In her own words, Nuzha Ebrahim âlearnt how to cook at the age of nine, and knew right away that she never wanted to stop cookingâ. She is now the chef and founder of the Kuckeliku Breakfast House and The Fromagerie, both in Mumbai.
When we called her a month ago to ask for her most badass breakfast hacks, she said that after two years of owning and running a restaurant that focuses on breakfast, she has finally, only two days prior to our chat, figured out how to poach an egg.Â
Youâll never guess how she does it. (We certainly didnât expect her to pull out the tool she did.) Yes, today, youâll find this hack and four others in her guide to making breakfast.
 Now, carry this enthuGuide to your kitchen. Bring out your leftover sourdough starter, a protein shaker, a tin of curry powder, your tadka pan, and those cheese rinds turning frangible and funky in the back of your fridge.Â
Youâre about to find ways to astonish yourself for breakfast. Go thank Nuzha âSO MUCHâ here!
BREAKFAST HACKS BY CHEF NUZHA EBRAHIM
From someone who âloves breakfast so much, she opened a breakfast house in Colabaâ…Hi! I am Nuzha, and Iâm here with five legendary hacks to take your breakfast game to the next level. No more average Jane breakfast for you; I got your back.
1. Not yo mamaâs Upma
Marry the idea of your familyâs upma with polenta, and lean further into the breakfast mood with my take that features cheese stock, a soft boiled or poached egg, and crispy bacon bits (in my case âhalal baconâ).
- Cheese Stock: gently simmer aaallll leftover cheese rinds in some milk to extract every last bit of cheesy scent.
- Start with your familyâs Upma recipe (note: comfort and familiarity is key).
- Add the cheese stock instead of plain olâ water
- Fry up a sliced onion (think birista) in butter, and end it with a generous helping of Madras curry powder. (Yes, that green tin you bought and never used.)
- Build your upma bowl with the (duh) upma as a base, poached egg, bacon bits, and finally the curried butter.
P.S. you can freeze the broth as cubes and use them for up to three months.
2. Episode 12531723 of all things BUTTAH – Curry Powder Buttah
- Get some butter nice and warm in a pan and throw in SO MUCH CURRY POWDER* (Iâm a pataak flavour kinda gal).
- Store refrigerated and use it to wake up any neutral (read: boring) dish â roasted veggies on yogurt (a la Turkish Eggs), slathered in a grilled cheese, an egg salad, or even to wake up your boring dal rice dinner â three nights in a row.
*I use the unknown kind, a green-tinned brand, but if your family has a curry powder recipe that would make this SO MUCH more fun.
3. Sourdough Pancakes
Remember the precious, leftover sourdough starter from your pandemic experiments?
Use this fluffy yeast to create a delicious, nutty batter if youâre in the âswap wheat flour for a healthy/ gluten free/ millet everythingâ club.
4. Poach the Perfect Egg
If youâve ever struggled to poach an egg or been busy, this is the hack for you:
- Simmer water and vinegar in your tadka pan (you read that right). Best space, no mess; is perfect.
- Crack a room temperature egg in a small bowl. Use the back of the spoon to create a soft swirl in the tadka pan water, and pour the egg into the swirling centre.
- Use the back of the spoon once again to ensure the egg is setting in a soft ball shape.
- Set your timer to six to eight mins, depending on how runny you like your egg (more ways to dummy proof).
- Using a slotted spoon (the puri-frying-thingy), gently pick up the egg and transfer it to a kitchen towel to soak up the excess water.Â
5) The Coffee for sureee
Since I canât keep up with coffee’s many waves, I recreate the cold coffee I grew up with on the daily â think Nescafe machine coffee or the cold coffee dude at Churchgate Station.
- I start with a good ground coffee because I still want people to think Iâm cool and brew my espresso in my rickety mocha pot.
- I take the espresso with SO MUCH powdered dairy creamer, a little bit of sugar, a lot of ice, and shake it in my protein shaker â which has never been used even once to make an actual protein shake â to get it nice and creamy. Thatâs it.Â
Nuzha Ebrahim learnt how to cook at the age of nine, and knew right away that she never wanted to stop cooking. She is now the Chef and Founder of the Kuckeliku Breakfast House and The Fromagerie, both in Mumbai.
