Recipes

Middle Eastern Shakshouka

Having grown up in Bahrain, my food habits were heavily influenced by Arab Cuisines. One such gem in the Arab food world is the Shakshouka; a breakfast/brunch delicacy prepared with a fragrant tomato sauce base and poached eggs. Every Arab country has their own version of it and they’re all equally delicious! Here I’m giving you a basic Shakshouka recipe that is one of my favourite ways to whip up this humble dish – It’s light yet full of flavour. I paired this Shakshouka with some whole wheat sour dough slices, but you can use any kind of bread that you like!

Ingredients

  • 6-7 Medium Size Tomatoes (Use A 400g Can of Chopped Tomatoes As A Quicker Alternative)
  • Half Of 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp Evo – Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Borges)
  • 3-4 Medium Cloves of Garlic
  • 1 Green Chilli Chopped (You Can Add More or Less According to Your Spice Preference)
  • Salt To Taste
  • 1 Tsp Sugar (Or 1 Tsp Heinz Tomato Ketchup)
  • Pinch Of Black Pepper
  • Pinch of Smoked Paprika (Optional)
  • 1 Cup Water (More or Less Needed According to Your Pan Size)
  • 3-4 Eggs
  • Coriander/Parsley/Spring Onion Leaves for Garnish

Preparation

Prep: 15 minute
Cooking: 30 minutes

  1. Blanch, skin and deseed the tomatoes and chop them roughly.
  2. Chop red pepper as finely possible.
  3. Finely chop garlic and slice green chili on the diagonal.
  4. In a cold dry skillet, add olive oil, chopped garlic and green chili. Switch the flame on low heat. Let the garlic and chili infuse with the EVO and slowly come up to a sizzle (this will take a minute) Make sure you don’t burn it. The garlic shouldn’t change color, just sizzle lightly.
  5. Then, add chopped red bell pepper and tomatoes, 1 cup of water and salt to your taste.
  6. Here’s where you have to be patient; let the tomatoes breakdown and cook on low to medium heat for about 25-30 mins. This helps the flavour develop. The longer you cook this base, the better flavour of your final dish. Check on it every 10 mins and if the mix is drying out fast, add a splash of water and stir.
  7. After 30 mins, you will see that the mixture has thickened to a paste like consistency.
  8. Add tsp of sugar or ketchup and about ½ to ¾ cup water to loosen the sauce; stir it and make small wells in the sauce with your spatula around the pan.
  9. Break your eggs into those wells. Add a small pinch of salt, black pepper and smoked paprika on top of the eggs.
  10. Cover the pan and let the Shakshouka cook for 7-8 mins on medium low heat or until your eggs are runny/jammy as per your preference. Garnish with herbs & it’s done! Serve with bread of your choice. Bil 3afya! (enjoy your meal) as we say in Arabic 😊

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Azmia Iqbal

Hi, I’m Azmia Iqbal, a Srilankan gal with a Middle Eastern background, now residing in Bangalore, India - I’m what you call a classic third culture kid. Also, I think I was destined to love all things sweet and food, as my dad was a pastry chef for 40 years and my mum is an amazing home cook as well. Having being exposed to so many food cultures in Bahrain and getting married to a foodie husband provided me with many opportunities to experiment with my cooking and baking skills. I eventually ran my own cake business for 5 years under the IG Handle @miasweetsneats (Mia’s Sweets & Eats) until I left Bahrain in 2020. With the onset of the pandemic, I was reluctant to set up shop in Bangalore yet. I missed ‘creating’, be it cake decor, styling or photographing food in general. My friends kept asking me for different recipes to try out and I wanted to document them somewhere. So, I decided to change-up my page aesthetic and turn it into a space where I share some of my recipes and connect with like-minded food lovers. My recipes are a mish-mash of different cuisines based on my experiences and experiments. Do make them for yourself and your loved ones. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!