“Amma, can i have a saturdegg today instead of a friedegg?”
“What?”
“This is Saturday, no? Can I have a saturd-egg instead of a fried egg??”
“So what’s a saturdegg, Arch?”
“You know when you make a mish-mash of it and put things in it, like tomato sauce and stuff? And then you make a sandwich of it? That!”
Ah, NOW I get it – egg paste sandwiches and the ‘satur-degg’ (that’s how she said it – like ‘degg’ was the operative word – was a five-year old’s attempt at humour!
Considering in what all forms Arch liked to consume eggs, this was a perfectly acceptable request. There was a time, when she was about three, that she used to carefully nibble the white of a hard boiled egg, place the yellow on her plate and proceed to mash it up with her fingers (and most of herself!) into a paste with strawberry jam – it HAD to be strawberry jam only- no pedestrian stuff like mixed fruit jam would do for her “gourmet” tastes (!) and proceed to eat the resultant yellow-pink mess with great and evident enjoyment!
With great restraint, I let her be, hoping she’d grow out of this weird taste – and she finally did – after a few months – to everyone’s relief!
I think if I were to audit this blog, the number off egg recipes would probably outnumber everything else – that’s how much we love our everyday ke ande! When I was in a student hostel for a couple of years (and our hostel, unlike the general run of student hostels) had excellent food – in variety and quality – I ate an egg breakfast EVERY single day for two whole years – despite the calls of masala dosas, idlis and vadas!
And so, here’s to much experimentation and many egg inventions with a classic
EGG PASTE SANDWICH
- Boiled eggs – boiled for 7-8 minutes till soft but not runny – 4
- Tomato sauce – 2 tsp
- Mustard paste (the best way is to stone grind 1 tsp of mustard seeds with a few drops of water into a rough paste) – 1 tsp
- Mayonnaise – 1 tbsp
- Grated cheddar – 2 tbsp OR 2 cheese slices OR 2 tbsp cheese spread
- Butter – 1 -2 tbsp
- Pepper – 1/2 tsp
- Green chili – 1 – minced
- Salt
- 1 or 2 tbsp hot milk
- Lettuce leaves – a few – for the sandwiches
Peel the eggs while still hot – if you use a kitchen towel to hold them, you won’t have to hop around as you burn your hands!). Mash up with the rest of the ingredients into a knobbly paste – using a fork. The eggs can stay in little pieces. Add the hot milk a little at a time to make a not-too-wet paste. Sandwiches with multi-grain bread or whole wheat bread or burger buns are the best with this paste.
And, NO – jam, even strawberry jam, is NOT a good idea if you want to tweak this recipe!