When I had to give up nightshades almost 8 years ago, I was so devastated because I felt like I couldn’t eat any of the foods I grew up eating. In came my sweet mom, who has helped me think outside the box and find replacements for foods I thought I’d never be able to eat again. I’ll start sharing some of our swaps and recipes so YOU can enjoy them too. First up: Nightshade-free Egg Bhurji!
Our take on the classic Egg Bhurji recipe to make it nightshade-free! There ARE substitutions listed in the notes if you can have nightshades and want to use them instead.
When we were playing with this recipe, my mom was skeptical about the use of pumpkin puree and lemon juice, but she was shocked at how authentic it tasted. You honestly cannot tell that it has pumpkin instead of tomato–but you won’t believe it until you try it yourself.
Egg Bhurji with Sweet Potato Cakes
Ingredients:
Egg Bhurji:
1-2 TB oil of choice
4 cloves (or 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
1 cup onions, chopped
1/2 inch ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
3 TB pumpkin puree
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Optional: 1 cup chopped spinach
4 eggs
Cilantro for garnish, if desired
Sweet Potato Cakes
1 1/2 cups grated sweet potato
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup avocado oil
Directions:
- Get all your ingredients ready to go in separate bowls because things move rather quickly:
- Combine cloves & chopped onion (unless using ground cloves, then the seasoning will go in with the rest of the spices).
- Combine garlic & ginger.
- Combine all spices (including salt & pepper).
- Combine pumpkin puree & lemon juice.
- Crack eggs into a bowl & whisk.
- Add grated sweet potatoes to a bowl and use your hands to mix with the salt & pepper.
- Heat a medium-sized pot on a stovetop on medium heat. Add 1-2 TB avocado oil and allow to heat for 15-30 seconds, then add onions and cloves. Allow onions to cook for approximately 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally but allowing to brown.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat 1/4 cup avocado oil for about 1 minute (you know it’s hot enough when you flick a little bit of water into the oil and it sizzles). Form approximate sweet potato patties of desired size, and carefully place into the pan. Use a spatula to gently smash the patties down. You’ll likely be able to fit 2-3 patties into the pan at a time.
- Allow patties to cook for 2-4 minutes, or until you can see that they are browning on one side. Then, carefully flip and cook on the other side for another 2 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the rest of the grated sweet potato.
- After onions are browned, turn heat to low and add garlic & ginger. Sauté until fragrant, 1 minute.
- Add spices to the mix and continue to sauté for 1 minute.
- Add spinach and sauté until wilted, approximately 1 minute.
- Add pumpkin puree and lemon juice and mix to combine well until heated through, about 1 minute.
- Add whisked eggs and stir to combine, continue stirring until eggs reach your desired consistency, probably 2-3 minutes or so.
- Place sweet potato cake on a plate, top with eggs, sprinkle with cilantro, and dig in! Be sure to avoid the whole cloves if you use them, or remove before you serve. Enjoy!
Notes:
-Instead of the spices, you can use garam masala! Replace all spices (except salt and pepper) with 1 1/2 tsp garam masala.
-You can also replace the pumpkin + lemon juice with 3 TB tomato paste, but if using tomato paste make sure you don’t add lemon juice because it is acidic enough on its own.
-Use regular potatoes in place of sweet potatoes if you want, or even toast instead!
-Feel free to add cayenne or any other form of heat.
-You can also add any other veggies you have on hand–add them in place of the spinach and sauté until cooked through.
-You can make a large batch of the pumpkin mixture and then use a bit of it to make scrambled eggs throughout the week. Easy breakfast prep! Keeps well in the fridge on its own for up to 7 days.
-You can also make extra with the eggs and reheat throughout the week. Keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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