Potatoes and eggs are staples in every Parsi home. They are two best friends in the kitchen, a go-to dish as an accompaniment, as a quick lunch, and at times when someone drops in and stays for a meal.
Traditionally papayta per eedu is served with a carrot pickle with lots of dried fruit and jaggery called gajar mewa nu achar, and fresh warm rotis or crispy bread are a must.
Ingredients
- •3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- •1 large onion, thinly sliced
- •1 kg 2.2 lb potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- •4 green chillies, finely diced
- •1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- •6 large eggs, at room temperature
- •Freshly ground black pepper, optional
Preparation
In a deep skillet with a lid, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring often, until well browned. Transfer the onion to a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat to low. Add about one-third of the potatoes in an even layer. Sprinkle with a little of the salt and some of the diced chilies. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, seasoning and adding chilies as you build the layers. Spread the browned onion over the top.
Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Uncover and, using a spatula, gently lift and turn sections of the potatoes to bring some onion down into the layers (don’t worry about a perfect flip). Cover again and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes more.
With the back of a spoon, make 6 wells in the potatoes. Crack an egg into each well. Cover and steam until the whites are set and the yolks are cooked to your liking, 5 to 10 minutes.
If you like, season the eggs with a little more salt and some black pepper, then serve straight from the skillet.