I love a good Scotch Egg & and this Indian version is called a Nargis Kebab and actually predates the British version!

An Indian Scotch Egg?

I love Scotch Egg so imagine my joy when I stumbled across something called a nargesi kebab. It was described as an Indian Scotch egg in a Restaurant in the UK.

I guess it was around 1995 and I had never seen it on a menu before and I had no idea if they are an old Indian recipe or not.

But I do know that they tasted delicious and that restaurant rapidly became my favourite place to get Indian food. They also were the only place that served a homestyle egg curry!

A bit of research indicates that this recipe was probably the forerunner of the British Scotch Egg.

My version uses a spiced beef mix and if fried to keep the perfect runny yolk.

Cooking Hints & Tips.

How you cook these nargesi kofta really will depend on how you intend to use them.

If I am eating them as a meal at home then I insist on a runny yolk and they must be deep-fried to achieve this.

Boil your eggs as long as it takes for you to get them out of the shells.

For me that is 5 to 6 minutes in boiling water, please note this is using unchilled eggs. As a general rule, eggs in Europe are not refrigerated.

If you are using chilled eggs then this will need to be up to a minute longer.

If I am taking them on a picnic then I boil them for 1-2 minutes longer and will then typically bake them in the oven rather than fry them.

In order to bake them I cook them in a fiercely hot oven around 220°C or 450°F for 15 minutes.

Also if you are planning to eat these cold then increase the spices by 15-25%. The intensity of spices tends to dull when food is served cooled.

Serving Suggestions.

A Nargis kebab is a seriously rich and filling centrepiece of a meal despite being diminutive in size.

As a result, I usually serve them with something light but also something with a little acidity and sweetness. This helps counter that all that rich protein.

That for me means a mint and cucumber raita.

Raita is a traditional Indian side dish with as many variations as there are families or restaurants.

However, the one I favour consists of yoghurt, sugar, lemon juice and tonnes of fresh mint.

This dish also works really well with a kachumber salad, which is a mix of onion, cucumber and often tomato.

It features a lemon and sugar “dressing” and herbs like mint and coriander.