Steamed eggs with chutney and cheese

Three ingredients that are always popular at home and this particular combination is truly enjoyable. We serve it on our menu as our version of Eggs Kejriwal 🙂

The steamed eggs are inspired by the Chinese steamed eggs, which are usually lightly seasoned with salt & pepper and served with soy sauce, garlic and spring onions or sometimes minced pork.

In our version, I add just salt and finely chopped green chillies to the egg custard. And after the eggs have been steamed, I top it up with a layer of coriander-coconut chutney and another layer of grated cheddar cheese. To finish, I torch and melt the cheese.

The only way to eat this is to dig your spoon all the way to the bottom so you get a spoonful of all 3 layers. The simple flavour of the eggs combined with the tanginess of the chutney and the saltiness from the cheese makes this an absolute delight.

Ingredients (for 3 people)

• 5 small eggs/4 medium eggs
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• Homemade green chutney of your choice
• 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese

Method

Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add 1.5x times the amount of water. A simple hack is to take 1/2 an eggshell and for each egg, add 3 x 1/2 eggshells of water. The other way is to measure out the eggs when breaking them into a bowl and add 1.5x the water. Some recipes call for a ratio of 1:2 eggs to water. I find that makes the egg mixture too thin, so a ration 1:1.5 eggs to water works better.

Add the finely chopped green chillies and about 1 tsp of salt. And beat this well with a fork or beater. To check for taste, you can cook 1/2 tsp of the egg mixture in a pan. Don’t taste it straight from the bowl as the eggs are raw! If it feels under salted, add a little extra salt.

Now pour this mixture into individual ramekins. Take a large pan and add a little water to the base. Place the ramekins inside the pan and make sure the water only covers about 1/2 cm of the ramekins at the bottom. Heat the pan and when the water starts boiling, reduce the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Let the eggs cook. You will notice the colour changes from a light yellow to a milky white. Keep a close eye as the eggs don’t take long when cooking in individual portions. To check if they are done, take off the lid and gently shake the pan. If the eggs are too wobbly, they need a little longer. If there’s only a slight wobble, then turn off the heat. The egg custard is ready.

Take the ramekins out of the pan and place them on a plate or on the kitchen counter. Let them cool a little.

Now add 1 tbsp of your homemade green chutney and gently spread it across the top of the eggs and make sure you get an even layer. Then sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese on it, again in an even layer.

If you have a blow torch, torch the cheese till it is just melted and starts to turn golden. If you don’t have a blow torch, you can keep the oven pre-heated at 200℃ on the grill function, and place the ramekins in for roughly 5 mins till the cheese melts. And there you have it. Steamed eggs, with chutney and cheese. Easy to make and delicious!

Priya