Shakshuka

Shakshuka is a north African dish that is basically eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce. This is both a very easy, but also very customizable recipe, suitable for any meal of the day. It goes very well with pitas, and maybe a side of yogurt or raita.

All of the ingredients in shakshuka are really cheap, but it's still a tasty, nutritious, and satisfying dish.  Pretty good stuff.


PREP

bowl 1:
* 1 bell pepper diced
* hot chiles to taste, seeded and diced
* 1 md onion diced
* ~5 cloves garlic smashed and roughly chopped

get a 28oz canned whole tomatoes (plastic lined type like borillo or red gold)

spice mix:
~2 Tbsp paprika (can seed and mince, or grind equivalent non-spicy chiles)
~1.5 tsp black pep
~1 tsp salt (use more if not using salty olives)
~2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of fennel seeds
~1/2 tsp RCP (optional, to taste)
~1/2 tsp GM pdr (optional)
cover until ready for use, or prepare when needed

olives:
~8 olives of any color, sliced/chopped (if they're not salty then add more salt)

herbs:
~1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, or just get out some dry herbs (fresh mint was good)
(make herbs are properly sealed or prep at last second)


COOK

heat 9~12" pan on medium high until smoking
add 3~4 Tbsp high heat flavored oil (i.e. ghee or gingelly)
fry all of the veggies on medium high, stirring occasionally
(add a dash of salt to the veggies to cook them faster)
once veggies are anywhere from fully clear to caramelized, add spices
mix spices briefly, then add tomatoes to prevent burning
mash the tomatoes with a potato masher or something
add olives
reduce heat to medium-low and let it cook until sauce thickens some (~10m)

reduce heat to low-medium-low
add herbs and stir
taste test and adjust
create holes for as many eggs as you want
cover the eggs with surrounding sauce to stop them from escaping
optionally spoon some sauce over the top, but it will make it harder to check doneness (maybe only do it if you know the time already)
cover the pan
cook until you can see the whites have turned white... but stop before yolks become firm
(check every few minutes until you get a timing that works for you)

if saving leftovers, wait until the sauce is cooled before adding the rest of the eggs
cook them slowly until whites just barely start to set, they will set in microwave



Prepped veggies, I liked the result better with this smaller cut.


Type of tomatoes used.


Chopped olives.  These ones are salty and a little spicy.


Browned veggies, this was cooked enough for me.


Prepared mint.


Thickening the sauce, spices already added.


Sauce thickened.


Only cooking 2 eggs for a dinner portion for now, I'll do the others later.


Ready to eat :)  2 eggs, 2 pitas, and some alcohol or yogurt is a satisfying meal.


I cooked the rest of the eggs partially after the sauce was cooled.  I'll nuke them later.