Let your Easter breakfast be the highlight of your day and jazz it up with Chef Sabyasachi Gorai's Devilled Eggs starter and Trifle Cups for dessert. 

Chef Saby, who manages several restaurants in New Delhi and one in Chennai, prefers not to dine in restaurants and instead invites himself over to people's homes to sample different types of cooking.

Devilled Eggs

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs, hard-boiled
• 2-3 tbsp or less mayonnaise
• 1-2 tsp mustard paste
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Dash black pepper powder
• 1-2 tbsp chives, finely minced, optional

For the topping

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 heaping cup walnuts, finely minced
• ¼ tsp salt
• Few dashes cayenne pepper, optional

Method

• Peel the eggs and halve them lengthwise.
  Pop out the yolks, keep the whites aside and transfer the yolks to another bowl.
  Add 2 tsp water and mash with a fork.
  As you mash, add the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper.
  Continue to mash until very smooth.
  Alternatively, you can use a food processor.
  Keep aside.

For the topping

• Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-low heat.
  When it is warm, add the spices and stir until they are completely coated.
  Add the walnuts and the salt, and keep stirring.
  Stir and cook over low heat for another 5-8 minutes or so, until the walnuts are toasty.
  Be careful not to burn.
  Take off heat.
  Keep aside.

For the assembly

• Carefully and slowly, add 2 tsp of the yolk filling to each of the egg white cavities.
• Generously sprinkle the topping all over the filled eggs and serve cold or at room temperature -- plain or on toast or on a sala
  If you have walnut topping left, store in an air-tight container in the fridge and use for adding flavour to a salad or a soup at a later date.

Trifle Cups

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 14 sponge fingers or lady fingers or savoiardi, available for purchase online
• 2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 50 gm walnuts, chopped
• 200 gm raspberries or strawberries, halved or use thawed frozen berries
• ½ x 400 gm custard (please click here for the recipe [external link])
• 400 gm fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp clear honey
• Cocoa for dusting
• 150 ml boiling water
• 4 glasses for serving

Method

• In a bowl, mix the coffee with 150 ml boiling water.
  Soak the sponge fingers in the coffee for 5-8 seconds until just soft and place in the base of 4 glasses.
  Sprinkle half of the chopped walnuts over the sponge fingers and then the raspberries/strawberries.
• Fold the custard into the Greek yogurt with the honey.
  Spoon over the berries.
  Dust with a sprinkling of cocoa and add the remaining walnuts to serve.

Chef Sabyasachi Gorai is a consultant chef and mentor.

• REDIFF RECIPES