Nik Sharma's poached eggs with green chutney and yoghurt. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Lilli Gavin. View image in fullscreen Nik Sharma's poached eggs with green chutney and yoghurt. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Lilli Gavin. Food Nik Sharma’s recipes for spiced French onion soup and Indian-style Turkish eggs A spice-rich twist on a classic soup, and poached eggs with garlic yoghurt and green chutney
Prefer the Guardian on Google W hile purists might scoff and find the combination of spices in my French onion soup a little blasphemous, do give it a shot. Nigella seeds are the best flavour-enhancer for onions, while using ghee instead of butter adds a warm, nutty, caramel flavour. Then, my Indian-inspired twist on çılbır, the classic Turkish breakfast of poached eggs with yoghurt. It features my go-to poached egg method, which I learned from Nigella Lawson .
Stirring the barely simmering water right before adding the egg creates a vortex, forcing the egg white to wrap around the yolk, cradling it and keeping it intact and compact.
For the green chutney 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 200g coriander , tender leaves and stems, plus a few sprigs to garnish 1 green chilli , such as bird’s eye, serrano or jalapeño 60ml ice-cold water 2 -3 tbsp lime or lemon juice 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger 1 garlic clove , peeled and chopped 1 tsp sugar , or honey or maple syrup, plus more as needed Fine sea salt For the yoghurt 480g plain full-fat Greek yoghurt 1-2 garlic cloves , peeled and grated Fine sea salt
For the poached eggs 4 large eggs 4 tsp lemon juice Toasted sourdough , preferably buttered or drizzled with olive oil, to serve
To make the chutney, toast the pumpkin seeds in a small, dry saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. After a minute, add the cumin seeds and continue toasting for a minute and a half to two minutes, until they turn fragrant and light brown (if they burn, discard them and start again). Put the pumpkin, cumin seeds, coriander, chilli, ice-cold water, lime juice, ginger, garlic and sugar in a blender, and blitz smooth; if need be, add a few more tablespoons of ice-cold water, one at a time, to loosen – the chutney should not be very runny. Taste and season with salt and more sugar as needed. The chutney can now be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Fill a medium saucepan with enough water to submerge a whole egg, bring it to a boil on a medium-high heat, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Put 2½cm water in a second medium saucepan and bring it to a low simmer.
To make the yoghurt, in a medium metal bowl, mix the yoghurt and garlic, then season with salt. Set the bowl over the second saucepan, and whisk for two or three minutes, until smooth and creamy. Spoon the yoghurt into two serving bowls.
For the poached eggs, crack one egg into a fine-mesh strainer set over a small bowl, and let the loose, liquid portion of the egg white drain for about 10 seconds. Gently transfer the remaining egg to a small bowl and add a teaspoon of lemon juice. Stir the simmering water in the first saucepan with a spoon – the water should barely be bubbling – then carefully slide in the egg. Repeat with the second egg. Leave the two eggs to poach undisturbed for three or four minutes, until the whites turn opaque, then, using a slotted spoon, lift out the eggs,…