Mamie's Food

This Indian inspired breakfast makes a refreshing change to eggs on toast and gives your tastebuds a burst of flavour. It’s filling and nutritious so makes a great brunch option and uses lots of store cupboard ingredients. Dried split peas can be substituted for red lentils and coriander for any herbs you have knocking about- I love it with chives. You can up the heat by keeping the chilli seeds in.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 onions, sliced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and diced
20g ginger, grated
400g red lentils or split peas
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
8 eggs
800 ml vegetable stock
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of coriander, chiffonaded
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C or 180° C Fan.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
3. When they begin to sizzlea dd the onions with a pinch of salt and turn down the heat.
4. Sweat the onions until they are soft and translucent, stirring frequently so they don’t catch.
5. Add the garlic, chilli and ginger, turn up the heat and cook for 2 more minutes until fragrant.
6. Pour in the lentils and fry a little before adding the stock and powdered spices.
7. Bring the lentils up the a boil then turn the heat down low and simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked through and the sauce thick. If it dries out add a splash more stock and continue reducing. The daal needs to be thick but not dry as it will reduce further in the oven.
8. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and chilli flakes. It should taste fresh with a hint of sweetness and spice.
9. Transfer the daal to a baking tray and make evenly spaced wells in the mixture using a spoon.
10. Crack the eggs into the wells so the whites are slightly submerged.
11. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, checking after 15. The eggs should be slightly wobbly but cooked through.
12. Finish with chopped herbs and serve with minty yoghurt and bread.