An Indian French Toast Day

A few weekends back we decided to breakfast at one of La Jolla's very happening breakfast places. I say we 'decided', because weekends fly by and suddenly Monday looms its ugly head at us and usually we've spent 48 hours staring at Top Chef or Law and Order (don't ask) or E! investigative special re-runs. I say 'we', because heck, well, it's easier to spread the blame than just say, well, it was me, and my TV and I like it that way. So, yeah, anyway, going at a decent time for brunch and actually ordering breakfast for me was a big feat indeed.
     Nestled in southern California, The Cottage is known as 'Old La Jolla's Favorite Beachside Bungalow', serving casual SoCal cuisine, and known as one of the best breakfast places in this country. And I can eat breakfast for dinner, that's how much I love breakfast. And yes, I realize I just used 'breakfast' in each sentence a 100 times!
     The restaurant recommended their world famous stuffed French toast--brioche bread marinated with egg batter, stuffed with strawberries and marscapone cheese. "You won't go wrrronngg, ma'zaam!" said the very cute, and very young and most likely French waiter. (I'm not the only one saying it, Sanjay agrees to, though he's most likely forgotten by now). Anyway, the food, I mean, OF COURSE it was great. We knew it would be as soon as we read the description (after waiting an hour to be seated...that's how popular this place is).
     The order came out looking like this--isn't it gorgeous?

A typical French Toast recipe (not The Cottage's) is:
Ingredients
2-3 slices of thick brioche bread
3 eggs, or egg whites, whipped
3-4 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp whole milk
3 tsp sugar/honey
butter/oil for cooking


For the filling
5-10 strawberries, sliced
2 tbsp sugar, or honey
3 tbsp marscapone cheese
Recipe

• Mix the cream and milk with the beaten eggs, add the sugar/honey
• Soak the bread, one slice at a time, slowly allowing the batter to be absorbed by the bread
• Heat a cast-iron pan, add 1-2 tbsp butter/oil, cook each side of the bread about 2-3 minutes (do not overcook). The bread should brown a little.
• Be sure the eggs are cooked through (raw eggs aren't exciting, except to bacteria, and you're not bacteria or bacterium)
• Cook for 2-3 minutes in the oven at around 350 deg C
• Mix the strawberries with sugar/honey and cheese
• Add them into the bread, fold over
• Dust powdered sugar over the bread
• Serve with butter, honey or maple syrup

     In India, we're used to savory French toast. I mean, it's just so different that I think we should just call it Indian toast. It's just that different. It's salty, spicy, and served with ketchup, right? That's what I was used to. So, while the French toast was exciting, Indian (French) toast has wonderful memories attached--of lazy Indian breakfasts, or even as appetizers with tea in the evenings. Here's my take on this:
Indian (French) Toast
Ingredients
3-4 white bread (or brown), sliced into triangles
4 eggs, beaten
2 medium chilies, sliced
1/2 medium purple onions, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander leaves
salt to taste
3 tbsp grapeseed oil
Side:
3 medium pototoes, grated
1 chili, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish
Recipe:

• Prepare the egg mixture adding onions, spices, chilies and salt
• Dunk the bread triangles in the egg mixture, and let soak for 2 minutes
• Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet and cook the bread triangles
• Again, be sure to cook them well (half-cooked eggs are just not good. Not good at all.)
• Cook both sides for about 2 minutes each side
• Place them on paper towels to remove excess oil and transfer onto a plate
• In the same skillet, add the grated potatoes, chilies, cumin, salt and cook them for 3-4 minutes
• Potatoes should cook quickly, but again, once crispy on one side, be sure to cook it by stirring them
• Remove from pan, remove excess oil, and transfer them to the bread plate
• Garnish with coriander leaves

   The Indian French toast should look like this (or better)

Make a hot cup of tea to go with this.

Enjoy!