Rich & delicious savory cake with bread, beef & eggs…
This is a popular Malabar recipe. The beef filling can be replaced with chicken or mutton/lamb. This will make a great dish for Eid & special occasions.
Cooking Video
Irachi Pola | 3 Layered Savoury Bread Beef Egg Cake | Popular Malabar Recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Thas
Serves: 5 people
Ingredients
For marinating beef cubes
- Beef- 1 lb or ½ kg (beef can be replaced with boneless chicken breasts)
- Ginger, grated- ½ tbsp
- Garlic, grated- ½ tbsp
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Kashmiri chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Garam masala- 1 tsp
- Salt- 1½ tsp
For making the beef filling
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Onion, chopped- 3
- Salt- ½ tsp
- Garlic- 3 cloves
- Ginger- 1-inch slice
- Green chili- 1
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Water- 1 tbsp
- Cooked crushed beef
- Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
For making bread batter
- White bread, cut off the sides- 4 slices
- Eggs- 2
- Ground Pepper- ¼ tsp
- Salt- ¼ tsp
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Water- ¾ cup
For making the top layer
- Eggs- 2
- Ground Pepper- ¼ tsp
- Salt- ¼ tsp
Other ingredients
- Ghee- 2 tbsp
- Roasted cashew nuts- ¼ cup
Instructions
Cooking beef filling
- Spread all the spices mentioned 'for marinating the beef' on the beef cubes, let marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Beef can be replaced with boneless chicken breasts diced.
- I've used Instant pot to pressure cook the marinated beef. You can also use a regular pressure cooker.
- Add the beef to the stainless steel pot.
- Do not add any water.
- Select pressure cook setting, set time to 20 minutes at high pressure.
- If using chicken, should be pressure cooked for 10 minutes in the Instant Pot.
- After 20 minutes of pressure cooking, do a quick pressure release.
- There will be some liquid in the pot, drain the liquid & use that for making soups.
- We'll be only using the cooked beef.
- Let the beef cool down.
- Beef can be cooked ahead of time & store in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for a few weeks.
- In a food processor, coarsely grind the cooked beef, keep aside. Do not ground to a smooth paste.
- Place a wide pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp oil.
- Add the onions, season with salt.
- In a blender, coarsely grind the garlic, ginger, green chili & curry leaves along with 1 tbsp water together.
- Add the ground ginger-garlic-green chili mix to the onions.
- Cook till onions turn light golden in color.
- Add the coarsely ground cooked beef. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add chopped cilantro, combine well.
- Remove the pan from the heat, let cool down.
- Beef filling is ready, this can be made ahead of time & stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
Making bread batter
- In a blender- grind the bread, eggs, ground pepper, salt, and turmeric powder along with water to a smooth thick batter.
Making the top layer
- In a bowl, beat the eggs using a fork or whisk along with ground pepper and salt, keep aside.
Cooking Irachi Pola
- Use a medium-sized non-stick saucepan for cooking this.
- Place the saucepan over low heat.
- Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with 1 tbsp ghee.
- Pour the pureed bread batter onto the pan as the first layer, cover the pan with its lid.
- Over low heat, let the batter cook till the center has almost cooked, it shouldn’t be watery on the top.
- This would take around 15 minutes.
- After the first layer has cooked, evenly spread 2 cups of the prepared beef filling over it.
- Cover the pan with its lid and let cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Pour the beaten egg mixture evenly as the top layer.
- Garnish with cashew nuts over the egg mixture.
- Cover the pan with its lid and cook over low heat till the top egg layer has cooked well.
- It will take about 25 minutes, make sure the top egg layer is not watery, it should resemble an omelette.
- After 25 minutes of cooking, insert a fork into the center and ensure the center of the bread layer has cooked well.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
- Have a large plate ready.
- Using a knife, gently run through the sides of the pan, as the pan has been greased well the cake wouldn’t stick to the pan.
- Cover the pan with a plate, turn the pan upside down, and gently tap on the bottom of the pan.
- The cake or Irachipola will fall nicely onto the plate.
- Grease the pan again with 1 tbsp ghee.
- Using a wide spatula, gently slide the cake into the pan, the top layer will become the bottom layer in the pan.
- Over low heat, cook the cake for 10 minutes so that the egg layer will turn golden in color.
- Remove the pan from the heat, cover the pan with the plate and flip over, let the cake fall onto the plate.
- It will be set well and will resemble a cake with 3 layers- bread, beef filling & eggs.
- Cut into wedges and enjoy.
