Egg Bhurji

Maneet Chauhan’s nostalgic egg bhurji showcases the confidence of a chef who’s carved her own path.

- Andee Gosnell,AMELIA SCHWARTZ,MORGAN HUNT WARD

MANEET CHAUHAN LIVES IN FULL COLOR. While many of her fellow Chopped judges wear quiet neutrals, she sports electric marigold, lapis blue, or vibrant florals. Like her fashion, her culinary style is bright, warm, and joyful.

So it is with her egg bhurji, an Indian street food popular in Western India, that was published on foodandwine.com in 2021 and demonstrated in an episode of Chefs at Home, the Food & Wine YouTube series in which chefs cooked from their own kitchens. The softly scrambled eggs with aromatics and spices take Chauhan back to unhurried Sunday mornings with her mother, who served her bhurji on flaky homemade parathas generously slathered with butter. The meal was often accompanied by achar, a South Asian condiment of pickled fruits and vegetables that adds sharpness and depth. “Anytime I’m feeling low, I make egg bhurji. It gives me the feeling that everything in the world is all right,” Chauhan says.

The dish is easy to make and supported by a complex balance of aromatics and spices. Onion, chile, garlic, and ginger soften gently in ghee. Fresh tomatoes lend a bright edge of acidity, and spices such as coriander and garam masala weave into the beaten eggs, building aroma and intensity when cooked.

That sense of increasing clarity mirrors Chauhan’s own evolution as a chef. Long before 2010, when she became a permanent judge on