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

Weekend Breakfast Blogging Soya/soy Eggs Tofu Savoury custard Breakfast