The Perfect Omelette

I Love to eat and I Love to cook ... I look at these two acts as 'stress-busters' and they sure make you feel good.

10 years or so and some 15 kgs ago I read a piece by Dileep Padgaonkar in the Times of India with a identical title. And though I had enjoyed the article - I thought why go through such painstaking detail about how the mundane Omelet is made. But after years of wondering why every small time 'omelet - walli - gadi' makes omelets that make you say 'Mmmmmm' and why the omelets in 5 star hotels suck I realised was wrong ... Making something as simple as an omelet - magical is truly an art.

So what is the magical ingredient, that secret technique, that exact instance where the stars and planets come in to a formation to create the perfect Omelet ??

Well this is how I make MY 'Perfect Omelet' -

SO lets start with the ingredients - wholesome eggs (brown, white does not really matter - fresher the better), Red onions as finely chopped as possible, 1 or 2 green chillies - to pack that punch, Red tomatoes again finely chopped and a cube of cheese - grated and finally loads of fresh coriander. You could throw in some mushrooms or potato slices; but keep it simple I say.

Now for the technique -

Most often than now we tend to throw in all these in to a bowl and whip them together, throw them on a oiled pan and leave the rest up to fate. That's a perfect way - to RUIN an omelet. The magic is to saute the chills and onions with a pinch of sugar (yes, SUGAR - it helps caramelize the onions and gives it a crispiness). And once they are turning brown, throw in the tomatoes and continue the saute for another 2 mins before letting the beaten eggs find their way through this melange. And once the upper surface of the omelet begins to dry - comes the Pièce de résistance - flipping the omelet to let it simmer for a minute more. Easier said than done this is something I too have been trying to achieve flawlessly but have met with little success.

And finally we have the timing - when is the best time to 'create' an omelet

Not on a busy Monday morning when you have one eye on the stove and the other is picking out what to wear that day. Neither is it an evening thing to have with a glass of juice and a slice of toast.

The perfect time is a lazy winter Sunday morning, when even the sun seems to be fighting against it own nature of heating the day up, when the clouds are just fluffy enough to give a hint of whiteness in a clear azure background and when the world seem to have slowed down just for you and you alone to celebrate this wonderful art form

Try this and believe you me, the end result will be like nothing you have tasted before.

And be fore-warned, if you miss any of the above mentioned tenets the experience will always be incomplete.

Cheers