The rice and lentils for the khichdi need to be soaked in water for 30 minutes or so before you use them – and that can happen while you’re making the masala sauce. So, add the rice, lentils and 1 heaped teaspoon salt to a mixing bowl with enough water to cover by 2 inches. You’ll drain off the water before you add the rice and lentils to your khichdi.

You want to use a large pan that’s easily big enough to hold all the sauce’s ingredients. Set your pan on medium heat and add the oil. Let it heat for a minute, then add the onions, cumin, ginger, and salt. Stir thoroughly so that onion gets a coating of the spicy, salty oil.

Let the onions sizzle away gently on that medium heat for about 6 minutes with the occasional stir. You want the onions to soften and begin to pick up a little darkish gold color around their edges.

As soon as that happens, add the cherry tomatoes and give the pan a good stir. You’re now looking for the tomatoes to start softening and to lose some of their body as they release most of their juice. With a few encouraging stirs, that will take about 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add the cayenne peppers, bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, fenugreek, cloves, black pepper, and brown sugar. Stir thoroughly, and when the juicy mixture quickly comes up to a brisk bubble, stir in the water and chopped canned tomatoes with all their juice, and drop the heat to low – it’s simmer time.

Let the sauce gently simmer on low heat for 25 minutes. This low-and-slow simmer is important. It allows the sauce to thicken slightly and develop a jammy gloss as the flavors meld and intensify.

Turn off the heat and let your masala sauce sit while you make your khichdi and cook the eggs. Before that, check the sauce for saltiness and add more if that suits you. Bear in mind that the lemon juice doesn’t go in yet. That only happens right at the end when you re-heat the sauce ready for serving,

Set a saucepan (one with a good lid) that’s big enough to hold all the khichdi’s ingredients on medium heat and add the butter and oil. Once the buttery oil starts to foam, stir in the onion, cumin, turmeric, and salt.

Drop the heat to low-medium and let the onion fry with a few watchful stirs until it softens and takes on a very light golden color. That’ll take about 5 minutes. For the onions, soft and pale are the watchwords here – you don’t want them to darken or crisp at all.

Now stir in the carrot and cauliflower and let the mix gently fry on that low-medium heat for another 3 minutes with a few careful stirs so as not to break the cauliflower apart.

Add the soaked and drained rice and lentils, and gently stir the pan, so they get a coating of the spicy, buttery oil. Add the water, stir gently, and raise the heat to medium-high.

As soon as the pan starts to boil, drop the heat to low and cover the pan. You now want the covered pan to run at a very low simmer, with a couple of stirs, for 10 minutes. That’s when you gently stir the peas into your khichdi, and check for saltiness. You may find you want more salt, and now’s the time to add it.

Keep your covered pan on that low, simmering heat for another 2 minutes or so, until all the water has been absorbed and the rice and lentils are thoroughly softened. Once that happens, turn off the heat – your khichdi is done.

It can now sit warmly covered in its pan while you cook the eggs and re-heat the masala sauce – with its lemon juice added - so it’s ready for serving piping hot over the khichdi and topped with the eggs,

Lay the eggs in your saucepan in a single layer. Cover them with cold water and set them to boil on high heat.

As soon as the water starts to boil, drop the heat to low, so the water runs at a barely-bubbling simmer for 4 minutes.

Turn off the heat, drain the water from the pan, and cover the eggs with cold water. As soon as they are just cool enough to handle, crack the shells (this makes them easier to peel cleanly), and leave the eggs to finish cooling in the water until you can comfortably peel and halve them with a sharp knife.

I’d use a big, warmed platter for this and begin by covering its center with a layer of warm khichdi about an inch thick.

Now cover the center of the khichdi with your re-heated, piping hot, lemon-just-added masala sauce, so that it's ringed by the khichdi. Sprinkle the khichdi’s edges with the sliced serrano peppers and the roughly chopped cilantro.

Arrange the halved eggs yolk-side up on the masala sauce and present your platter with the lime quarters alongside. Folks can then happily help themselves.