Camp Shakshuka
Tomato powder and dried peppers rehydrated into a thick sauce, then eggs poached right in it.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 73
- protein
- 15 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Eggs | 4 | carried in a rigid egg case, or use whole eggs from a cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Cumin seeds | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | chopped, or 1 tsp granulated |
| Cumin powder | 2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 2 tsp | coarse ground |
| Red chilli powder | 1 tsp | |
| Tomato powder | 3/4 cup | stands in for 750 g fresh tomatoes |
| Sun-dried tomato pieces | 1/4 cup | gives the sauce something to chew on |
| Dried bell pepper flakes | 1/3 cup | one big capsicum, dehydrated |
| Dried spinach flakes | 1/4 cup | optional |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | only if the sauce tastes sharp |
Method
- Pour 400 ml of water over the dried peppers, sun-dried tomato, and spinach in a mug or spare pot. Leave them 10 minutes while you set up.
- Heat the oil in a wide pot over a low flame. Add the cumin seeds and garlic and cook about a minute, until the seeds smell toasted. Do not let the garlic darken.
- Stir in the cumin powder, black pepper, and chilli powder. A few seconds only, then add the soaked vegetables with all their water.
- Whisk in the tomato powder a little at a time so it does not clump. Simmer 5 to 8 minutes until it thickens to a loose sauce and the pepper pieces are soft. Salt it, and add the sugar if it tastes sharp.
- Push the sauce aside to make four wells and crack an egg into each. Cover the pot with a lid or a plate and hold the lowest flame you can for 6 to 8 minutes, until the whites set.
- Eat straight from the pot. Tortillas or hard flatbread mop it up.
Real shakshuka is 750 grams of tomatoes cooking down for a quarter hour. Tomato powder does that job in five minutes, because the water was already removed at a factory. Add it gradually and whisk, or you get lumps of paste in thin water. The sun-dried pieces are there for texture; powder alone makes a sauce with no body to it.
Eggs are the reason this needs a cooler and a rigid case, and they are why the tag list has no vegan on it. The poach is the only fussy part: the sauce has to be thick enough to hold a well, and the flame has to be low enough that the bottom does not scorch while the whites set. A lid speeds it up by cooking the tops with steam. If your stove only has one setting, pull the pot half off the burner.
Packing
Tomato powder, dried vegetables, and every spice go into one bag at home. In camp it is one bag, one bottle of oil, and the eggs. Eggs travel in a hard case near the top of the pack, never at the bottom.
Variations
- Swap the eggs for a can of chickpeas, drained, to make it vegan and cooler-free.
- A foil packet of tuna stirred in at the end turns it into a heavier dinner.
- No egg case? Crack the eggs into a leakproof bottle at the trailhead and pour them in as one layer, scrambled-style.
https://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/22570/shakshouka