23 October

Subho Saptami to all my readers!

Finally it is a beautiful sunny autumn morning today! I started my day watching the Saptami pooja at Ramakrishna math in Belur (west Bengal) which was streaming live in YouTube. This year it is a bit different kind of pooja but nonetheless it felt very divine to wake up to the chants for Durga Ma. 

I am going to talk about a 15 minute breakfast which is both healthy and hearty. It can brighten up your morning with all the necessary goodness. It is called breakfast hash with eggs. 

Quoting Wikipedia - "Hash is a culinary dish consisting of chopped meat, potatoes, and fried onions. The name is derived from French: hacher, meaning "to chop". It originated as a way to use up leftovers." 

I used to eat and love hash brown potatoes while I was travelling in the States. It was pretty much a morning staple across all the hotels I had stayed. And that is where I had developed a love for this dish. Though the hash brown is a very different recipe and much more calorie loaded. The one I am talking about today is a very simple version and mostly made in the homes. It is just a no fuss, flavorful breakfast recipe which you can try when you are not in mood of anything elaborate. Mostly it is my idea of a lazy weekend breakfast. 

I had read it somewhere it is not really a hash until something gets charred. So I have incorporated a lot of easy charring without any oven on a gas top. it adds a very nice smoky aroma to the overall hash and I just love it. 

The interesting and non conventional addition I have made is the charred garlic. in most traditional recipes of breakfast hash this is not how it is made. But trust me charred whole garlic with potatoes and eggs are the best thing in the whole world. The beautiful burst of flavors in your mouth will testify my claim any day. So without any further ado lets jump straight in to the recipe.

Preparation Time : 7 minutes

Ingredients for Yoghurt:

• Egg - 1
• Baby potato - 2
• Cherry Tomato - handful
• Mushroom - 4 , sliced
• Garlic Cloves - 10 to 12
• Onion (Medium)- 1/2 , sliced
• Spring Onion - 1/4th cup, finely chopped
• Cracked Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Olive Oil

Method:

1. Start by washing the baby potatoes. The skin should be kept on. Then par boil them in a pot or pressure cooker. I did it in the pressure cooker for two whistles. Take them out from the water and keep aside to cool.

Tip: I jabbed the fork edge into the potato sides so that they are cooked to the core when boiled.

2.  Halve the baby tomatoes. Now take a slotted spoon or a wire mesh and arrange the cherry tomatoes, cut side down in a single layer and over the gas let it char. It will take around 2 minutes on medium flame. Then flip them and let the back side also get a little charred. Keep doing this in batches, don't over crowd the space else it will all become mushy. Keep them aside to cool.

3. Now dice the baby potatoes ( still with skin on) and again on the wire mesh char the sides of the potato over the medium flame. Char it as per your preference. It adds a nice smokey flavour to the hash.

Tip: Keeping the skin on gives a nice crunchy texture to the potatoes.

4. Now heat a griddle or tawa and place the garlic cloves in one single layer. Let each side get charred. Keep aside. Similarly add the sliced onions in single layer ( separate each leaf), let it char for a few minutes and keep flipping so that all sides are nicely done. 

5. Once the onions are almost done, add a little oil to the tawa and toss around the onions. Add the charred garlic and potatoes too. Let it sizzle for less than a minute. take them all off the tawa. Now in the same oil give a 30 seconds toss to the charred tomatoes. Then take them out and keep aside.

6. Clean the mushrooms and halve them. In the same tawa toss in the mushrooms and add a pinch of salt. Toss for about 30 seconds and take them off heat.

7. Wipe the tawa clean with a tissue and now cut roundles from the baguette bread and let it toast. Once the sides are a little brown take them off heat.

8. Finally its time for the egg. Add a little oil in the tawa and crack open an egg. Add salt and cracked pepper. It it cook on low flame for a nice white outer  ring for about 3-4 minutes. 

9. Now take a bowl and toss all the charred and fried veggies into it. Add a little salt and pepper and give it a toss. Your hash is ready.

10. Take a serving plate. Layer the hash and on top of it slide the sunny side up egg. Add the toasted baguette on the side. garnish with chopped spring onions and some more cracked pepper.

Bon Appetit!