All I do have is my own individual approach to cooking - which is why you all read this newsletter in the first place. Since this endeavor is now a part of my cooking life, I’m sure I’ll periodically want to write about these experiences - which I will always strive to do in a way that honors and respects these cultures that are not my own - and I hope these will still be interesting for you to read about!

If you’re not Indian or Pakistani, I hope that when I write about these influences on my cooking, you may be inspired to learn and try something different for you. If you ARE Indian or Pakistani, well A) I hope you won’t be offended by me writing about it! I welcome all feedback and critique!, and B) Maybe you’ll also appreciate me incorporating some Indian flavors/ingredients into my more “Californian/American” cooking style ?! Or maybe you will find me writing about this topic boring or irrelevant? I have no idea. Truly, I would love to hear from you now or in the future with your thoughts!

OK! So, onto today’s “recipe”! This is barely a recipe, more of a guide, and it’s essentially an Indian-inspired version of a sauté bowl, my favorite breakfast.

I make this two slightly different ways. Sometimes I cook everything - the veggies and scrambled eggs - all together in one pan (this makes it similar to an Indian bhurji, ie, Indian scrambled eggs - two example recipes here). Sometimes I cook the veggies and eggs separately in two different pans. I don’t like leftover eggs, so if I am making extra veggies, then I make this in two pans. But, if it’s just one or two veggies and I’m only wanting to dirty one pan, I’ll mix it all together.

The ingredients that make this recipe “Indian-inspired” are turmeric and mustard seeds, and the toppings. If you don’t have mustard seeds, you could sub cumin or coriander seeds, but there’s something about the mustard seeds that I just really love.

The toppings are also key here. A dollop of yogurt, fresh cilantro if you can, and especially - pickle! Ideally, Indian pickle or achaar⁴, but I have used other pickled or fermented veggies in a pinch - the sour/acidic/fermented flavor really takes this dish up a notch.

My husband loves when I make this breakfast, and I especially love it when I’m sick of the usual plain-ish eggs I’ve been eating. I hope you like it as much as we do!

this is an old pic from when I lived in San Francisco, so this version has my favorite achaar from The Cultured Pickle Shop in Berkeley! The yellow-greenish stuff next to the yogurt is their fermented limes - yum!!

simple(ish) Indian-inspired breakfast

takes about 30 mins

Ingredients

for the eggs / veggies:

• ghee, butter, or cooking oil of your choice

• eggs (I do 2 per person)

• ground turmeric - about 1/4-1/2 tsp per person, or to taste

• mustard seeds (can substitute/add cumin or coriander seeds) - about 1-2 tsp per person, or to taste

• veggies and/or greens of your choice, chopped into uniform-ish size pieces; onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, and swiss chard are some of my favorites

• chopped green chili/another hot pepper if you like it spicy

toppings:

• dollop of coconut yogurt or plain yogurt

• fresh chopped cilantro

• hot sauce / chili flakes

• Indian pickle/achaar, or any other neutral-flavored pickled or fermented veggies you might have (ie, I would not use kimchi)

serve with:

• ideally a paratha⁵, but roti, naan, or toast also work

equipment:

• 1 or 2 medium large, non-stick, stainless steel, or well-seasoned cast iron pans

Instructions for all-in-one pan veggie scramble:

1. Chop all veggies up into small, roughly uniform pieces. If warming up a flatbread(s), select the pan for them and place on the stove. Remove the flatbread(s) from the freezer and set on the counter next to the pan so they’re ready. If making toast, slice bread, or put in the toaster but don’t toast it yet! Also, get out/prep any toppings from the fridge - chop a little cilantro, get out the yogurt and pickle.

2. Heat ghee, butter or oil in a medium-large pan over medium heat. When hot, carefully add mustard seeds (or cumin/coriander), ~1 tsp per person, and sprinkle in the turmeric, ~1/4 tsp per person. Allow to sizzle/sputter for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant. I like to swirl the turmeric so it gets covered by the ghee/oil.

3. Add chopped veggies and stir to coat. If pan seems dry, you can add a little more fat as needed. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue stirring periodically. Cook until softened, or about 70% cooked to your liking.

4. Meanwhile, prep eggs and start heating flatbreads: crack your desired amount of eggs into a bowl or pyrex measuring cup. If warming up a flatbread(s), begin heating pan now, and add flatbread when hot.

5. Back to eggs/veggies: Spread veggies to the outside of the pan, and add a little more fat to center of the pan. Add eggs to the center, turn heat down to low or medium-low, and stir eggs consistently, slowly mixing in all the veggies. With your other hand, monitor and flip the flatbreads to heat them all up.

6. When eggs are just cooked, turn the heat off. Finish heating up the flatbreads, or if making toast, this is when I would hit “toast”! Plate eggs/veg, season with salt & pepper, and top with the toppings - yogurt, hot sauce, pickle, cilantro, etc. If serving someone, try to do this artfully :). Eat and enjoy!

Instructions for two pans - veggie sauté plus scrambled eggs:

1. Chop all veggies up into small, roughly uniform pieces.

2. Heat ghee, butter or oil in a medium-large pan over medium heat. When hot, carefully add mustard seeds (or cumin/coriander), ~1 tsp per person, and sprinkle in the turmeric, ~1/4 tsp per person. Allow to sizzle/sputter for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant. I like to swirl the turmeric so it gets covered by the ghee/oil.

3. Add chopped veggies and stir to coat. If pan seems dry, you can add a little more fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue stirring periodically and cook to your liking. Taste and add more salt/spices as needed.

4. While veggies are cooking, you can start on eggs and breads (if making). If veggies finish cooking while you are completing the following steps, just turn off the heat and leave them as is.

5. If warming up a flatbread(s), select the pan and begin heating pan on low to get it going. Remove the flatbread(s) from the freezer and set on the counter next to the pan so they’re ready. If making toast, slice bread, or put in the toaster but don’t toast it yet! Also, get out/prep any toppings from the fridge - chop a little cilantro, get out the yogurt and pickle.

6. Time to make eggs: crack your desired amount of eggs into a bowl or pyrex measuring cup. Heat another (non-stick) pan on medium. When hot, add ghee/butter/oil, and then another 1-2 tsp mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp turmeric (or as much as you’d like). Let them sizzle for a minute, then pour in the eggs and immediately start stirring with a spatula.

7. While you’re stirring the eggs, if possible, add the flatbread to the hot pan and monitor both - flipping flatbread(s) as needed and slowly cooking the eggs on medium or low, stirring constantly until eggs are done.

8. When eggs are just cooked, turn the heat off. Finish heating up the flatbreads, or if making toast, this is when I would hit “toast”! Plate eggs, season with salt & pepper, add side of veggies, top with the toppings - yogurt, hot sauce, pickle, cilantro, etc. If serving someone, you can do this artfully :). Eat and enjoy!

an all-in-one-pan version from recently

here’s a version where it looks like I just made plain scrambled eggs, but you can see the mustard seeds in these veggies!

1. My husband has also recently been inspired to cook more, especially Pakistani food - which is pretty fun and interesting for us to do together!

2. An example: my husband explained to me that naan is a restaurant bread, not a home-made bread, because naan requires a Tandoor oven to make it correctly, which people don’t have at home. When he was a kid, if they wanted naan, he would go out and get it fresh from the restaurant and bring it home to eat with their dinner. He conveniently told me this after I had made some very-bad naan at home. Welp, I have never attempted it again! Now I send him out to get naan as needed 😁.

3. Indian and Pakistani food are obviously different, and also have similarities, as (in case you didn’t know) the land that currently makes up Pakistan was part of India until Partition in 1947. However - in America, restaurants that serve Pakistani food will often be labeled “Indian/Pakistani.” I really don’t know what label I should be using when speaking broadly about this topic/cuisine, so mainly using the slash for now. Sometimes, though, it’s simpler just to say “Indian” (as in my headline) because - for Americans, that cuisine-label feels most accurate to convey the flavors I’m talking about.

4. My favorite experience of Indian Pickle was from The Cultured Pickle Shop in Berkeley, CA. There I bought Indian Pickled Limes that I still dream about. If you’ve never tried something like this - note that you only need a tiny bit because the flavor is so intense, and SO good! If you’re looking for a more entry-level type “achaar” product, consider trying one of Brooklyn Delhi’s sauces, which can be found in Whole Foods. We like their Roasted Garlic Achaar and Guntur Sannam Chili Hot Sauce (not very hot, but good flavor) best, although note that these taste quite different from the Indian Pickles I’ve tried, and are a “sauce” named achaar, whereas the Indian pickles I’ve tried at Indian & Pakistani friends’ and families’ houses are usually whole fruits/veggies that have been fermented, so have a stronger flavor and different texture/need to be chopped. (I’m probably missing something here, but I can’t quite figure out the Brooklyn Delhi products because they are made by an Indian-American woman but seem like they might be for a white audience? They’ve been reviewed positively by Indian-American chefs I follow, but no one mentions any difference between these and the Indian pickles you’d find at an Indian grocery store, which I find puzzling.)

5. I originally started making this breakfast because I started making parathas, which are a super delicious, flaky South Asian flatbread, often made for weekend breakfasts and eaten with eggs. (I follow Sohla’s recipe here, although I use part whole wheat pastry flour.) I find them very fun to make, and although they are a good amount of work, you can make a big batch and freeze them, which makes it worth doing every so often, in my book. (They also sell them frozen at Indian grocery stores.)