Garam Masala Spiced Tomato and Egg Casserole
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews
From the team:
Floyd had this really annoying ability to make vegetables come to life with that spice touch of his — Brussels sprouts, celery root, cauliflower… we’d all eat more of our vegetables if Floyd was cooking! With his spice line, we get to bring a little of that magical touch home.
From Melissa Clark in The New York Times
This dish, inspired by a traditional recipe from the Parsis (a group of Zoroastrians from Persia who settled in India sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries), is possibly one of the most fragrant and vivid casseroles you’ll ever see. It starts with a highly spiced tomato sauce flavored with mint, green chiles and ginger. The sauce is then poured over a layer of sliced cooked fingerling potatoes and baked. At the end of the cooking time, wells are made in the sauce and eggs cracked into them to finish baking. The result is a tomato-rich casserole with runny yolk over each pungent bite. Serve it for dinner or for brunch.
—Melissa Clark
SERVES: 6
TOTAL COOKING TIME: 1hr
INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ pounds fingerling potatoes
Kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded if desired, finely chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded if desired, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground FC + B&B Garam Masala
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
¼ cup chopped fresh mint, more for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or basil, more for garnish
6 eggs
Black pepper, as needed
DIRECTIONS:
Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with generously salted water. Bring to a boil; cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. When just cool enough to handle, slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds.
While potatoes cook, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until almost tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in peppers and cook 3 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, cumin, garam masala and coriander; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer over medium-low heat, breaking up tomatoes with a fork, 15 minutes. Stir in mint and cilantro or basil. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place potatoes in a single layer in a 9-inch-square baking dish. Pour the hot tomato sauce over potatoes. Transfer pan to oven and bake 20 minutes.
Make six wells in the tomato mixture. Crack eggs into wells and season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are set but yolks are still runny, 8 to 13 minutes, depending on how much the potatoes and sauce cooled before baking.
Serve garnished with herbs.
