Of Masala Fried Eggs, Secret Santas, New Years & Travelling Diva By Ritu Dalmia

Happy new year people.

Now that I have that particular nicety out of the way, please allow me to rave about my gift. People on Twitter are pretty awesome, just like in real life, except of course the retards who are out there contributing to our crime rates.

And during Christmas every year, every city has self-appointed Santas who organise a Secret Santa fest for each city in Twitter. So this year, I had a Secret Santa. And I was Secret Santa to one Twitter person.

For the longest time, I felt I had not been assigned a Santa coz I did not get my gift by Dec 25 but then...sigh...I did get it on Dec 31 and it looks like the wait was very much worth it!

I got this huge ass coffee table limited edition book by Ritu Dalmia from my Secret Santa (who graciously revealed their identity as @peeteeonyou) coz I mentioned I love reading, recipes, cooking and baking so a gift that combined it all? Mind blowing I say! Thank you so much, Santa!

Dalmia's second book this, is a collection of her recipes from across the globe, with room for variation and experiments, and is a joy to read. The language is simple, crisp, but her enthusiasm for cuisines shines through lucidly. The book has a generous scattering of scrumptious looking dishes - the book helps you learn new recipes that you can adapt, plus helps you with presenting them beautifully.

What I love about the book is how handy it is - listing out things you may need in the kitchen, little notes to offer you tips on making challenges easy for you in the kitchen but most of all, Dalmia's approach to cooking for yourself is an eye-opener. Even for me, and I am pretty Zen about cooking.

I have hated cooking for myself. So if it's just me for dinner, I'd usually end up with veggies thrown together in noodles or muesli and milk with nuts or some other 2 minute shortcut, with a lame attempt at being healthy by adding greens and fibre.

Dalmia's simple advice that to love another, you must love yourself and very similarly, if you love to cook for people, you should love to cook for yourself too - opened my eyes. So today's lunch was rice noodles with pan fried shallots, garlic, corn with a topping of fresh shredded basil and crumbled cottage cheese. I am proud today. And that is my new year's resolution. To respect my personal meals with fresh, high quality produce and a little extra effort.

Adding to your cold, wintry 2013, is a simple, comforting side dish from Dalmia's book with a teensy bit of my own addition. Dalmia calls it Masala Fried Eggs and it's a side for her Aloo Tikkis. This was the man's breakfast today and he was a very happy man by the end of this plateful.

Name: Masala Fried Eggs
Prep Time: None
Cooking Time: 6-7 minutes
Recipe Source: Chef Ritu Dalmia
Serves: 1 hungry human

You need:

2 eggs, room temperature
Dash of cumin / jeera powder
Dash of coriander / dhania powder
Dash of turmeric
Dash of red chilli powder
Dash of salt
A pat of butter

Here's how you make it:

- Heat a frying pan. We don't want it too hot but hot enough to allow the whites of the eggs to set. Melt the pat of butter.

- Crack in two eggs. Lower heat, add the salt, jeera and dhania powder, turmeric and red chilli powder. The heat should start bringing the whites together but not fry them up or make them crispy. Cover for 2 minutes.

- Once the whites set, turn off the heat. Serve. With whatever you like. I'd probably serve this with a small savoury cheese muffin. Have a nice 2013 folks!