Bengali Spanish Omelette
PREP TIME: 10 MINS
COOK TIME: 25 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 35 MINS
INGREDIENTS
- 5 eggs
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
(optional) - 1.5-2 cups chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
(optional) - 2 green or red chilis, finely chopped
1 medium onion, sliced - 3-4 low starch potatoes (i.e. Yukon
Gold), skin peeled off, sliced 1/8 inch
thick - Salt
- 1 tbsp panch poron (5 spice blend)
- Pinch of turmeric powder
- 1.5 cups oil for frying
STEPS
- Place peeled potatoes in a bowl of water to avoid them from browning when slicing and prepping other ingredients.
- Using a mandolin or knife, slice the potatoes about 1/8 inch thick. If they’re too thick, they may not cook all the way, and if they’re too thin, they will overcook and likely burn.
- Stack your round slices of potatoes and cut them down the middle. They should look like semi-circles.Then place in water.
- Meanwhile, slice your onions, set aside in a medium bowl. Finely chop the chilis, green onion, and cilantro and set aside.
- Place your potatoes in a bowl lined with a clean towel and leave the potatoes covered. Pat dry them to remove a lot of the moisture. You will not like a lot of moisture in your potatoes when eating this dish.
- Using a frypan, heat 1 tbsp oil on medium heat and lightly toast the panch poron for a few minutes. Remove the spices and set aside.
- Pour about 1.5 cups oil in the frypan and leave on medium heat. Do not let it get very hot as we are not trying to make the potatoes super crispy. As it heats, sprinkle a dash of turmeric over all the potatoes for color. After about 3-4 minutes of heating the pan, put the potatoes in the oil and gently fry them. Sprinkle salt over the potatoes
- To speed up the process of cooking the potatoes all the way, cover the frypan with a lid, but don’t completely abandon them. Gently turn the potatoes every few minutes. You want them to be soft, but not so soft that they break when you touch them. Add onions to the frypan after 2 minutes of frying, making sure they stay translucent. Use a butter knife and pierce through potatoes to check for readiness.
- Take out the potatoes and onions and set aside on a sheet pan or paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle panch poron all over them. Taste one to check for cook on potato and to see if you need more salt. Sprinkle more if necessary.
- Reserve the rest of the oil from the frypan in a jar or container to use for another day, but leave about 2 tbsp oil on the frypan, enough to evenly coat the whole pan.
- Whisk together your eggs and cream until fluffy. Give it a nice good beat. Then add the cilantro, green onions, and chilis. Sprinkle salt all over the mixture. Mix well!
- Add potatoes and onions to the egg mixture. Turn stove on medium heat using the same frypan that is coated with 2 tbsp oil. Pour the egg and potato mixture on the pan. Try to make sure all the potatoes stay submerged in the egg. Use a spatula to lift the edges and tilt the pan towards you to allow the egg to cook. When the edges are appearing crispy, turn the heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes. You may cover the frypan to cook faster.
- Grab a dinner plate and gently slide the omelette (DO NOT FLIP) onto it. The top will look runny and that’s okay. Get another dinner plate and place it upside down, on top of the omelette. Flip it over and remove the top plate. You should see the cooked side now. While it’s on the plate, gently slide the omelette back onto the frypan, making sure the undercooked side is touching the surface of the frypan. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Transfer omelette to a clean plate and eat on its own, with bhaath or porotha.