Quick and Easy 'Papeta par Indu'

This recipe is a variation of the traditional parsee dish - 'papeta par indu' (egg on potatoes, literally), re-christened as 'andalu' by Priyanka Biswas, my roomie a year ago- a term she coined by blending the words 'anda' (egg) and 'aloo' (potatoes).

The traditional version of the recipe involves cooking potato slices or potato chips before layering it with the eggs... however, in order to make the dish more quickly and easily, I prefer to use the ready made salted potato wafers... not the "uncle chips" or "Lay's" type... but the traditional fried potato wafers of the " Hot Chips" type!

The Method:
Heat a packet of potato wafers that are pressed into a shallow frying pan in half a cup of water. Once the wafers get soggy and form a kind of sludge, lower the heat and add 2 spoons of tomato ketchup, a Tspoon of chilli powder, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste (make sure how much salt you add as your wafers are already salted). Now add a little more water and press down the potato sludge and form a flattened base. Cover the pan and let it simmer.

In a separate pan, whisk 2-3 eggs till nice and frothy. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the egg. Now open the lid of the pan and gently pour the whisked egg over the flattened potato layer. Make sure there is enough egg to cover the potatoes from every side of the pan. Cover the pan again, and let it simmer on very low heat, till the egg gets poached and well cooked. If the preparation is well cooked, you will be able to slice out pieces of it (almost like a pizza).

Now for some twists in the recipe

• For an Italian twist, I sprinkle a little oregano, pepper and cheese instead of the tomato ketchup, in the potato. I also add some of the same ingredients to the egg layer and garnish with cilantro or chives.
• For a Punjabi twist, I saute some onions and garlic before adding the potatoes in the pan and then add some Chola Masala and garam masala too.
• The final twist is that instead of beating/whisking the eggs on the potato layer, I simply crack open the eggs on the potato layer (with full golden yolks) and let them poach... the number of eggs may depend on the number of diners and also as per the size of the pan to be covered.

Twists in the base

Parsees are known for their undying love for eggs, in any form whatsoever and hence the dishes "bhinda par inda" (eggs on fried okra), "masoor par inda" (eggs on masoor dal), "methi par inda" (eggs on fenugreek) "khima par inda" (eggs on minced meat) and the traditional wedding savoury dish "tamota par inda" (eggs on tomato stew).

In the picture: "tamota par indu"