Tuesday 3 July 2012

Spicy Kale Mushroom Omelette with home made Pesto

Not your average omelette; here is a spicy, Indianized version that seems to go really well with pesto. Whoever said "East is East and West is West, Never the twain shall meet" was so.... well, so yesterday. (For the record, the guy who said it was Rudyard Kipling, the famous creator of Mogli and his fascinating anthropomorphic world)

I make the "stuffing" of the omelette in advance, so I make it for more than one serving. The following will work for a total of 8 to 10 eggs, depending on how much curry you like in each omelette.

Stuff you need:
  • 1 large bunch or two small bunches of kale, chopped 
  • 1/2 a large purple onions, chopped
  • 3 pods garlic, minced
  • a small piece of ginger, finely chopped
  • 3 green chillies, chopped
  • 5 or 6 crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 2 handfuls of shredded coconut (I use the frozen ones you get in the Indian grocery stores)
  • one sprig of curry leaves (optional, but I think it makes a difference)
  • garam masala, to taste
  • chilli powder, to taste
  • turmeric powder, a teaspoon or even less
  • salt, to taste
  • coconut oil (or other form of fat) for cooking

What to do with the stuff:
  1. Remove the leaves from the sprig of curry leaves. This is easily done by holding the stem end of the compound leaf with one hand and stripping the leaves clean with the other hand in one stroke. Wash and set aside. 
  2. Heat some oil and add the green chillies along with the curry leaves. Toss them around until they get all blistered. 
  3. Add in the onions and saute until translucent 
  4. Add the garlic, ginger and mushrooms and toss around some more. 
  5. Then add in the garam masala and turmeric and some more oil if you feel you need it and cook this until the raw smell of the garam masala is replaced by a slightly toasted smell. Most north Indians tell me that they cook the garam masala almost to the point of it getting burned. Move the stuff in the pan constantly and monitor the oil during this phase so you don't actually burn anything, especially the garlic. 
  6. Now, add some more oil as necessary and toss in the chilli powder 
  7. Almost immediately toss in the chopped up kale little by little. Cook until they wilt. 
  8. Once all of kale is in the pan and wilted, you can add the salt so that you get the proportions right. Set aside. This is a dry curry.
Now for the omelette bit
  1. Break two or three eggs in a bowl.
  2. Add sufficient amount of the curry above and beat until everything is mixed up good.
  3. Use this "batter" for your omelette.
  4. Goes really well with pesto.

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2 comments:

varsha said...

omlettes make a grrrl smart . But never had them with kale -you are really fond of it na ?

Agnija Bharathi said...

They certainly make a filling b'fast! Yeah, kale is one of my staples, along with chard and spinach.