Scotch Eggs Kricket Style

 

 

Scotch Eggs with Moilee Sauce

"The Scotch egg is a quintessential British pub snack that has been given an Indian reinvention here, with the addition of spiced crab meat and a light, sweet and spicy moilee sauce. Make sure you time your boiled eggs to perfection, for maximum oozey, yolky goodness!" - Will Bowlby, Kricket

SERVES  4

6 medium free-range brown eggs

160 g (5½ oz) unpasteurised white crab meat

80 g (3 oz) unpasteurised brown crab meat

1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped green chillies

a handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

a handful of fresh curry leaves

200 g (7 oz/scant 2¾ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

500 g (1 lb 2 oz/8 cups) panko breadcrumbs

1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) vegetable oil, for deep-frying

samphire, quickly sautéed in a little oil or butter, to serve

 

For the Moilee Sauce

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

a handful of fresh curry leaves

1 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1 thumb-size piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

200 ml (7 fl oz/scant 1 cup) coconut milk

a generous squeeze of lime juice

a handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped

caster (superfine) sugar, to taste

sea salt, to taste

 

Method

First make the moilee sauce. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan, then add the mustard seeds and cook until they start to splutter. Add the curry leaves, then turn down the heat before adding the onion. Cook for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent but without any colour. Add the turmeric, green chillies and ginger and stir to coat the onions in the spices. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Add the lime juice and coriander, then season to taste with sugar and salt. Cover and leave to stand, ready to heat it up when you serve.

To make the Scotch eggs, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, lower 4 eggs into the water and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and place them straight into a bowl of iced water to stop them cooking. Once cooled, remove from the water, peel the eggs and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the white and brown crab meat together with the ginger, garlic, chillies, coriander and curry leaves. Shape the mixture around each egg. Beat the remaining 2 eggs in a bowl and put the flour and breadcrumbs into another. Roll the eggs first in the beaten eggs, followed by the flour and breadcrumbs mixture. Put the eggs into the refrigerator to firm up.

Pour the oil in a deep frying-pan (skillet) or kadai, and heat until it is about 180°C (350°F). The oil is hot enough when a cube of bread sizzles when dropped into it. Lower the eggs, one by one, into the oil and fry for about 3–4 minutes until golden brown, then remove and drain on kitchen paper. Reheat the moilee sauce and serve with the Scotch eggs and the sautéed samphire.

Photography by Hugh Johnson

Kricket by Will Bowlby is available now in good shops that sell books and online from Amazon and Waterstones