Egg it on

The new academic session has just begun, and life as a paying guest isn’t easy. One of the easiest survival tricks is to know how to cook quick meals to battle your untimely hunger pangs. The reason — neither would you have enough pocket money to eat out every day, nor would your mom be there to serve you goodies when you are studying late in the night or returning home after a tiring day at college or tuition classes. Fret not, as we bring to you some easy recipes that you can toss up at any time of the day with one of the most versatile food ingredients — eggs.

“From quirky omelettes to light bite salads or filling burgers, you can go completely experimental with eggs. And it’s packed with nutrients that are very healthy for youngsters, especially students who are into many activities and need a lot of energy,” says chef Lee of Soy bar and restaurant. Agrees cardiologist Dr Naveen Bhamri of Max Super Speciality Hospital. “The nutritional benefit of egg outweighs the concern surrounding high cholesterol. Even daily consumption of one egg may increase good cholesterol, ie HDL level. In fact, the fat found in eggs is mostly unsaturated fat, which is the ‘healthy fat’. Moreover, eggs do not contain any trans fat, which is a known trigger for increased incidence of heart disease,” explains Dr Bhamri.

Monday
Frittata (Italian Omelette)

Ingredients
One big onion (diced), 1 small zucchini, 1 each bellpepper (red, green and yellow), 1/2 cup mushroom, a few fresh spinach leaves, 4 eggs,
2 tbsp double cream, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated),
1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Method
Break the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add salt, pepper and cheese, and whip till fluffy. Add double cream and whip again. Heat a non-stick pan, add the virgin olive oil, and add all the veggies. Stir well and sauté for a minute. Add the egg mixture and stir till it starts forming an omelette. Put the pan in a preheated oven for four minutes and eat hot.
By chef Pitambar Dutt Satyawali, Sartoria
Start the week with something peppy, yet not complicated. This no-fuss omelette could just be the right choice!

Tuesday
Akoori (parsi style)

Ingredients
6 - 8 eggs, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, 2 tbsp ghee or butter, 6 spring onions or 2 small white onions (finely chopped), 2 -3 fresh green chillies (deseeded and chopped), 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1/8 tsp turmeric, 2 tbsp coriander leaves, 1 ripe tomato

Method
Beat eggs well with salt and pepper. Heat ghee or butter in a frying pan and cook the onions, chillies and ginger until soft. Add turmeric, coriander leaves and chopped tomato, and stir in the egg mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring and scrambling the eggs. Don’t over fry. You can have it with parathas or toasted bread.
By chef Rajiv Sinha, The Claridges

Wednesday
Chinese Omelette

Ingredients
4 eggs; For stuffing: 1/4 cup each of chopped tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, spring onions, and salt and pepper to taste. For sauce: 1/4 cup spring onions, 1/2tsp garlic, 1 cup tomato sauce, 14 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup corn starch
Method
To make the filling, stir fry together the ingredients for stuffing. To make the sauce, saute the garlic, add tomato sauce, mix and add 2 cups of water, sugar, salt, pepper and boil for 20 mins. Finish by adding diluted corn flour. Now make an omelette with the eggs and stuff it with the filling, and serve with the sauce.
By Chef Lee, Soy bar and restaurant

Thursday
Grilled Eggs with Mint and Butter Sauce

Ingredients
2 eggs, 2 tomatoes, a pinch of black pepper, 2 bay leaves, salt to taste, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp fine flour, 2 tbsp cream, 1 tsp butter, 4-5 cloves garlic, 1gm leek, 1 gm celery, 7-8 mint leaves
Method
Boil the eggs and grill them. Blanch the tomatoes in water, peel off the skin, and deseed and chop them. In a frying pan, put oil, bay leaves and garlic and sauté until brown. Add tomatoes and mint leaves. In another frying pan, put butter with garlic, fine flour, leek, celery and cook for a few minutes. Mix everything together from both pans. Add salt, sugar, cheese, cream and mix well. Arrange grilled eggs on a plate and put the mixture around the eggs.
By chef Jai Prakash, Kitchen Central

Friday
Crunchy Omelette burger

Ingredients
2 eggs, 10gm butter, salt to taste, 15gm spinach, 10gm vermicelli, 10gm bell pepper, celery leaves, burger bun, cheese slice, 1 tbsp mayonnaise
Method
Beat together, egg, salt, spinach, and bell pepper. Heat a frying pan and add butter. Pour the egg mix and sprinkle the vermicelli. Cut the omelette into four pieces. Keep aside. Spread out the mayonnaise on the burger buns, put the celery leaves, one part of the omelette and a cheese slice in between, and munch with ketchup.
By chef Mani Shankar Jha, The Mix by The Brew Master

Burger fans can have fun with this eggilicious burger where a crunchy omelette replaces the usual patty

Saturday
Sunny side up in style

Ingredients
1 egg, 1 tsp olive oil, 3 cloves garlic (chopped), 1 onion (chopped), 3 tomatoes (diced), salt and black pepper to taste, 3 asparagus, a few sliced mushrooms, 1 slice of multigrain bread, 2 chopped basil leaves
Method
Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and onion, and sauté. Once little brown, add tomatoes and cook for a minute. Add seasoning and finish it with chopped basil. In a pan, sauté asparagus and grill one tomato. Fry a sunny side up egg. Toast a multigrain slice. Now spread the tomato olive sauce on the bread and place the egg on it. Relish it with all the rest of the veggies.
By Chef Nakul, Foodhall
The special thing about the dish is that it is less in calorie and is a complete meal for breakfast

Sunday
Egg Eyes In Chorizo Cocote

Ingredients
1 egg; 5gm Chorizo ham; 30gm asparagus 2 cherry tomatoes; 1 Brioche shaving; 10gm small potatoes; 20ml olive oil; 5gm cucumber; 5gm English muffin;
For Hollandaise sauce: 2 egg yolks; 80ml butter; 10ml white wine vinegar
Method
Slice the Chorizo ham and set it in a mould. Break the egg yolks inside the chorizo ham cocote and bake it at 200°C for 10 minutes. Make the hollandaise sauce by whisking in the clarified butter in the egg yolks. Finish with white wine vinegar and seasonings. Blanch the asparagus and sauté in olive oil. Boil the potatoes and roast it at 200°C for 10 min. Sauté the cherry tomato in olive oil. Take the brioche shavings and bake it till it gets crisp. Slice the cucumber. Bake the English muffin. Place the chorizo ham cocote on top and arrange the asparagus, cherry tomato, hollandaise sauce, brioche shavings, cucumber neatly.
By chef Nishant Choubey, Dusit Devarana
It’s Sunday, so get a little indulgent and experimental. Shop for the ingredients a day in advance and toss up a wonder to surprise your roomies!