BREAKFAST CUISINE

That essentially English idea of a 'boiled egg' for breakfast, is a very foreign concept in India - where it is more usual to have a cup of chai and perhaps a bowl of poha (spicy flat rice) or upma, a spicy porridge or dosa, a Southern Indian dish, which looks rather like a Christmas Cracker, only much much bigger and is filled with potato in the middle, served with a number of hot spicy sauces.  Consequently,  egg cups are impossible to find in any Indian shop....so, in desperation I checked my kitchen shelves for an alternative and I found that the top of the Eno's Fruit Salts bottle, was just about the right size to hold the egg, though the height was definitely not right - so high up off the saucer, the egg was separated from both it's cut-off 'lid' and the little pile of salt and pepper below - the disproportionate scale, is not pleasing to the eye nor is it practical !   So I went in search of some more appropriate alternative in the shops of Vadodara.  On a glass shelf in Landmark, the bookshop, I saw one very small mug, with a smiley face on it and an even smaller cup-like object, which consisted of a truncated body and two legs and said 'good pals' - so with a surge of hope, I bought them.

With great anticipation, I unwrapped my parcel when I got home, to see how well an egg would fit into my two new 'would-be' Indian egg cups - but...alas... they are oval and to my profound disappointment, I found that no amount of turning, will make a round object fit into an oval void !  So it's back to the Eno's bottle !