Can you beat this?

Representative Image

It's 2 am and we are trying an experiment in the kitchen. Late-night hunger pangs and a looming deadline are both the reason. We try our last attempt at making vegan eggs with Plantmade's Vegetarian Anda Powder (Rs 499). Scanning through the fridge and pantry, we decide to stick to making simple scrambled egg with salt and black pepper.

Bhurji made from Plantmade Vegetarian Anda liquid

So, we mix the powder with oil and water and pour it in a non-stick pan. It coagulates like an egg. As instructed, we add salt at the end. We place a bit of the eggs on a seed cracker. And… it fails to impress. The reason why we had left the vegetarian anda till the last day was because we were put off by another bhurji experiment from a few days ago. This was with a "liquid version", but more on that later. So, it was hard to bring ourselves to make one more vegetarian anda.

Since the liquid version had left us disappointed, reluctantly, we took up an invite from the just-launched Evo Foods to come and cook in their office kitchen at Chandivli. Founders Kartik Dixit and former restaurateur Shraddha Bhansali are on a mission to bring the plant-based revolution to India and claim to have used deep food science to create a clean protein alternative to India's traditional egg market.

Boiled egg patty burger passes the taste and texture test

We were given a sample of their boiled egg patty (Rs 300 for six patties), cut into cubes. It looked like paneer. We ate a cube, and it blew our mind. Tasting exactly like a boiled egg, it had the perfect texture too. We pan-seared it to see if the texture changed. It didn't turn rubbery. We coated it with breadcrumbs and deep-fried it; it tasted even better. We also tried the peri-peri version and loved the taste, making us dream of better egg salad and sandwiches to use it in. We tasted a chocolate mousse made using it and it worked well. Cholesterol-free, antibiotic-free and rich in Vitamin B12 and D3, BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acid) is what they say about this product.

Then, Evo Foods sent us a sample of the "liquid" version to try. This work-in-progress product is meant to resemble a beaten egg in taste, texture, chemistry, and nutrient profile, and can be used for scrambled eggs, frittata, and egg roll. We opened the bottle and it smelled rather less astringent than the one sent by Plantmade. We poured some into a non-stick pan, and it made the perfect-looking omelette. It tasted okay too but we couldn't bring ourselves to have more than two bites; which was the case with the Plantmade bhurji too. That had tasted more like moong dal chilla. As in the case of eggs, the vegan version also has two responses - love it or hate it. There is no middle ground.

Scrambled egg made from Plantmade Vegetarian Anda powder

Eggs are among the most prevalent animal-based foods in India, consumed across culture and religions. While it is said that duplicating the taste is easy to achieve, guaranteeing the texture of the cooked product is a challenge. We felt Evo Foods got it better. Bhansali later explained, "We take Indian legumes, extract proteins from them and use these to make a completely plant-based product. The vegan egg, whose exact recipe is patented, is close to an actual egg in protein quality. One way of measuring this is with PDCAAS [Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score]. Its values range from 0 to 1, with 1 denoting the highest quality protein. With a calorific value less than that of an egg and with many added vitamins like D3 and B12, the replacer is a very healthy protein source, devoid of cholesterol and antibiotics too."

Vegan eggs account for a more than $1.6 billion market worldwide, so there is enough space to launch vegan egg products and improve them. While Evo has expansion plans for the US and has partnered with restaurant brands to include Evo as a vegan option on the menu in India too, their goal is to put it in the hands of the consumers. How successful that's going to be, we will have to wait and see.

In their test kitchen, SMD pan fried the Evo Foods' boiled egg to test the change in taste and texture of the product Pic/Shadab Khan

Among the reasons why consumers are opting for a plant-based diet, including eggs, is to improve health, lower caloric intake and to support animal rights. We are not sure if it's the runny texture or the umami flavour of original eggs, but for this writer, who likes having poached eggs on toast with hollandaise sauce once a week, and ensures she enjoys a sunny side up or scrambled daily, it seems impossible to make the switch. But Evo's boiled variant, we wholeheartedly back.