Akuri

Eggs taken off almost runny, with fried onion as the flavouring rather than spice.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 3 onions, chopped fine
• a 4 cm piece of ginger, grated
• 3 green chillies, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons ghee
• a large handful of coriander leaves

Method

1. THE EGGS COME OFF ALMOST RUNNY, WITH FRIED ONION AS THE FLAVOURING RATHER THAN SPICE. Its article puts both as statements of fact about the dish: akuri IS COOKED UNTIL ALMOST RUNNY; THE EGGS ARE NEVER OVERCOOKED, and THE MAIN FLAVOURING IS FRIED ONIONS AND THE SPICES USED ARE GINGER, CORIANDER, CHOPPED CHILIS, AND BLACK PEPPER. Four spices, none of them a masala, and the onion doing the work.
2. SO THE ONIONS ARE COOKED PROPERLY BEFORE THE EGGS GO NEAR THEM. Three onions for eight eggs, chopped fine, in ghee over a medium heat for twelve or fifteen minutes until soft, sweet and gold at the edges. This is most of the cooking time of the dish.
3. GINGER AND CHILLI AFTER THE ONIONS ARE SOFT, NOT BEFORE. Two minutes. Ginger added early burns and turns bitter.
4. BEAT THE EGGS WITH THE SALT AND PEPPER AND NOTHING ELSE. No milk, no cream, no water. Parsi scrambled eggs are eggs.
5. LOWEST POSSIBLE HEAT FROM THE MOMENT THEY GO IN. Pour them over the onions and stir slowly with a spatula, lifting from the base. It should take four or five minutes, not one.
6. TAKE THE PAN OFF WHILE IT STILL LOOKS UNDERDONE. The residual heat finishes it on the way to the table, and this is the instruction the article makes a point of: never overcooked.
7. CORIANDER LEAVES IN AT THE VERY END, OFF THE HEAT. A large handful. They should stay green.
8. EATEN WITH PAV OR DOUBLE ROTI, AND THERE IS A RICHER VERSION. Its article names both breads, and records BHARUCHI AKURI, WHICH CONTAINS NUTS AND DRY FRUITS LIKE CASHEWS, ALMONDS AND RAISINS. It also notes that egg bhurji is a near relative, and that people who care about these things hold the two to be ALMOST IDENTICAL BUT DISTINCT IN TASTE.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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