Egg Roll

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“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked” – Bernard Meltzer

The final recipe for the “Breakfast with eggs” series is Egg roll. I’ve posted six different easy to cook and quick egg recipes for the morning meal. Previous posts in the series:

1. Mughlai Paratha
2. French Toast
3. Scrambled Eggs
4. Banana Pancake
5. Boiled Egg Sandwich

But I just couldn’t finish the series without a little flavor from the street food of Calcutta (Kolkata). Though many different Asian countries claim for the origin of this dish and among them southern China has the most number of votes, but this particular preparation very well known to everybody who hails from Kolkata or even those who had a visit to the city is typically from the make shift stalls on Kolkata foot paths.

There was one such stall near my dance school called Iceberg (quite contradictory for a joint that sold everything hot), and every month it was a ritual for our gang of friends to have an egg roll from there. I still remember it cost just seven rupees then, but still that was quite expensive for a school-going girl like me. At home, outside food was a taboo and so I always had to cook some stories to have those egg rolls. But alas, eventually mom found out my secret and instead of scolding me I was offered with two egg rolls the next day at tiffin, of course prepared by my mom in her kitchen. School days have passed a long time ago, but I still can’t forget the taste of those road side egg rolls, though my mom’s were quite similar but not that good. My father suggested that the dirt from the road made it taste better.

The egg roll in Kolkata is similar to Frankie of Mumbai and resembles the kathi rolls prepared in many roadside stalls throughout India. Egg roll in Kolkata was probably first introduced by Nizam’s, a very popular restaurant in Kolkata serving Mughlai dishes. Another famous joint serving egg roll in Kolkata is Haji Saheb in Behala (Hazi Saheb for some), it’s my personal request, don’t miss it if you ever visit this place.

Preparation time: 10mins

Cooking time: 8mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour (Maida): 1 cup
• Eggs (Dim): 2
• Onion (Peyaj): 1 medium, chopped finely
• Cucumber (Sasha): one-half of a medium sized, julienned
• Green chili (Kacha lanka): 2, chopped
• Sunflower oil (Sada tel) for frying
• Salt to taste
• Tomato sauce for seasoning

Preparation:

• Knead the flour well and make two round paratha with it
• Beat the eggs with little salt
• Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add one beaten egg to it, spread it so as to have almost the same diameter as the parantha
• Carefully place the parantha over the half fried omelet and allow it to cook for two more minutes, turn around the paratha and cook the other side for one minute and take out from the frying pan
• Place the egg covered paratha on a flat surface with the egg side up
• Add chopped cucumber, chilies and onion at the centre of the paratha to make the filling and pour the tomato sauce over the vegetables
• Roll the paratha and cover half of it with an aluminum foil or kitchen paper and tuck the paper well so that the roll doesn’t open up
• Serve hot with little lemon juice over the filling

Hot tips – You can put in a filling of mashed potatoes seasoned with chili powder and salt or even a filling with chicken or mutton kebab tastes great.

What variety of Egg Roll do you prefer?

Further reading – Nizam’s Kathi Roll, When in Kolkata, Egg Paratha

Nutrition calculator – 1 egg roll

Sending this to NTTC#5 event hosted by Sneh of Gel’s Kitchen.

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