Tawa Egg & Pepper Fry is a quick indian egg recipe for breakfast or brunch. All you need is a few hard boiled eggs, bell peppers, tomato sauce and spices to make this yummy indian style tawa(skillet) eggs. It gets ready in 20-25 minutes and is so good with some crusty bread or plain parathas. If you are looking to add quick protein side to your meals, you will love this instant egg recipe.
In our home, we LOVE eggs. They are delicious, quick to make and an excellent source of vitamins. But let's admit, eating the same egg scramble, sunny side up and plain boiled eggs can get a bit boring.I am always finding new ways to make them.
Here in this egg pepper fry recipe I start by boiling some eggs, while the eggs boil, I chop onions and bell peppers and mix up a quick spice blend using powdered spices. Then, I stir fry everything together in a heavy tawa (cast iron skillet) adding few tablespoons of tomato sauce. These spicy eggs are a great dish to serve if you are have guests overs for brunch or when you want to make something nice & different but have no time for elaborate cooking. On busy weeknights, I pair with roti or or paratha for dinner.
My version is surely inspired by the idea of south indian egg & pepper fry but I just take the idea of stir fried eggs from there, the spices and the flavors in my recipe are north indian.
Ingredients
- Hard Boiled Eggs. Read my few tips below for perfect boiled eggs.
- Onions & Bell Peppers. I used a mix of green bell pepper and sweet bell peppers.
- Spice Blend- Made with ready to use spices powders- cumin, coriander, black pepper etc
- Tomato Sauce - Store bought is better than pureeing fresh tomatoes. You can pick up a can from any brand you like.
- Butter - or use any neutral oil like avocado/grapeseed oil if you do not wish to use butter.
- Garlic, Jalapeños & Cilantro
My Tips for Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
For making this dish you need hard boiled eggs. A bad hard boiled egg can ruin your mood as well as the dish right? If you plan to make it for brunch next day, you can boil the eggs a day ahead as well. Here are the few things that I do for perfectly hard boiled eggs every single time.
- Make sure that there is enough water in the pot so that the eggs are fully submerged in water throughtout the boiling process. There should be roughly 1 to 1.5 inch of water above the eggs.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water.
- Add 1-2 teaspoon vinegar to the water. Dont worry your eggs will not turn sour. Adding vinegar makes sure that the yolks dont turn green or greyish.
- Keep the heat constant from the beginning. Add eggs to the pot, set it on stove on medium high heat. Let the water come to a boil. It takes a little longer than on high stove but a constant stove makes sure that the eggs are boiled evenly.
- Once the water is boiling, let them boil eggs for 7-8 minutes. I use a timer, it really makes a difference if you time it.
- After switching off the stove, dont take out the eggs immediately out of hot water. Let it stay in hot water for 5 minutes. As the temperature falls down, the shells detaches itself from the cooked eggs and you will be able to peel them neatly.
- Move the eggs to ice cold water for 5 minutes. Peel immediately.
Spice Blend for Tawa Style Dishes
Depending on the protein or vegetable I making the tawa style dish with, my spice blend differs a bit. I roast the whole spices and scratch grind them like in this tawa chicken. But for this egg fry recipe, I simply mix up an instant spice mix with ready to use powdered spices.
Spices I use for the the Tawa Masala - Ground Cumin, Kala Namak (Indian Black Salt), Red Chilli Powder, Black Pepper Powder, Garam Masala. See recipe card for the quantities. This spice blend is delicious. It can be used as it is wherever you want - on raw vegetables, fruits as well as a dry rub for fish or shrimp.
How To Make Tawa Egg & Pepper Fry
- Hard Boil the Eggs
- While the eggs are boiling, chop the garlic. Thinly slice the onions and bell peppers.
- Make the dry masala by mixing up ready to use spice powders. See recipe card.
- In a hot tawa, melt the butter and layer egg halves yolk side down. Let the egg fry up for good 4-5 minutes without stirring. This helps in growing and setting the yolks. Fry the other side as well.
- Add onions, garlic, peppers, spices tomato etc and stir fry on high heat.See recipe card for detailed instructions
- Serve.
Few Things to Keep in Mind
- Stir gently at all times. A flat spatula works best. I usually turn the eggs and peppers a few times instead of stirring to make sure that the yolks dont pop out. Even if they do, since we nicely browned them, they are not going to break.
- A well seasoned heavy cast iron skillet is better compared to a non stick pan, it imparts a nice charred taste.
- Make sure that you prepare everything ahead. Once the eggs are pan fried, the stir frying takes only a minute or two.
Serving Ideas for Egg & Pepper Fry
Here are a few ideas for serving these delicious eggs.
- Pile on top of crusty sourdough with avocado slices and a dash of hot sauce.
- Serve with a side of buttered pav or dinner rolls.
- You can make a wrap with roti or paratha.
- You can make breakfast tacos, add mashed avocado and/or pico de gallo on top. Dont forget the hot sauce.
- Not just breakfast, sometimes I make these to add a protein side to good ol dal-chawal.
Variations You Can Try
- Make Them Cheesy - You can cover the finished dish with shredded cheese and broil until cheese melts.
- Use Tofu for Vegan and Paneer for Vegetarian Version- If you dont eat eggs or want to serve this to vegetarians, replace eggs with extra firm tofu, mushrooms or paneer in this recipe.
Tawa Egg & Pepper Fry
Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 cup bell pepper sliced (use a mix of colorful bell peppers if possible)
- 3 tablespoon tomato sauce store bought
- 1 serrano pepper cut in rounds, adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro
Spice Blend
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon kala namak indian black salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder fresh ground
Instructions
- Start by boiling the eggs. Please refer to the post for my tips on boiling eggs.
- While the eggs are boiling, you can chop the garlic and slice the onions and bell peppers. Also prepare the spice blend .
- Once the eggs are boiled, cool them and peel them. Using a sharp knife, cut the egg into halves.
- In a large cast iron skillet or tawa, on medium heat, melt the butter. Layer the egg halves cool side down. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt to season the eggs.
- Without disturbing, let the eggs fry for 3-4 minutes until the yolk and egg edges are golden. Using a flat spatula or a large spoon, flip the eggs and let fry on the other side as well.
- Once the eggs are nicely fried, add garlic, onion and bell pepper, serrano all at once and using a spatula gently mix for 10-20 seconds.
- Sprinkle the dry spice blend and tomato sauce. Gently mix and continue frying fir another 30-40 seconds or so taking care as much as possible to not pop out the yolks.
- Finish with chopped cilantro and if you want you can add extra butter. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Please see my tips on hard boiling eggs in the blog post above.
- Stir gently at all times. A flat spatula works best. I usually turn over the eggs and peppers a few times instead of stirring (like you would stir a sabzi) to make sure that the yolks dont pop out. Even if they do, since we nicely golden browned them, they are not going to break.
- A well seasoned heavy cast iron skillet is better compared to a non stick pan, it imparts a nice charred taste.
- You can use avocado oil or any neutral oil instead of butter.
- Make sure that you prepare everything ahead. Once the eggs are golden, the stir frying takes only a minute or so.
- Make Them Cheesy - You can cover the finished dish with shredded cheese and broil until cheese melts.
- Use Tofu for Vegan and Paneer for Vegetarian Version- If you dont eat eggs or want to serve this to vegetarians, replace eggs with extra firm tofu, mushrooms or paneer in this recipe.
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