How to make Marben’s tandoori scotch egg

“Chef Artois”—the eight-episode culinary miniseries produced by Toronto Life and Stella Artois—just wrapped up. If you weren’t following along, it’s not too late to catch the cook-off action. We’ve made it easy to binge the whole season. Here, you’ll find links to each of our bite-sized, 12-minute episodes. On “Chef Artois” the contestants have to scramble against the clock while recreating Toronto’s most iconic dishes without a recipe. Now, we’re inviting you to try making these dishes at home—but don’t worry, we’ve published the recipes alongside each episode recap.

Watch the episode

Make the dish

Tandoori Chicken Scotch Egg

Makes 6 Scotch Eggs

Ingredients

The eggs

6 large free-run eggs
1 tbsp baking soda
Ice water

The farce

(NB: Farce is a uniform mixture of lean meat with fat made by grinding, sieving or puréeing the ingredients)

375g free-run chicken breast, ground
65g natural yoghurt

The spice mix

10g salt
10g sweet smoked paprika
7g sugar
5g ground turmeric
5g fenugreek seeds
4g coriander seeds
4g cumin seeds
4 black peppercorns
Pinch cayenne pepper

The breading

2 eggs whisked with 50ml Milk
1 Cup breadcrumbs
½ cup flour
Oil for frying

Method

Make the spice mix. Toast the whole seeds in a pan until fragrant and grind with the paprika and cayenne.
Add the salt and sugar and combine well.
In a bowl, combine the chicken, yoghurt and spice mix and work well until the farce becomes sticky and homogenous.
Place in the fridge to chill.
Prepare the eggs for boiling by bringing a pot of water (2-3 litres) to a boil along with a tablespoon of baking soda. Although not essential, it will make your eggs easier to peel.
Carefully place the eggs in the boiling water and set a timer for 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of ice water to chill the eggs.
After 6 minutes, remove the eggs and place immediately in the ice water bath and allow to chill for a few minutes.
Peel the eggs carefully. They will be very delicate.
Remove the farce from the fridge and separate out into six 80g balls. Take a portion and, with wet hands, flatten it out into a disk as large as possible in your hands. Carefully wrap this around the peeled egg ensuring that there are no cracks or holes in the farce. Repeat with the rest of the eggs and chill in the fridge.
Next prepare a breading station by setting out three bowls: one with flour, one with breadcrumbs and one with the egg wash. Take the wrapped eggs from the fridge and, one by one, gently roll in the flour, then the eggwash, then the breadcrumbs. The scotch egg should be completely covered in breadcrumbs and you should not be able to see any farce or egg.
Once all the eggs are breaded, they may be returned to the fridge.
Next, ready your frying pan. Pour oil into a pan with fairly high sides. Ideally, the scotch eggs will fry in oil that comes halfway up the egg. Heat to 350F or until a drop of egg wash bubbles gently.
Cook your eggs two at a time, basting the eggs with the hot oil and turning from time to time to ensure even cooking.
Once the eggs are dark golden-brown, remove from the oil and let drain on a paper towel.
The eggs can now be enjoyed hot, warm or cold as an appetizer, snack or part of a charcuterie board.

Serving suggestion: delicious with pickled vegetables and a tangy relish.

More Chef Artois Episodes and Recipes

Part 01How to make Chef Ramon Simarro’s seafood paella

“Chef Artois”—the eight-episode culinary miniseries produced by Toronto Life and Stella Artois—just wrapped up. If you weren’t following along, it’s not too late to catch the cook-off action. We’ve made it easy to binge the whole season. Here, you’ll find links to each of our bite-sized, 12-minute episodes. On “Chef Artois” the contestants have to scramble against the clock while recreating Toronto’s most iconic dishes without a recipe. Now, we’re inviting you to try making these dishes at...