RECIPE: Mumbai vada pav with chutneys, and a fried egg

vada pav, with a fried egg!

I LOVE EGGS. The world loves eggs. Instagram especially loves eggs - how can anyone resist a bit of golden #yolkporn? It's hard, so most of us can't. 

If you were to ask my favourite standalone ingredient ever, I may well say the humble egg; possibly the single most versatile food item that has ever existed. All hail its simplicity and mighty existence, and just how well it goes with tapenade.

To celebrate British Egg Week taking place from 10th - 17th October, the lovely people from British Lion Eggs have collaborated with Farang London chef Seb Holmes, to come up with some tasty Thai street food-inspired recipes, all celebrating this year's theme of #putaneggonit. Think of Beyonce's 'if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it', but replace ring, with egg. It's not a bad culinary motto by which to live.

The idea is to encourage people to eat eggs in more unusual ways, by putting an egg on dishes they wouldn't normally think to try. It if was up to me, I'd put an egg on almost everything. Maybe even my cereal.

They've then asked me to take inspiration from Seb's collection of egg recipes, and come up with my own street food-inspired concoction that would work great with eggs. Now, I've eaten a heck of a lot of street food on my travels, and when I was presented with this challenge, one immediately popped into my head - Mumbai's world-famous vada pav. 

I'd arrived in Mumbai having already heard about vada pav (here's more about my first visit to Mumbai, and then another visit about a week later). They're sometimes referred to as the city's take on a vegetarian burger; seeing as it's fast food, cheap, and a filling betwixt two buns, that's sort of accurate. But let me tell you, I'd have these over a burger most days.

the vada pav I had in Mumbai - so very excellent

They are spicy potato balls deep fried in gram flour (vada), with a lick of hot garlic green chutney, all between two halves of a soft bun (pav). 

They involve bread, they're salty and they're spicy - all perfect pairings for a lovely fried egg. In fact, when I first ate these in their home city, my immediate thought was 'these are fabulous, but they could do with a little lubrication'. 

Allow me to introduce that lubrication via the medium of a runny yolk.

And so, I present to you, my recipe for vada pav with the glorious addition of a fried egg. Let me tell you, this is truly a thing of beauty. Please everyone, make it.

Mumbai's vada pav sandwich, with chutneys and a fried egg

Makes six vada pavs

For the green chutney

Mint leaves, small bunch
Coriander, small bunch (including stalks)
1-2 green chillies, roughly chopped
1 tbsp ground almonds
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Salt

For the red chutney

3 tbsp desiccated coconut, dry roasted
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
1-2 tsp chilli powder
Salt

For the vada fillings

3 potatoes, boiled and mashed until smooth
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
3 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 tsp asafoetida
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped (including stalks)
Salt

For the batter and frying

150g gram (chickpea) flour
1/4 tsp turmeric
80ml warm water
Salt
Sunflower oil

To serve

Six small and soft white rolls
Butter (optional)
Six green finger chillies, deep-fried
Six eggs, fried

First make your chutneys. For the green, combine the mint, coriander, chillies and ground almonds, add some of the lemon juice, and blitz. Keep adding lemon juice until you have a consistency that is spreadable - you don't want it too wet. You might not end up using all the lemon juice. Add salt to taste.

For the red chutney, ensure the coconut gets a nice colour from the dry toasting, then combine with the garlic, chilli powder, and a pinch of salt, and pound using a pestle and mortar. Add a splash of water if needed to loosen the mixture slightly. You should end up with a dry and crumbly chutney. Set both the chutneys aside. 

making the green and red chutney

To make the vada fillings, grate the garlic and ginger. Heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium to high heat. When it's hot enough for a mustard seed to sizzle in it, add the rest of the mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds start popping vigorously, reduce the heat to low to medium, and add the ginger, garlic and chillies. Cook for one minute, then add the turmeric and cook for another minute.

Now add the mashed potato and fresh coriander, fully combine, and cook for another minute. Add salt to taste. Remove the mashed potato from the pan and set aside to cool.

flavouring the vada mashed potato

Weigh the total amount of potato you have, and divide this number by six so you know how much each portion should weigh - mine were about 75g each. Measure out one portion and roll into a ball with your hands. Do this for all six portions, and set aside.

To create the batter for frying the balls, combine the gram flour with the turmeric and a pinch of salt. Add the water a little at a time, continually mixing with a whisk, until you have a smooth and fairly thick batter. Set aside.

Fill a heavy-bottomed saucepan with enough sunflower oil to reach half way up the vada balls. Heat on medium to high. To test if the oil is hot enough to fry the vada balls, add a little batter and if it sizzles and cooks to a golden colour, then it's ready.

First drop in the six finger chillies for serving. When they've cooked and blistered, remove and let them rest on kitchen paper.

Coat each ball in the batter, and gently drop into the hot oil. Turn the ball around in the oil until the whole thing is cooked and golden in colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on kitchen paper. Repeat for all the vada balls.

To serve, slice each soft roll in half and butter, if desired. Smear on some green chutney, and add a vada ball. In the meantime, fry an egg how you like it (runny yolk all the way), and add on top of the vada ball. Sprinkle on some of the dry red chutney, serve with a deep-fried chilli, and devour!

making and frying the vada balls

This is a sponsored post in partnership with British Egg Week, as part of their #PutAnEggOnIt campaign, to encourage people to eat eggs in more unusual ways. I hope you get to try this recipe - it's GOOD. 

Related posts

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Week 4: INDIA - Pondicherry → Chennai → Mumbai

Recipe: Chicken saag with coriander chapatis

menemen - turkish eggs with sumac yoghurt

Whenever I utter the name of this rather wonderful staple of the Turkish breakfast table, I inadvertently but consistently slip into spitting some old school 50 Cent lyrics into my air-microphone: 'Many men; many, many, many, many men Wish death upon me Lord I don't cry no more Don't look to the sky no more' A blast from the past that were my university days each time. I of course know no further lyrics to this ‘song’. Whatever did happen to Fiddy C anyway? I’m not entirely sure anyone cares. Questionable London clubs frequented in 2003 aside, menemen is a rather fabulous and different way to eat eggs with the addition of tomatoes and peppers. The traditional recipe sees the eggs scrambled, but I’ve left them unbroken and with dippy yolks for cascading and deep orange bread accompaniment. Mildy spiced and very hearty, this is a great example of the course of the day the Turks do so exceptionally well. Serve with chai and the best quality bread you can find and if it’s topped with sesame seeds, even better.

Menemen with sumac yoghurt

Serves two, or one very hungry person (i.e. me)

For the eggs

1 x green pepper, finely chopped

1 x large green chilli, finely chopped

2 x garlic cloves, grated

1/2tsp cumin seeds

300ml sieved tomatoes

Handful of spinach

2 x eggs

1 x lemon

Olive oil

Small bunch of fresh parsley

For the yoghurt

2 x heaped tbsp strained yoghurt

1/2 x garlic clove, grated

Generous pinch of sumac

Chilli flakes (optional)

Salt

Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Pour a glug of olive oil into a saucepan and on a low-medium heat, gently fry the garlic and cumin seeds for a couple of minutes. Add the pepper and chilli and fry for a few more minutes until they are soft.

Add the sieved tomatoes and let bubble for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice. Turn off the heat, add your spinach leaves and stir until they're wilted in the sauce.

Pour this mixture into a shallow but wide oven proof dish. Create a couple of wells in the sauce for the eggs. Crack one egg into a cup then carefully pour it into one of the wells. Repeat with the second egg. Place in the oven until the whites become opaque but the yolk remains runny.

In the meantime create the yoghurt by combining all the ingredients and topping with a pinch of sumac and drizzle of olive oil.

When the eggs are ready, sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt, a few chilli flakes and some chopped parsley. Serve with toasted Turkish bread.

Afiyet olsun.

Carbonara

There are few feelings more enveloping in their warming comfort on a stiffly bitter evening than those conjured up by a big plate of hot and steamy carbs – specifically pasta.  In my opinion, the best pasta dishes are the most simple.  If you have some wonderful al dente linguine, parmesan, quality olive oil and black pepper, there’s often not a lot else you need to achieve full satiety.

With pasta comes the obligatory associated calories (of which I try my best to keep at least a lazy eye on), and so I regard these dishes as treats rather than regular occurrences.  But when I do throw my hands up in defeat after a long day at work, with a rumbling stomach doubled over in anticipation at the very thought of rolling in the digestive presence of an over-sized portion of pasta, there are three winter recipes I almost always turn towards.  One is pasta with chestnuts, mushrooms and a parsley pesto; the second is a Turkish pasta dish involving halloumi (a white cheese from Cyprus) and dried mint (I’ll save those two for another day); and the third is the classic and well-loved pasta carbonara.

Bacon with eggs is a flavour combination older than time itself, and one of the best.  Couple that with the filling qualities of pasta and the nutty saltiness of a hard Italian cheese, and you’ve got a plate of satisfaction able to transport anyone to their happy place.   

The recipe in this post is Matt’s take on the classic, and classics are there to be interpreted and provide a base for experimentation.  But if you want to be a purist about this, then by all means please do – I fully support it and it is the recipe I was brought up with when my mother would regularly make the dish.  To do so, just omit the parsley and mushrooms.  But if you fancy at least an attempt at the inclusion of one of your five a day (albeit a sorry one) to keep the guilt pangs at bay, as well as the wonderful extra flavours they bring to the plate, then keep them in.

There are a few additional rules I would strongly recommend.  These again lean towards a purist stance, but I favour them as I believe they provide the best taste sensation:

Rule number one – No to cream
The carbonara sauce should NOT include any cream, only eggs.  It’s an unnecessary addition that only renders the dish heavy and too rich whilst adding nothing to the flavour.  The common theory is that it was introduced by restaurants looking for a short-cut to achieve the creamy quality of a carbonara sauce, without having to contend with the perfect timing required when adding eggs to a hot pan and ending up with a creamy sauce as opposed to pasta alla scrambled eggs. If you find a restaurant that doesn't use cream in its carbonara, return.

Rule number two – Pecorino over parmesan
Use just pecorino. Or use a combination of pecorino and parmesan. But don’t only use parmesan.  It’s just a bit too overpowering in its cheesiness and claggy when melted when a lot of it is used (the quantity of cheese as well as the obligatory quality is necessary for this dish) .  Pecorino is made from ewes milk and is slightly lighter than parmesan, with an excellent level of saltiness.

Rule number three – Panchetta over bacon
Contrary to the photograph, you really want to source some quality pancetta instead of bacon.  Bacon is more of a last resort, but it’s an acceptable alternative when it is all you have in the fridge (as in this case) and an evening trip down to a decent supermarket is unlikely.

Rule number four – No black pepper? Forget it
You need black pepper, and lots of it.  Not having freshly ground black pepper to hand is in my mind a situation severe enough to not bother even starting the dish. Also, what sort of kitchen doesn’t have black pepper? If this is your kitchen, shame on you my friend.

Linguine Carbonara alla Matt

Makes enough for two people.

200g linguine
2 x large free range eggs, beaten
Chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
Panchetta or bacon – one pack
Handful of flat leafed parsley, very finely chopped
30g of finely grated pecorino
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

Bring a large saucepan of well salted water to the boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente.

Add the grated cheese to your beaten eggs in a bowl and ensure all fully combined.  Add lots of black pepper to this egg and cheese mix.  When you think you’ve added enough, add some more.  A bit more following this, would still not go amiss.

Meanwhile, cut the pancetta into lardons (if it didn’t already come that way) or the bacon into lardon sized pieces.

Heat a large, deep frying pan over a medium-high heat (woks are good for this), add the oil and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until they’ve expelled their juices.  Drain off the mushroom juices into a bowl, then add the pork to the pan and fry until crisp and golden. 

Add a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta water to this pan to help the cooking sauce along, and add your parsley.

Drain the pasta (don’t worry if it’s not completely dry), tip it into the frying pan with the pancetta, mushrooms and parsley, add the mushroom juices back to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the juice flavours.

Remove the pan from the heat (this is important before the next stage), then add the beaten egg and cheese mixture, tossing everything together very well.  The heat from the pasta and mix will cook the eggs enough so that they’re not raw, but not scrambled – a wonderful creamy and coating consistency.

Season with additional black pepper and more shavings of the cheese.

Eat immediately in warmed bowls while piping hot.

A plate of food surely divinely intervened.

Alfiyet olsun.

roast red pepper, spinach and goats cheese tart

It’s the last couple of days before we’re off for a week. Off to a bustling city full of heady spice, labyrinthine alleyways and turbaned potion sellers.  I’ll tell all on my return – but safe to say I’m expecting some excellent material to write about when I do.

The process of getting to the destination you seek out when it comes to travelling is more often than not plagued with mediocre meals and insipid flavours. 

The majority of us (who can’t justify flying anything superior to economy) are either faced with a Boots meal deal to take on the plane (is there anyone who doesn’t choose Innocent for the drink?) or worse, decide to risk the in-flight meal - a brick of a chicken breast which when hacked into is as hot as the sun, alongside an array of sorry excuses for vegetables that have been microwaved into another dimension.  Top that with a dessert so sweet you won’t get a wink of sleep and a stodgy side roll. Delicious.

So I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands by taking a picnic, of sorts.  I’m after something that we can have to eat the night before we leave, can sustain us en route to the airport and on the flight, is easily transportable, is in separate portions, and can be eaten cold. And if possible, something that demonstrates a bit of skill.

The word ‘tart’ comes to mind.

Roast red pepper, spinach and goats cheese tart

Makes 8 slices

A bit like a quiche but with a healthier yoghurt and egg filling rather than cream and egg – great hot or cold.

For the shortcrust pastry

Makes enough to line a 23cm/24cm (9”) tart tin.  Make sure your tin is loose bottomed.

You could buy a ready made pastry case for this and just work from the filling onwards. But why do that, when you can make it yourself.  It’s one of the easiest pastries there is, and it’s much more fun.  All you’ll need is a rolling pin.  This recipe for shortcrust is from Paul Hollywood’s How to Bake.

250g plain flour
Pinch of salt
125g chilled unsalted butter
2 medium egg yolks
50ml cold water

The golden rule when making this pastry is not to overwork it.  The less handling time it gets, the more crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth it will be when cooked. So once it’s brought together, avoid any further handling.

Put the flour and salt into a bowl and mix together.  Add the butter cubes.  Rub the ingredients together lightly with your fingertips until all the cubes are incorporated into the flour and you’re left with a breadcrumb consistency.

Add the egg yolks and being to mix with your hands, then slowly add the water and mix until a paste is formed that leaves the sides of the bowl clean.

Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball – remember not to overwork or handle it too much.  Flatten the pastry into a rough disk with your fingertips (this will help with rolling out later), wrap in cling film and keep in the fridge for as long as you can – minimum half an hour, over night is really best.

Once chilled, take it out and place on a lightly floured surface.  Roll it out so it’s larger than your tart tin – you want it to line the base, sides and have extra hanging over the sides that you can cut off.  The thickness of the pastry should be just short of the width of a pound coin.

Carefully roll the pastry onto your rolling pin to help you lift it and lay it over your tin. Using your knuckle, push the pastry right into the corners and the sides.  Slice off any excess with a sharp knife while rotating the tin.

Now you need to blind bake the pastry case.  This process partially cooks the pastry before any filling is put into it.  This is needed if the filling would take less time to cook than the pastry, which is the case in this recipe. Preheat the oven to 180C / fan 160C / gas 4.

Prick the pastry all over with a fork to prevent the pastry bubbling and going out of shape – do lots of holes and right to the edges.  You want them as deep as you can without breaking through the base.  Chill the pastry for at least 15 minutes – the colder it is at this stage, the less it will shrink from the sides during baking.

Get a large piece of baking paper much bigger than your tin, and grease one side with butter.  Place the sheet over the tin butter side down, and push right into the sides. Now fill this paper with baking beads (available in cookware shops and good department stores) or uncooked rice.  This weight will prevent the pastry bubbling and ensure an even cook.  Ensure the paper is touching the pastry all over, right up to the edges.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is cooked and opaque.  Carefully remove the paper and beans / rice (if any bits are bubbling up at this point, prick again with a fork) and return the empty tart case to the oven for 10 minutes or so, or until the base is dry and crisp and the top edges just start to turn golden.  Leave in the tin and continue with the recipe.

For the tart filling

2 red onions, finely sliced
3 roasted red peppers, quartered (roast them yourself until soft or buy a jar of ready roasted to save time)
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
200g sliced goats cheese – try and get something French
Fresh thyme leaves
3 medium free range eggs
150ml Greek yoghurt (get the strained Total brand as it has less water content – I used the 0% fat one)
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
Small bag of spinach
Olive oil
Seasoning

Gently fry the onions in some oil on a very low heat for as long as you can give it – you can do this while you’re blind baking your pastry.  The longer and slower they cook, the stickier and sweeter they will be.  For the last few minutes, add the balsamic vinegar and cook until it’s reduced and you’re left with caramelised onion marmalade.

Spread this over the base of your pastry.  Arrange the red peppers and slices of goats cheese, and sprinkle with the thyme leaves.

In the meantime, wilt ¾ of the small bag of spinach in a pan – put 2cm cold water in the pan, add all the spinach, put the heat on medium and keep the lid on.  They’ll wilt in no time.  Drain the spinach and using kitchen towel to soak up as much of the water as possible.  Then chop the spinach up a bit.

Mix the eggs with the yoghurt, add the cool cooked spinach and the toasted pine nuts. Season well with salt and a good amount of black pepper.  Pour this mixture over the tart filling.  Bake in the oven until the filling has set and the pastry edges are golden brown. Serve hot with a side salad of rocket or spinach, or enjoy cold and on the move.

crisp and dry bottom

The goats cheese cuts through the sweetness of the onions and peppers, and the pine nuts provide welcome texture.  The pastry is just wonderful – thin, buttery, crumbly and completely dry.  No soggy bottom – Mary Berry would be proud.

This tart is quite versatile in the sense that you could fill it with anything that doesn’t have a high water content, and then pour the egg and yoghurt mixture over it.  For example roasted artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, charred asparagus spears to name just a few.

Once you have the pastry nailed, you can experiment with any number of fillings.  The yoghurt and egg mixture on top is a great replacement for the high fat cream and egg mixture of a standard quiche, especially if you use a low fat variety of yoghurt.  

I don’t believe there’s any detriment in using the 0% fat Total yoghurt over the full fat – this is a good (but rare) example of there being little difference between the two.

My preference of unsalted butter whenever I make pastry is the President butter from France.  It’s so beautifully pale that when I’ve chopped it into cubes, I must consciously remind myself not to mistakenly think it’s cheese and scoff a piece.  

The aroma it gives off not only when being baked, but even at the very first stage of rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingertips, is completely delicious.  You’ll easily find it in any supermarket.

Sliced and protected with some foil, this tart would do well on its short voyage to the airport. How much of it realistically makes it out the door in the first place though, is a different matter. Two pieces seem to have already disappeared whilst writing this entry.  Dammit.

Alfiyet olsun.

The Egg

Tonight was one of those nights in culinary terms, that many will be familiar with.  After a hectic day at work and a rumbling stomach by 5pm,  I try to recall the odds and ends idling in the fridge on the way home to see if my mind can conjure a concoction of substance before I reach the front door.

Whilst the vast chambers of the fridge are mostly vacant this evening, there are some glimmers of light. The things of note are leek, pancetta, some taleggio that’s been hanging about.  Along with a box of eggs.

The humble egg.  One of the key vertebrae along the backbone of fundamental ingredients in the culinary world.  Possibly the single most versatile food item that has ever existed.

Almost ubiquitous in its occupation - you’ll find them hiding in cakes, pastries, desserts, breads, quiches and sauces.  Then there are the dishes that proudly shout about their presence – omelettes, egg and soldiers, scotch eggs, hollandaise, carbonara, egg fried rice, egg and chips to name a small few. They’re used for binding such as in meatballs or burgers.  As raising agents in Yorkshire puddings or soufflés. They’re used as a wash to give colour to biscuits and pastry. 

The various ways in which eggs can be cooked all have one thing in common – they are quick.  Try them baked with spinach and anchovies; fried sunny side up sitting proud upon a tower of crispy rashers; scrambled with smoked salmon, dill and a squeeze of lemon on rye; soft boiled with asparagus spear soldiers; hard boiled, quartered and scattered alongside large crunchy croutons over little gem with an anchovy olive oil sauce; poached, pierced and gently cascading like sunshine lava over a fresh and toasted muffin.

A promise of such wonder encased within a thin and fragile cocoon. When digesting the full and ranging repertoire of the egg, it’s easy to forget that this exquisitely simple yet intricately complex unit is made up of just two components – the yolk, and the white.

The whites are whisked to add structure and stability, producing miraculous meringues and marshmallows. The yolks add moisturising fat which help to emulsify, giving baked goods a smooth and creamy texture and are essential for custards and mayonnaise.

I cracked open three of these wonders, gently whisked with a little milk, added to sweated leaks and crispy pancetta, sliced the tallegio and flipped one half over the other.  Et voila -  an omelette.  Your fridge’s way of mopping up the remnants within and presenting you with something of note. The weary cook’s ultimate and often leaned on fail-safe. 

All hail the wondrous egg.

Alfiyet olsun.