Sunday ho ya Monday, Roz khao Ande

According to legend, when Napoleon and his army were travelling through the south of France they decided to rest for the night near the town of Bessieres. Napoleon feasted on an Omelette prepared by a local innkeeper that was such a culinary delight that Napoleon ordered the townspeople to gather all the eggs in the village and to prepare a huge Omelette for his army the next day.

From the time I first saw the NECC ad way back in the ’80s, which said ‘Sunday ho ya Monday, Roz khao ande”, I was eager to taste them. And Sunday ho ya Monday, I wanted to eat them everyday. I wanted a change from the usual idli, Uppitt, Akki Rotti etc.. But the problem was that the elders in my family were against cooking eggs in the house. After much argument, I was allowed to bring and cook it myself in a separate aluminium vessel. I excitedly brought 2 eggs (30 paise each) on a summer morning and put them in water to make boiled egg. Although the result was not to my expectations, I wanted to taste egg-cellent dishes.

Over the years, I have loved eating egg fried rice, egg Biriyani, and egg Burji. But my favourite is egg Omelette. (Aside: Indian Railways Omelette Sandwiches are pretty famous. The first time I heard an Omelette seller in a train, I thought he was telling everyone “I am late”). The best Omelette I have eaten is at India Coffee House (on MG Road). The guys there know that I order nothing but Omelette and Coffee. So even before I settle down, the guys wish me and get a plate of hot Omellette with tomato sauce.

One thing about Omelette is that they are easy to prepare. And the other thing is that each person has his/ her own recipe. Important to note that  one needs to use the right size of frying pan. This is more important than you may think. Too large, and the Omelette will dry out; too small, and it will not cook through. As a basic guide, you need a 15 centimeter pan for a two-egg Omelette and a 25 centimeter pan for a four to six egg Omelette. That is, 6 inches and 10 inches respectively, which, handily enough, is pretty much the size of pans you should have in your kitchen anyway.

Ok, before we start, let’s keep everything ready:
4-5 Eggs
1 large Onion
1 large Tomato
1 large Capsicum
1/2 tsp. Haldi
1/2 tsp. Red chilli powder
Salt, to taste
1-2 tsp. Butter
 
So, let’s start:
Cut Onion, Tomato and Capsicum into small cubical pieces. To this add eggs, salt, haldi, red chilli powder and beat well. In a pan add butter and the above batter, flip the Omelette when its done on one side. Do this carefully – if the Omelette is very heavy, you’ll not be able to turn it properly. If you look underneath, you should see that both sides of the Omelette are evenly browned and not burned. After you feel both sides are cooked, you can serve hot Omelette with tomato sauce. And lo! In just fifteen minutes, you have transformed into an Omelette maker extraordinaire!