Ekoori

Ekoori. Never heard of it? Time to fix that. Think scrambled eggs with salsa.

Now think of Indian scrambled eggs with intensely flavoured tomato masala. Scrambled eggs. Times ten.

This is a little different. For around here. The first brunch dish on glebekitchen. Ever. I’m not a brunch kind of guy. But ekoori? I can get behind that.

I love it for weeknight dinners. When I’m jammed for time. But glebekitchen has a lot of dinner recipes. And zero brunch recipes.

So I say it is a brunch recipe. But you can eat it for dinner too. Just don’t tell anyone please. This is my big brunch debut after all.

Ekoori re-imagined

If you are looking for run of the mill ekoori this isn’t for you. Not the traditional way. And definitely not the same as other recipes out there.

This is the way I’d do it in my imaginary restaurant. I’m having trouble seeing how it would work in my imaginary food truck. So I just opened an imaginary restaurant.

My restaurant is casual posh. Nothing pretentious. Simple decor. But with a focus on great food. And this is the star of my brunch menu.

Creamy scrambled eggs. Big, fluffy curds. Topped with a spiced tomato masala. Good buttered sourdough toast on the side. Or a nice toasted naan. Simple comfort. Indian style.

Grab a table. Coffee? I recommend the ekoori. It’s on the house by the way. Thanks for stopping by.

This is one of the easiest recipes on glebekitchen

I don’t make it easy. I know. It’s always an extra step. Or a special ingredient. No compromises. Flavour first. Always.

But this one is diabolically simple. If you can scramble eggs you are good to go. That’s the hardest thing here. And the flavours are in your face delicious.

I thought about upping the game here. Omelette. Ekoori re-imagined just screams omelette. That’s real flash.

But omelettes aren’t easy. A really good omelette is a sign of a great cook. I am not that good. Takes me a couple to get in the groove every time.

And even then my omelettes are not great. They are pretty good. I’m not embarrassed. But I’m not proud either.

Banging one arm against the other to make things happen in a skillet. That’s master chef territory. Maybe if I could get André Soltner to take me under his wing…

So I went scrambled. And I’m glad I did. Scrambled is better. The tomato masala against the creaminess of the eggs makes this work.

But if you are a certified omeletteer (don’t bother looking that up – I made it up) then give it a go. Plain omelette. With tomato masala. It will be epic.

Bloom your spices for maximum flavour

I mention this often. Here. On YouTube. I’m always saying “bloom your spices”. But I don’t always say why.

Spices contain oil soluble flavour compounds. That’s a fancy way of saying spices have tasty stuff that only get extracted by oil.

That’s important. You aren’t going to get them out using water. It has to be oil.

And that oil is going to carry those flavour compounds into every bite. Every magical bite.

That’s why I just do not get the statement “Just spoon off the excess oil”. What is that? I see it everywhere.

Just spoon off the oil Just spoon off the flavour??? That’s crazy talk. In my world anyway.

Go for a walk. Skip the snacks tonight. Have a salad for dinner tomorrow. But please enjoy the flavour of what you just worked so hard to make. Live a little. You earned it.

Nail your scrambled eggs for great ekoori

There’s nowhere to hide here. So everything has to work. Scrambled eggs aren’t hard. But you do have to pay attention

You want big curds. Big. Creamy. Wonderful curds. That’s my idea of perfect scrambled eggs anyway.

Keep it simple. Eggs. Salt. Butter in the pan. No milk. No cheese. And no pepper.

Air. Air is the secret ingredient. If you have to have a secret ingredient. Eggs in a bowl. Fork. Whip vigourously. Until everything is an even yellow. No strands of white.

Not much of a secret ingredient. I know. But that’s how I do it. Fork. Eggs. Salt. Air.

Picking the right pan helps. For 5 large eggs I use a 12 inch non-stick skillet. Over medium low heat.

Melt the butter. Pour in the eggs. Grab a spatula. Rubber. Silicone. Something flexible.

Let the eggs set a little. Draw the spatula across the entire pan. Gently. That’s how you make the big curds. Keep moving.

You want the eggs a little wet. There are a million pictures of scrambled eggs on the internet. And most of them make me want to eat something else.

Just a little wet. It’s so much better. Dry eggs. Dry eggs are – dry. I don’t want that. But I’m not the egg police. Do what works for you.

Or maybe give my way a try. You never know. It might change your world. A little bit. The dark side is waiting for you. It’s delicious all the time over here.

Not your every day ekoori

This isn’t traditional ekoori. I should have said that at the beginning. The traditional way has spiced eggs. Onion tomato masala. Mixed into the scrambled eggs.

It sounds good. But I don’t like it. It’s just a big jumbled mess. Somehow the texture of the eggs gets messed up. It’s almost impossible to get big creamy curds.

I might have to turn in my Indian card for saying that. We’ll see. But I’m only half Indian. And I love Mexican. So eggs and salsa. That works for me.

Maybe this is Indian-ish huevos rancheros. With toast. Instead of tortillas. That isn’t really far off the truth. But Indian-ish huevos rancheros isn’t going to sell.

So I’m calling this a riff on ekoori. Not quite traditional. But delicious. In a slightly different way. A way I’m going to call better.

That’s bold. I know. Give them a try. Then decide. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Ekoori re-imagined

Ingredients

Tomato masala

• 2/3 cup diced fresh tomatoes
• 2 green chilies – seeded and diced. I use jwala chilies also known as green finger hot
• 2 tbsp oil – any neutral oil like canola or vegetable
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Scrambled eggs

• 1 tbsp butter
• 5 large eggs – vigorously beaten

Instructions

Do your prep

• Dice your tomatoes. Seed and dice the chilies.
• Combine the cumin, coriander, kashmiri chili powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Vigorously whisk the eggs in a small bowl. A fork works well for this.

Make the tomato masala

• Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over medium low heat.
• When the oil starts to shimmer add the garlic ginger paste. It will spatter so watch out. Stir until it stops spattering.
• When the garlic ginger paste stops spattering add the cumin, coriander, kashmiri chili powder and salt. Stir to combine and let bubble for around 45 seconds. This is called blooming your spices and it is a critical step to many Indian dishes. Be careful. Don’t let the spices burn. If they burn you are starting over. There’s no fixing it.
• Add the diced tomatoes and green chilies. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. You want the tomatoes to maintain their shape so don’t overcook.
• Reduce heat to minimum to keep warm while you scramble the eggs.

Scramble the eggs

• Beat the eggs with a fork if you haven’t already. Add a pinch of salt.
• My ideal for scrambling 5 eggs is a 12 inch non-stick skillet and a silicone spatula. I find it gives enough surface area to quickly form nice curds. Bigger is better. But go with what you have. It will be fine.
• Pre-heat the pan over medium low heat. High heat is not your friend when you are scrambling eggs. Add the butter.
• When the butter stops sizzling add the eggs. Start scrambling. You want to make long movements across the pan to form large, soft curds. There is a balance here. You want to let the eggs set a bit and then scoop them up. You want big curds. Big, beautiful curds.
• When the curds are almost set move them into the middle of the pan and take the pan off the heat. They will continue to cook so you always want to have them a little wetter than your final target when you stop scrambling.
• To serve – portion out the eggs and top with the tomato masala. Garnish with a little cilantro if you like. Serve with naan. Spoon a bit of the egg and masala onto a bite of naan and enjoy!

Nutrition

Ekoori re-imagined

Ingredients

Tomato masala

• 2/3 cup diced fresh tomatoes
• 2 green chilies - seeded and diced. I use jwala chilies also known as green finger hot
• 2 tbsp oil - any neutral oil like canola or vegetable
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Scrambled eggs

• 1 tbsp butter
• 5 large eggs - vigorously beaten

Instructions

Do your prep

• Dice your tomatoes. Seed and dice the chilies.
• Combine the cumin, coriander, kashmiri chili powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Vigorously whisk the eggs in a small bowl. A fork works well for this.

Make the tomato masala

• Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over medium low heat.
• When the oil starts to shimmer add the garlic ginger paste. It will spatter so watch out. Stir until it stops spattering.
• When the garlic ginger paste stops spattering add the cumin, coriander, kashmiri chili powder and salt. Stir to combine and let bubble for around 45 seconds. This is called blooming your spices and it is a critical step to many Indian dishes. Be careful. Don’t let the spices burn. If they burn you are starting over. There’s no fixing it.
• Add the diced tomatoes and green chilies. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. You want the tomatoes to maintain their shape so don’t overcook.
• Reduce heat to minimum to keep warm while you scramble the eggs.

Scramble the eggs

• Beat the eggs with a fork if you haven’t already. Add a pinch of salt.
• My ideal for scrambling 5 eggs is a 12 inch non-stick skillet and a silicone spatula. I find it gives enough surface area to quickly form nice curds. Bigger is better. But go with what you have. It will be fine.
• Pre-heat the pan over medium low heat. High heat is not your friend when you are scrambling eggs. Add the butter.
• When the butter stops sizzling add the eggs. Start scrambling. You want to make long movements across the pan to form large, soft curds. There is a balance here. You want to let the eggs set a bit and then scoop them up. You want big curds. Big, beautiful curds.
• When the curds are almost set move them into the middle of the pan and take the pan off the heat. They will continue to cook so you always want to have them a little wetter than your final target when you stop scrambling.
• To serve - portion out the eggs and top with the tomato masala. Garnish with a little cilantro if you like. Serve with naan. Spoon a bit of the egg and masala onto a bite of naan and enjoy!

Nutrition

Pizza. A little bit of food magic. I think anyway. A few simple ingredients. Some heat. A culinary miracle happens. Tandoori chicken pizza takes that magic up a notch.

I don’t really understand my love of pizza. It’s my kryptonite. I will eat pizza when I’m full.

Any pizza without pineapple on it anyway. I know. It’s wrong. But I can’t help it. It’s a sickness. A wonderful, wonderful sickness.

And somehow tandoori chicken pizza has become my favourite. Top of my list. Not sure how that happened. But it did.

Things are finally changing

There’s a bit of a movement afoot. Indian restaurants are breaking the mold. Casting off the chains of formula Indian menus.

It’s finally happening. I’ve been waiting my whole life for it. I’m pretty excited.

It’s about familiar food. Kissed with Indian flavours. Something you know. But with a twist. Funky. Fun. And delicious. All the cool restaurants are doing it.

Indian inspired. Taking what you know. And bringing those big bold Indian flavours to it. I call it Indian-ish. Not quite Indian. But close. Just fun.

Desi pizza is coming to a pizzeria near you

What does that have to do with pizza? It’s a great example of Indian-ish. Something familiar but different. Pizza. With Indian flavours.

It goes by Indian pizza. Or desi pizza. Google it. It’s a thing. I’m not making this up. I’m just trying to spread the word.

Butter chicken pizza. Chicken tikka masala pizza. Saag paneer pizza. Tandoori chicken pizza. Drop dead amazing pizza.

It’s not intuitive. Ask me to pick two cuisines that don’t play well together? Indian and Italian has to be close to the top.

And yet it works. And it just doesn’t sort of work. It works incredibly well. I am actually amazed at how well in fact.

And before you ask. This is way better than naan with stuff on top of it. Not in the same league.

Not saying that naan with stuff on it isn’t good. Just saying this is a whole lot better. But remember. I am a pizza addict. Factor that into your thinking.

Tandoori chicken pizza is all about balance

Tandoori chicken pizza is the simplest of the desi pizzas. In my rotation anyway. Not a lot to it. But that’s what makes pizza great. Complicated is not always better.

I have a test for pizza joints. Pizza margherita. Crust. Tomato sauce. Basil. Cheese. Olive oil.

If a pizzeria can pull that off they know their stuff. There is nowhere to hide. Grand master territory.

Notice I put crust first. Did that on purpose. Crust is the real test. Great crust. Great pizza. Mediocre crust. Mediocre pizza. You can try to hide it. But you can’t fix it.

The crust is the thing

Crust. Sauce. Cheese. Toppings. There’s really not a lot to pizza. So the crust matters. A lot.

I’ve spent more than 10 years working on my Neapolitan pizza dough . And I’m not done yet. I chase the pizza dough dragon.

Flour. Water. Salt. Yeast.

Nothing more. Nothing less. No sugar. No oil. Four ingredients. Slow fermentation. Seriously complex flavours. They have rules about this. For real.

It is not one size fits all though. No silver bullet here. My version doesn’t work at oven temperatures under around 650F. It needs real heat to make it work.

It won’t work in a regular kitchen oven. Don’t try. It will suck. Badly. You’ve been warned. I’m not happy about it either. But it is a fact.

My best advice? Go with the dough that works for you. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

But never stop trying to improve. There’s real magic to be had. When you nail it. Did I mention I’m an addict?

Sauce matters too

I’m going to lose a lot of people here. I know. I do a crazy sauce for butter chicken. Another crazy sauce for chicken tikka masala. I love to play. Tinker.

I used to do a complicated sauce for this pizza. It was really good. But in the end simple won. For me anyway.

Turns out the sauce I like best is the same one I use for all my red Neapolitan pizzas.

One 28 ounce can of whole San Marzano tomatoes. Real San Marzano. DOP. Passed through a food mill. And one teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix. Done.

That’s it. Not cooked. No spices. No herbs. Just pure tomato flavour.

It’s perfect. I think anyway. It doesn’t get in the way. Provides a nice acidic balance. A canvas on which to paint your pizza. Proof that less can actually be more.

Works incredibly well against the tandoori chicken. The onion. The bite of the green chilies. The richness of the cheese. And the clean tomato flavour.

A little methi pushes it into serious Indian-ish territory

This is a tale of two pizzas. And both are great. So you have a choice to make.

If you really want a more Indian-ish pizza think about a little bit of kasoori methi. This one is a tough call. I’m torn.

It’s just one ingredient. So you wouldn’t think it makes a huge difference. But it does. Changes the pizza completely. Pushes it deep into Indian territory.

I’m not saying it’s better. And I’m not saying it’s not. It’s just different. Small change. Big difference. Up to you.

I wouldn’t use San Marzano tomatoes if you go the kasoori methi route. It’s an assertive flavour. Bit of a sledgehammer. Any good quality canned tomato will do.

Try it both ways. That’s the beauty of pizza. You keep playing with ingredients. It never gets old. There’s always something you can tweak.

Jalapenos are right for tandoori chicken pizza

I’m not trying to create pizza controversy. It’s just happening somehow. Jalapeños are right for tandoori chicken pizza.

I can hear what’s going on in your head.

“Tandoori chicken pizza? That’s Indian right? Do you not know anything about Indian cooking? Jalapeños are not Indian. Green chilies are Indian. Jwala chilies are where it’s at. Jalapeños? What????”

I get that. I use jwala chilies for pretty much everything Indian. Everything that calls for fresh green chilies anyway.

I always have jwalas in my fridge. Always. But they are wrong for tandoori chicken pizza. Totally wrong.

This is pizza. Keep that in mind. Green bell peppers are a quintessential pizza topping. Maybe not in Italy. But everywhere else in the world.

That is why jalapeños are right here. There’s method in my madness. Green bell pepper flavour. But with a little bite. Perfect. For this pizza anyway.

Put the tandoori in tandoori chicken pizza

I’m usually not a big fan of day-glo red tandoori chicken. Trying to get away from it in fact. But it looks so good on this pizza. I can’t resist. My bad.

It’s purely a look thing. The red contributes zero flavour. There is no point. Except it looks cool. I feel a bit dirty. Guilty even. Hope you can forgive me.

You can go as far as you want with the chicken. When tandoori is the main event I use a serious tandoori marinade . It’s a bit involved. And it is really popular.

When I need tandoori in a hurry I keep it simple. Tandoori masala. A bit of salt. Garlic ginger paste. Kasoori methi. Neutral oil, And a bit of naga pickle.

That’s actually a really good blend. When you are in a hurry. You just need to watch your salt. Commercial tandoori masalas can have a lot of salt.

This tandoori chicken works in the oven. But it works better over charcoal. There’s just something about charcoal that makes me smile.

Either way the key is to pull when it’s a little underdone. Because it gets cooked again on the pizza.

If you like pizza you need to try desi pizza

This one crept up on me. I started making Indian-ish pizza because I like Indian flavours. Just because. Had no idea it was a thing. Completely clueless. As usual. I’m not very trendy.

And somehow I got hooked. Addicted. Desi is now my favourite pizza style. Hands down. No contest.

This is the one that started it all for me. Tandoori chicken. Jalapeno. Red onion. Nothing to it.

The pizza police are coming for me. I’m sure of it. And they should. I’m spreading pizza heresy.

I’m OK with it though. I’ll take the heat. Do the time. All I ask is you try desi pizza. So you can see for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed…

Ingredients

The sauce

• 28 ounce tomatoes 1 can of San Marzano tomatoes (or not but you are missing out).
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Quick tandoori chicken

• 4 chicken breasts – boneless, skinless. I rarely specify white meat for Indian but it works here.
• 3 tbsp tandoori masala – pay attention to how much salt the blend contains
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 1 tsp kasoori methi
• 1/4 tsp naga pickle – optional as it adds real fire. But it adds amazing flavour too.
• 1/4 cup neutral oil
• 1/2 tsp salt – the amount of salt really depends on how much salt there is in your tandoori masala.

Tandoori chicken pizza (one 13 inch pizza)

• 4 tbsp sauce – from above
• 1/2 tsp kasoori methi (optional – pushes the pizza in a strong Indian direction. You decide)
• 1 tandoori chicken breast cooked and sliced (from above)
• 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 small jalapeno thinly sliced
• 6 ounces mozzarella grated

The Dough

• Your favourite pizza dough here

Instructions

The crust

• Get your dough ready. Go with whatever dough works in your workflow.
• You can make this as easy or as hard as you like. Go with what you know. If you really want to get into serious pizza making check out the Neapolitan pizza dough in the comments below.

The sauce

• Pass the tomatoes through a food mill. If you don’t have a food mill you can try using a food processor. Note that a food mill really makes a difference though. It removes the seeds and more fibrous material. If you are getting into pizza in a serious way I do recommend the investment.
• Add the salt. Stir to combine. That’s it. The easiest pizza sauce ever. Just pure tomato flavour.

The quick tandoori chicken

• Combine the tandoori masala, garlic ginger paste, kasoori methi, naga (if using) and oil. Stir to combine. You want a nice slurry. Taste. Yes. I know it’s a little strange but it’s actually quite tasty. If it is well seasoned you are good. If it seems like it could use a bit more salt then add the salt as well.
• Combine the tandoori masala mixture with the chicken. Make sure the chicken is well coated. Don’t use your bare hands for this. Tandoori masala has food colouring in it. It will stain badly.
• Set aside (refrigerated) for up to one day. You can go within 30 minutes. After 12 hours it will be fully brined. Any longer and you are just letting the food colouring penetrate a little further. For the record the chicken in the pictures was marinated for about 30 minutes.
• Ideally you can grill the chicken over charcoal until it hits an internal temp of about 150F for white meat. 160F for dark meat. You want it a little underdone because it will cook some more when you fire your pizza.
• If you are doing it in the oven simply roast in a 400F degree oven. Flip the chicken at around the 10 minute mark and cook to the recommended internal temperatures. You don’t need to worry about trying for char for this to work.

Build the tandoori chicken pizza (13 inch diameter)

• Open your dough as you do normally. If you want to get the big cornice like in the pictures don’t use a rolling pin. Open by hand a leave a little extra dough at the edges.
• Spread about 4 tablespoons of sauce on the crust.
• Cover evenly with cheese. This is an upside down style pizza. Cheese, then toppings.
• Top with red onion, thinly sliced jalapeño and then the tandoori chicken. You want the tandoori chicken on top.
• Cook as you would normally. In my pizza oven that’s about 90-110 seconds at around 800F. You know your oven. Do what you do.
• Serve. Bask in the adulation of your guests. Or just eat it all up yourself. That’s a tough choice. I share. But I don’t want to…

Notes