Recipe: Quick Shakshuka throwdown

There was a day I was wondering what to make for breakfast. I had tomatoes, onions, garlic and ginger, green peppers (pili pili hoho), dhania and fresh chillies as well as eggs.

Granted I had eaten eggs quite a bit, fried, boiled and in pancakes, so I knew I didn’t want to have any of that all over again. So I googled what I can make with the ingredients above and shakshuka came up.

Shakshuka is simply an egg dish served with a tomato sauce. It’s very easy to make and you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen.

Ingredients

Onions, chopped

Ginger, crushed

Garlic, crushed

Tomatoes, chopped

Green peppers, chopped

Dhania, chopped

Green chillies, chopped

Spices: Garam masala, pilau masala, royco, black pepper

Salt

Sugar

Cooking oil

Method

1. In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat oil. 

2. Add onions, green peppers, green chillies, ginger, garlic, about two-thirds of dhania, spices and salt. Leave to cook stirring frequently.

3. Add tomatoes and sugar and allow to soften. Leave to cook until the tomatoes have reduced. They should darken in colour and form a thick sauce.

4. For a breakfast recipe, fry eggs in a separate pan, serve the tomato sauce on a plate, and place the fried egg on top. 

Alternatively, you can go the traditional shakshuka way and make wells in the shakshuka while it is still in the pan, and break the eggs directly in the well. Cover the pan and allow the eggs to cook. Note that your eggs will likely have a runny yoke with this method.

I also used the tomato sauce as a side dish, serving it with rice. It adds some amazing flavours to an otherwise ordinary dish.