Spanish omelet called ‘Tortilla’

In my earlier post on this blog I had discussed myromance with eggs in details

Egg is my all time favorite and I eat it three times a week, mainly for breakfast, with sunny side up. I like other styles too, only if they are peppered with hot chilies. But I enjoy Spanish Omelet the most.

I normally add everything that is in my fridge that could include chicken, ham, prawns, mushrooms, olives, onions, green chilies, capsicum or anything that I fancy at that time. It makes a complete meal.

So this month, when I had a guest from Spanish speaking country, Panama, I couldn’t resist on feasting on Spanish omelet called ‘Tortilla’

The trick to making a perfect Tortilla is to have proper accessories. The fry-pan should have a curved base for omelet to slide out easily and it will be better if you have an omelet flipper which is also known as giratortilla.

This is a large round plate very similar to a pan lid, with a knob in the centre to hold as you flip your omelets. I had purchased this during my last trip to Spain and it is very handy and light weight.

The ingredients required to make a plain Spanish omelet are 6 eggs, 3 boiled potatoes, 2 large finely chopped onions (if you are using other ingredients as well, then one chopped onion should be enough.)

The beating of the egg till they are light and fluffy is the essential part of the technique.

Transfer the half portion of the beaten eggs into the frying pan

Arrange the sliced boiled potatoes

Put the onion, green chilies and coriander leaves and the rest of the ingredients (if you are using meat and sea food)

Let it cook on low heat and then flip it over on the flipper

Transfer the rest of the beaten eggs into the fry pan

Arrange more onions on it

Slide off the other half of the cooked potato-egg from the flipper into the fry pan.

Cook till set.

Slice and serve with sauce and drinks.

Romance with Eggs

Source:Google

During my growing up days, every holidays Mom took me to her brother’s house in Pune. That used to be her favorite destination. She enjoyed meeting her relatives and travelling around the city. I accompanied mom only to Pune city, but once there at my mamma’s house, I was left at home with my cousins.

I was very close to my cousins and we used to play together all day and sometimes late nights. Many times, when the elder went off to sleep, we would sneak out and go eat egg burji during late nights as late as 1am. There was one such hawker near the Pune railway station who made very tasty burji. He use to make on a large tava, stir frying onions, tomatoes, green chilies and coriander leaves in spoonful of butter. After a minute of stir frying he would break open the eggs on the top of masala and harshly mash up and mix. He would serve with buttered pav. It used to be great treat.

Surprisingly, we used to be hungry at all times of the day, and with our limited pocket money, egg used to the cheapest non-vegetarian dish.

Sometimes during evenings we used to go for half-fried eggs with sunny side up. With salt and black pepper, we would relish this with hot cup of cutting chai.

Source:Google

The romance with egg has been deep rooted and when I migrated to Spain, I discovered tortilla. In Spain, tortilla is very common and can be had cold (many people even take it for picnics) and it is also served in Spanish bar as accompaniment with drinks. Tortilla is the egg omelets that is made of the deep fried potatoes, mixed vegetables and also include olives, fish and meat. I had learnt to make Spanish omelet from my maid and this is my favorite must-have egg dish which I serve when I have guests. The whites of the eggs are beaten till fluffy before adding the other ingredients. It is made in a big pan and it is flipped at least three times to enable to cook from inside. I have a special cover, which is slightly larger than the pan, and makes the flipping and sliding it back into the pan easier.

Even the simple egg dish with just salt, if fried like a pan-cake and stuffed between the toasted bread, tastes delicious. I still remember the egg sandwiches that I used to feast on at the arrival lounge of Santacruz airport.

During my national tours, whenever we stay in the hotels, I always look forward to egg omelets that are served during break-fast. There will be variety of food that will include cakes, croissants, and Indian spicy breakfast like Idli-Sambar, Puri-Bhaji, but I always head towards the live-egg-preparation-desk where I choose the ingredients while the chef prepares a perfect omelet for me.

Except for Spanish omelet, I have never really learnt to make an egg dish, I just fried it without any experience and it turned out fine, but there are many people out there who still don't know how to fry an egg. How do I know that? Well, why else would there be tutorials on egg recipes? huh!

Okay I am hungry again…maybe I should go for boiled egg salad……