food talk
Double delight

Minced chicken combined with curried eggs makes for a wholesome dish, writes Pushpesh Pant

Let us not mince matters. For long the question has perplexed great minds. What came first — chicken or the egg. Our take is — for matters of precedence let fools contest, we vote for whatever tastes best but the difficulties are not over — what tastes better. Egg or the chicken? (In this case chicken mince). There are diehard lovers of curried eggs or egg roast in the South who can have these delicacies day in and day out.

On the other side of the fence the positions are defended by loyal supporters of the bird — be it tangri, tikka or breast. Let us confess we hate being politically correct or staying tactfully neutral in culinary matters but in this case one must admit that the honours are evenly shared when the twain meet the bird in its minced version with the eggs in the curried avatar, it is indeed a two in one delight. Those who are familiar with the western repertoire would recall that mince and egg are combined in devilled eggs and the lovers of Mughal food have surely not forgotten the charms of nargisi kofta. But what endears nargisi keema to us is that the two ingredients retain their separate identity and can be enjoyed one at a time from the same plate.

There are other attractions that enhance the recipes appeal. Pre-boiled eggs greatly reduce cooking time and the mince too can be at least part prepared before hand. Any leftovers (hardly likely) can go into a potato crusted minced pie. But we stray. What we must share with our readers is that if you prefer the mutton mince to the chicken mince do not let the burden of purity of the recipe weigh you down. As a matter of fact mota keema renders the dish even more tempting and if you want to stun the guests with an exotic offering, replace the garam masala with dhansak masala (it is available in many large stores these days).

Nargisi keema

Method
Heat ghee/oil in a pan, add the boiled eggs in the pan and stir fry till golden. Remove the eggs from the pan and add black pepper, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon stick. Stir-fry for a few seconds, add onions, and fry on medium heat until translucent and glossy. Add the garlic and ginger pastes and stir-fry until onions are golden. Then add coriander, red chilli and turmeric powders — dissolved in 1/4th cup of water and continue to stir-fry. Now add the mince, stir-fry until light brown, add salt and water (approx 1 ½ cups) and stir-fry until fat leaves the sides. Now add chopped ginger, mix well, cover with a lid. Uncover and now add the golden fried eggs, adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle pepper, clove and cardamom powders, cover with a lid again until ready to serve. Garnish with ginger juliennes and green chillies.

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