Anda Bhurji (Spicy Indian Scrambled Eggs) Recipe

Tomatoes, onion, and fragrant spices transform plain scrambled eggs into a wonderfully flavorful meal, in a matter of minutes.

By
Denise D'silva Sankhé
Denise D'silva Sankhé is a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats.
Denise D'silva Sankhé

Denise is the author of The Beyond Curry Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through India. She wrote the popular Beyond Curry column for Serious Eats starting in 2012.

Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated December 06, 2022
The anda bhurji on a white ceramic plate with toasted white bread and a pat of butter on a stone counter

Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

Why It Works

  • Tomatoes, onion, and fragrant spices transform plain scrambled eggs into a flavorful meal in a matter of minutes.
  • Adding butter in two stages brings creamy richness to the dish.

In Indian cuisine, scrambled eggs take on a very different form than the familiar yellow, mild, homogenized egg preparation you find on breakfast tables around the world. These spicy scrambled eggs, called anda bhurji, are just the opposite. The dish is a riotous mix of colors, spice, and flavors laden with butter and character.

Bhurji is often made at home, but it's also a very popular street food. Some hawkers have fine-tuned its preparation to a dramatic event. Curious passers-by are instantly lured and loyal patrons watch mesmerized, as their orders come to life.

A wide flat frying pan (tava), almost a foot and a half in diameter, sizzles away over dancing flames as a dollop of butter is slapped onto it. With deft fingers, an onion is chopped whole, first one way, then across in the cooks' bare hands—no chopping board—then into the pan. No fear. The same treatment for the tomatoes and the spicy green chiles.

This feat is interrupted by the sight of eggs being cracked mid-air into a bowl and whisked to perfection, before they sizzle and melt into the spices and butter on the smoldering pan. Then the eggs are worked with a spoon that looks very similar to a flat-edged spade; the egg mixture is violently tossed, pummeled and broken down into tinier bits of scrambled egg rubble. The metal spoon clanging against the cast iron pan gives this incredible sight a fitting, high-energy beat.

It's usually two eggs to a single serving and some die-hard egg lovers add a sunny side-up over the bhurji. Once the egg is scraped off the pan and into the plate, pav (bread) is cut open, another sliver of butter is thrown onto the pan and the bread is vigorously rubbed into it to absorb any of the spicy eggy flavors that were left behind.

Bhurji is one of those dishes that is so widely loved, it has found its way to breakfast, lunch and dinner as a side, and sometimes as an in-between snack. And because the spice combinations used vary from region to region and home to home, every plateful of bhurji is a new discovery.

February 2012

Recipe Details

Anda Bhurji (Spicy Indian Scrambled Eggs) Recipe

Cook 15 mins
Active 10 mins
Total 15 mins
Serves 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil

  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped

  • 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

  • 3 green chile peppers, slit lengthwise

  • 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste (see notes)

  • 1 teaspoon red chile powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

  • 4 large eggs, lightly beaten

  • Salt

  • 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided

  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves, divided

Directions

  1. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and stir until softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add tomatoes, mix well, and cook until most of the excess moisture has evaporated, about 1 minute.

    Onions and tomatoes being cooked in a non-stick pan and stirred with a silicone spatula.

    Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

  2. Add green chiles and ginger-garlic paste, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add red chile powder and turmeric powder, and stir until oil separates from the paste, about 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the paste.

    Green chiles, ginger-garlic paste, red chile powder, and turmeric powder being fried in a non-stick pan until oil separates from the paste.

  3. Turn the heat to low. Add eggs and salt and gently stir until the mixture begins to form soft curds, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to high and vigorously stir the mixture, breaking bigger clumps of egg apart. Add 1 teaspoon of butter, and stir until melted. Stir in half of the cilantro. Remove from heat, and serve immediately, garnishing with remaining cilantro and butter. Serve with lightly toasted bread.

    A four-image collage showing the eggs being added to the skillet and then cooked until the desired consistency, and then plated with toast and butter.

    Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

Special Equipment

10-inch nonstick skillet

Notes

To make ginger-garlic paste, very finely mince, grate, or process equal parts peeled fresh ginger and peeled garlic.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
386 Calories
30g Fat
17g Carbs
16g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 386
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30g 38%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Cholesterol 382mg 127%
Sodium 569mg 25%
Total Carbohydrate 17g 6%
Dietary Fiber 4g 15%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 16g
Vitamin C 75mg 375%
Calcium 110mg 8%
Iron 4mg 20%
Potassium 702mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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