Office Lunch
We had Chef Venky offering to make us a lunch treat at work again last week. When he suggested the ubiquitous Anda Bhurji I can’t say I was very thrilled – I’m not a huge egg fan anyway, but everyone seemed to be quite pleased so Anda Bhurji it was. And then it was served up with hot buttered pav, and I must point out absolutely sizzling in oil, and very spicy because that’s they way most of us in this office like our food, but mmmmmmmmmm! it was awesome. And of course sinful. But then naturally.
Look out for the step-by-step photos.
This is incidentally a great last minute dish to rustle up when you run out of food in the fridge (give or take some oil, butter and chilies). Venky took about 25 minutes from chopping to serving, cooking for 10 of us.
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ANDA BHURJI ( MASALA SCRAMBLED EGGS ) Serves 6
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INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
4 onions chopped fine
2 tomatoes chopped fine
2 green chillies sliced into 4-5 pieces
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 cup oil (that was Venky’s amount. If I did it it would be 1/3 of that at most!)
1 tablespoon butter (!)
Salt to taste
PREPARATION
Fry the onions in all the oil till golden brown.
Add the chilies, fry some more.
Add the tomatoes and cook till tender.
Meanwhile beat up the eggs thoroughly. Add when the rest is fried through, along with the turmeric and chili powder, and salt to taste. Stir constantly.
Add the garam masala and coriander leaves.
When the egg sets to the consistency you like, – shouldn’t be more than 3-4 minutes, add the butter and coriander leaves just before you take off the stove, stir and take off the heat.
Serve steaming with hot. We had it with pav that was also roasted on a skillet with dabs of butter!



My parents visited Kerala, – God’s own country, as they claim. Mom picked up some packets of “Ann’s” mixes – for fried fish, and an assortment or curries. I just tried the one for fried fish. All that had to be done was add a very little water, coat the fish slices – I used pomfret, keep for an hour or so, and then fry. My usual quick marinade for fried or grilled fish is a mix of salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder, in a tablespoon of brown vinegar. That’s always worked well enough. Occassionally, I add a tablespoon of chickpea flour (channa atta). Unbelievable how this packet of masala transformed the fish! A lovely red, slightly spicy crust formed over the fish. Delicious, it definitely has my thimbs up. Cant wait to try the other mixes!
And another breakfast, and another picture of what I had with the left-over Tofu. Tofu on crackers (
She calls herself a ‘health nut’, but really, looking at these figures, even though I agree Tofu’s lower on the protein and calcium, you don’t need to be a health nut to make a better choice. At least that what it looks like to me ! Wheeeew! I feel half a kilo lighter already.