Whoever has been reading this blog is probably well aware of my love-hate relationship with eggs. But I've been asked by a dietician to have a 1 egg, 1 toast dinner 3 nights a week in my nth attempt to lose weight. So obviously that's a great excuse for me to experiment with more egg-delights.
The way I make omlettes, learned from my brother-in-law, makes them a sumptuous meal - even with just 1 egg. But this week I wanted to add a little more body to them without making them fattening. Luckily, this type of omlette works well with whatever you have lying around in the kitchen/ refrigerator. So what Chubbocks and I had for dinner two days ago was a luxurious omlette stuffed with makai-palak, with grilled tomatoes on the side. Heartily filling and satisfying to the tastebuds as well!
Makai palak is a typical vegetable served in restaurants and this time at home, instead of opting for a plain old palak paneer, I asked my cook to add the corn into it. It turned out delicious, with the sweetness of the corn adding a dulcet note to that of the spicy/ astringent palak.
Makai Palak recipe
1 cup corn nuggets, boiled until soft
1 bunch palak, washed but not dried and roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 inch ginger, chopped
1 tomato
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 green chillies, chopped
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Heat the oil in a wok. Toss the cumin seeds in and wait till they brown. Add the green chillies and onion and cook over medium flame, stirring from time to time until the onion turns translucent. Add the tomato and cook until soft. Add the palak and cover the wok and cook over medium flame for 7-10 minutes until the palak is well wilted. Wait to cool, then blitz in the mixie until you get a fine puree.
Add back to the wok, then add in the corn and salt and cook until hot. Serve immediately, with rotis, bread or rice.
I prefer not to add turmeric to palak as the colour stays a fresher green that way.
Omlette with makai-palak
Break an egg into a pan. Add 1 tbsp milk and beat for 30 seconds until well mixed. Add a small blob of butter into the frying pan, with the heat on high. Add the egg mixture and turn heat to low. Cover the pan tightly and cook on low for 7-8 minutes. Remove the cover and top omlette with whatever you like - onions, green chillies, cheese, coriander. Let cook until well done, i.e. no liquid-ey bits of egg on the top layer.
This time I topped mine with sauteed onions, green chillies and a tablespoon of the makai-palak and then folded the omlette over.
A note on tomatoes - if using desi ones, just cut into 1 cm thick slices and grill/ griddle on a separate pan with a bit of salted butter. Serve on the side, topped with freshly crushed pepper - if you add them to the omlette raw, they are likely to make the omlette runny.
