Bread, Egg, Cheese, Chile—That’s Your Ingredient List
The only thing better than a good recipe? When something’s so easy that you don’t even need one. Welcome to It’s That Simple, a column where we talk you through the dishes and drinks we can make with our eyes closed.
It all began with a love affair. A love affair with eggs, that is now the stuff of urban legend.
After gaining independence in 1947, India grappled with its identity in decades that followed. It was no longer a British colony, and after the painful years of foreign rule, Indian citizens wrestled with what it meant to truly be Indian. For Devi Prasad Kejriwal, a rich merchant in Bombay, this conundrum manifested itself on his plate.
Kejriwal’s love for eggs was unparalleled, but like some practitioners of Hinduism, his family did not eat eggs. His only salvation was the opportunity to devour a plate outside of his home, as long as prying eyes were kept at bay. A regular at Bombay’s Raj-era Willingdon Sports Club, Kejriwal once ordered a plate of eggs and toast and asked the kitchen to disguise the dish, lest he was spotted by a familiar face.
The wise kitchen staff sent out two toasts piled high with melty cheese and green chilies, hiding the illicit eggs underneath. The result was the geniusly simple Eggs Kejriwal, a dish that became so popular at the club that it lives on today.
In the past decade, the Kejriwal has experienced something of a renaissance, brought back to popular imagination by the hip Mumbai restaurant The Bombay Canteen. They swapped out regular white bread for buttery brioche buns and added a zingy green chutney. Incidentally, their introduction of the dish on the menu coincided with Arvind Kejriwal (no relation to Devi Prasad Kejriwal), the current Chief Minister of Delhi, settling into office, giving Eggs Kejriwal a new lease on life.
While I can’t recreate The Bombay Canteen’s souped-up version at home, I have made the OG countless times in my kitchen. It’s a regular rotation weeknight meal that asks very little of my…
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