One of my guilty pleasures is potato chips.
I try not to have them around, but there are times when I just cannot resist buying a bag of Kettle Chips and eating them--sometimes all of them. Other times, I will make them from scratch. I tell myself that in just four spin classes I can work off those calories.
Imagine my delight when I discovered that for Parsis potato chips could be said to be a distinct food group or, at the very least, at the bottom of the Parsi Food Pyramid. (Parsis are the descendants of the Zoroastrians who migrated to India.) I learned all this in a cooking class with Niloufer Ichaporia King (shown in the picture in this post), author of My Bombay Kitchen. Ms. King and her book interpret Parsi food for the American cook. Her book is so beautifully written and she is such a warm, gracious presence that I found myself regretting that I wasn't born a Parsi who could have grown up eating all this wonderful food. Now, I must make up for lost time.
In honor of Potato Chip Lust, I offer this recipe from My Bombay Kitchen.I can say from first-hand tasting that this is astonishingly good.
Eggs on Potato Chips
1 Tablespoon ghee, clarified butter, or mixture of vegetable oil and butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste (optional)
2 to 3 hot green chiles, finely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander leaves
4 good handfuls of plain potato chips from a just-opened bag
1 large egg
1 tablespoon (about) water
Heat the ghee over medium heat in a sturdy medium skillet, preferably cast iron. Add the onion and let it soften, stirring occasionally, a few minutes. Before it browns, add the paste if you like and the green chiles, and as soon as the mixture looks cooked, add the fresh coriander. Crumble in the potato chips, tossing the contents of the pan to combine them thoroughly. Make nests in the surface of the mixture--they won't be perfect hollows--and crack an egg into each. Pour a tablespoon or so of water around the edges of the pan to generate some steam, cover the skillet tightly, and let the eggs cook just long enough to set the white without turning the chips soggy.
Garlic-Ginger Paste
About 1/2 cup roughly chopped peeled fresh ginger
About 1/2 cup roughly chopped peeled cloves garlic
About 1/2 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil
In a food processor, grind the ginger and garlic to a smooth paste, using as little water as possible. Add the salt if you plan on storing the paste. Pack it into a small, tightly covered jar with a nonreactive lining to the lid. Pour a thin film of oil on tope of the paste. Store in the refrigerator.
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