
Egg bhurji (Indian spiced scrambled eggs)
Soft, crumbly eggs scrambled with onion, tomato, chile and warm spices, scooped up with butter-toasted rolls like the street stalls of Mumbai.
- 25 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $2.55 a serving
- 590 calories
- Vegetarian

Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 6 large eggs
- 4 dinner rolls, split
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
From your pantry
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
Each serving has about 590 calories, 29 g protein, 50 g carbs and 32 g fat, and costs about $2.55 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, tomatoes and serrano, and the ginger.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Dolly’s tip: Scrape the seeds out of the serrano if you want it mild.Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the salt and until smooth.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Spread the cut sides of the rolls with 1 tablespoon butter. Toast them cut side down in a large nonstick over medium heat until , about 2 minutes, then set aside.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
the rest of the butter in the same . Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and at the edges, about 5 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Add the serrano, ginger, turmeric, paprika and garam masala and stir for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down and look jammy, about 3 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
to low and pour in the eggs. Stir slowly and constantly until they form small, soft curds with no liquid egg left, 3 to 4 minutes.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Low heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Bhurji should be moist and crumbly. Take it off the heat as soon as the last wet bits disappear.Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Stir in the cilantro and serve with the toasted rolls for scooping.

Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this

Cottage cheese scrambled eggs
15 min

Eggs and soldiers
15 min

Soft scrambled eggs on buttery toast
12 min

Air fryer egg toast
25 min
30-minute dinners ›Vegetarian dinners ›What to make with eggs and tomatoes ›