Where's the cheese?

Cheese capsicum omelette (pan size 24 cms.)

 'Where's the cheese?' You may ask. Well, it isn't there in the pic above. I added it as an afterthought this morning as I relished my omelette, when the house was sleeping. I first tasted a quarter of the omelette and felt the bottom was undercooked. So I tossed the 3/4ths into the pan again and let it sim. When I had the second quarter, I felt the taste could be enhanced with cheese. So I grated some and sprinkled it over it. 

Lo and behold, Dwayne (10) loved it and Queenie too said it was nice. Yesterday's masala omelette was a bit of a disaster, for though I liked it, Dwayne dismissed it with a trenchant phrase. 'All leaves,' he said. It was true I may have gone overboard with the curry leaves (karipatha) and the coriander (dhania) - I also added ginger. But this eclectic mix did not seem to cut any ice with him. It was evident he was not enjoying eating it. The mix of chilli powder and garam masala was also unwelcome, it seems. 

Masala omelette (pan size 16 cms.)

So today I took an entirely different route. I avoided the things I did yesterday while making the masala omelette. The first thing I did right was to choose a larger non-stick pan. Yesterday I used a pan which was 16 cms. at the base. Today I used one that was 24 cms. at the base. I usually use 4 eggs for the family and I noticed the omelette was getting scrunched up in the smaller pan. With less surface area to spread the omelette became thick and leathery. The coriander yesterday was also a bit dry owing to the outages (despite the inverter) due to the cyclone earlier this week.

Today I did not saute the onions before hand and they retained their crunchy flavour. I also added diced tomato which was unavailable yesterday - until we had a home delivery by Big Bazaar by afternoon. The diced capsicum blended well with the rest. 

This time I did not use butter to fry the omelette. I used vegetable oil. It gave off a mild flavour that was pleasing. The recipe advised slow flame so that's what I kept in mind. Omelettes (at least mine) often get overdone. When I moved to flip the omelette onto the plate, I saw that the plate just about covered the rim. Cooking it on both sides enhanced the taste. 

I learnt a lot by today's experience. To tuck into an omelette which is your own creation really sets the tone for the day. What's more it turned out well. The cheese capsicum omelette was light and easy to digest. There weren't too many things going on in the recipe like the last time I made a cheese omelette.

The cheese really set the omelette in a class apart. Cheese stands for something we want in life. That extra something which gives you that zing. To be able to have the cheese means to be able to deal with change and 'read the runes.'* In these uncertain times  of lockdown -- I am on vacation, by the way --cooking omelettes helps me connect with myself and take one day at a time.

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* Who Moved My Cheese  (1988) motivational book by Spencer Johnson. Base recipe: indianhealthyrecipes(dot)com. Pix by Brian Mendonca.