Friday, January 11, 2008

An Eventful Breakfast: Tofu-Egg Custards

Ever noticed those homely women on Indian TV who proudly whip up something on a cookery show and say this is full of vitamins A, B, C, D, will help cure this ailment and that, is good for this body part or that but mostof allit’sgoodforyour kidsalsoandtheywillsimplygobbleitup? Well, I'm not quite in their league but I do know this is a protein-packed dish. Well, an overload of it, maybe, but I’m so thrilled I even thought of it, bear with me if I gloss over the negatives.

She was asking me when I would put up a food post on the blog and I was telling her I wanted to but I couldn’t think of anything.

“Soy, soy, soy,” she said.

“Yuck, I hate soy, I’ve tried it, I will never go back to it, it tastes bad and it makes me feel bad,” I said.

















And then the penny dropped. I had put my foot in my mouth – SHE is hosting Weekend Breakfast Blogging and the theme is soya. Once I got over the embarrassment and the apologies, I had the simpler task of racking my brains about what to make. I saw some khakra-like soya crisps in the store but the label said they were 85 per cent rice and wheat – and I couldn’t come up with anything featuring them for breakfast and brunch.

I’d almost exiled eggs from my home these past few months and had been considering repatriating them. A chance visit to Kalyn’s blog revealed a post on egg muffins, which I’d always imagined the recipe of but never got down to. It had to be a sign – a long-imagined dish, an actual recipe, the return of eggs into our lives, and the happy realization that adding tofu would qualify it for this event.


Before unmoulding


Eggs: 6, beaten
Carrots: 2 (small, about 50 gm), grated
Capsicum/green bell pepper: 2 (about 50 gm), chopped
Tofu: 200 gm, cut into small pieces
Green chillies: 4, chopped
Onion: 1, chopped
Garlic: 3 cloves, skinned and minced
Salt, to taste
Oil (I used olive): 2 tbsp

(Makes 6-8 units)

In a microwave-safe dish, heat the oil for two minutes on full power.

Now add the garlic, MW for a minute.

Add the onions, mix well, MW for two minutes.

Now mix the capsicum, carrot and the green chillies with the onions well and MW for three minutes.

Prepare a few ramekins – grease them with a little oil and put some tofu inside.

Layer that with the MWd vegetables. Sprinkle some salt on them.

Add salt to the beaten eggs.

Now pour the beaten eggs over the tofu and vegetable layers.

I microwaved each ramekin individually for one minute on 100 per cent power but the bottom was still not done – I suggest you MW them for three minutes but check after 90 seconds to see if they are done. I only found out mine were unset at the bottom after I unmoulded the whole lot and they leaked all over the plate and then I MWd them together for a good three minutes.

The guinea pig said it was good. I, on the other hand, have inhaled too much egg and could not bear the thought of actually ingesting one, so if you find yourself in that position, you could do what I did and slurp up some nice, cool cucumber raita as the antidote to those odorous memories!


... and after



26 comments:

  1. Sra.....you can also use the same recipe with cooked noodles or any pasta , plus veggies and mix with beaten eggs and then bake. breakfast or dinner, its a quick fix.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sra beautiful pics and wonderfullll and healthy breakfast recipe

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hear Shn...I do that quick fix quite a lot :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. 'She' thinks the dish looks great and is happy that you have participated....

    ReplyDelete
  5. HeHe!! Need a cow prod to wake you up!! Glad you are awake now. That really looks grand,loved the last photo!:)
    Oh btw sra,I have disabled the comment section in my blogs and will not be visiting blogs anymore except very few occasionally. I will still post and cook for events whenever I can now, check it out. No more comments, no more commenting! Happy days!:D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great idea, Sra! Looks very colorful! Any replacements for egg? Have a wonderful weekend.

    cheers,
    musical.

    ReplyDelete
  7. this ones indeed protein packed!!! love the pictures

    ReplyDelete
  8. mmm, what healthy preparation, looks good too..thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, She must be pleased... haven't found a soy recipe yet for her... I might have to copy yours, because from the look of it, I know I am going to love this... Lovely picture btw...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Not overfond of eggs? :) I'm not crazy about them other than in cakes, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sra, hmmmm..that's an awesome picture,Tofu and egg combo sounds delicious,will give this a try asap.Thanks for sharing.

    Here's to a Magical Season
    and a Happy New Year!will be back soon...:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I know the recipe and post you speak of at Kalyn's blog. I too have bookmarked it. Look how great yours is with the added tofu. So moist! Gosh, I got to get going with that recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  13. not a tofu lover but that is ONE awesome recipe for the event!

    ReplyDelete
  14. wow ! the picture looks amazing :) sra - i will try this recipe soon

    ReplyDelete
  15. oh, and did you on purpose use the microwave? I think using the oven might cook the eggs uniformly, place the ramekins in a shallow dish with water and bake at 325-350F i guess.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow Sra! That is a great idea, it's gonna be my dinner tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  17. These look really elegant, Sra, and I don't even like tofu much. Very neat that you microwaved them. I wouldn't have the courage to do so, fearing rubberized, smelly eggs. I'm not too keen on those, either.

    ReplyDelete
  18. wow Thats a nice one with tofu SRA.The picture looks great!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. ohhhhhh...its soya for WBB. now i know why i am seeing very unusal soya recipes in blogs;) he he he....

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sra, you really got a good idea of using soy.
    thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. that custard is gorgeousness incarnate.

    ReplyDelete
  22. OMG Sra -- it's tofu upma! And if anyone else already said that, rest assured I didn't read all the comments before I started salivating :)

    Yum :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Shn, as soon as I saw your comment, I seemed to remember hearing of such a dish
    Sagari, thank you
    Sunita, yeah, I suppose it's quite popular.
    Rajitha, thanks
    Asha, Enjoying your detox?
    Musical, no clue but I remember Bee mentioning silken tofu in another context.
    Ramya, thank you.
    Seena, thanks
    Sig, thank you, what are you coming up with?
    Shyam, I like, but they are too heavy
    Lera, nice to see you here
    Cynthia, moist is the word!
    Nags, thank you
    Valli, I don't have the regular oven anymore so I used the microwave
    Jyothsna, did you try it?
    Susan, thanks, no, they weren't rubberized
    Sia, he he he, where's yours?
    Prema, thank you
    Pooja, thanks
    Bee, thanks
    Shankari, thanks
    Linda, you're unique, nobody said that, nor did it occur to me!

    ReplyDelete
  24. How brilliant! and the beautiful pictures show just how tasty it is! We'll have to try this one soon.

    ReplyDelete
  25. White on Rice, do let me know how it turns out.

    ReplyDelete

I moderate all my comments. So if you're a human spammer or a bot that can understand this warning, buzz off, don't waste your time here spamming.