Shakshuka

Shakshuka

This is a complete meal. Shakshuka is an Israeli Tunisian 

dish of eggs poached in a tomato based gravy. It is generally very hot and is cooked in a cast iron skillet. I have added few Indian touches to it and baked it in an oven. It has vegetables, a mixture of aromatic spices, a lot of chiili and lots of tomato. This is a quick fix tummy filling dish that you can have at any meal.

This is a very traditional recipe which I have adapted for my ease. First of all I have not used any ready made cans of tomatoes. I have used fresh chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and ketchup.

 I have used capsicum and onions but you can use carrots, broccoli, French beans ..anything..Add as much veggies as you want to the dish o make it healthier.

I have baked it in the oven but you can put it in a deep pan, cover and cook on the gas. It comes out as good.

So have an egg-xiting time making and experimenting with the Shakshuka

Ingredients

4 large eggs

1 large onion, cubed

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped fine

1 capsicum, cubed

5 pods garlic, chopped

4 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

5 green chillies, chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp ajwain

1 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp Kashmiri lal mirch powder

Salt to taste

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the cumin and ajwain. Add the chopped garlic and green chillies. 

Add the chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook till soft. I have added the onions later because I wanted them to have the crunch.

Once the tomatoes are soft add the puree and ketchup. Mix and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. 

Cook till oil starts leaving the sides. Now add the onions and capsicum. Cook on low heat for some time. Sprinkle the pepper powder. The mixture will not be dry. Keep it a little sauce like.

Now what I did was I transferred the masala/sauce to a baking dish. Then I cracked 4 eggs over them. Do not mix or scramble the eggs. Let the yolks sit there beautifully. 

Then preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake for about 20 minutes. I don’t like runny yolks but many people do. So adjust the timing depending on how you like your egg yolks.

Alternately what you can do is cook in the pan itself on gas stove. Crack the eggs, cover let it cook till the eggs are done.

Once done sprinkle some salt and pepper powder on top.