Egg Curry

August 25, 2008 | Filed Under Eggs, Fellow Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, When My Soup Came Alive | 29 Comments 

 Please help me welcome guest blogger Sra of When My Soup Came Alive!  Thanks for being here, Sra!

Paz

2008 © When My Soup Came Alive - All Rights Reserved

I’m honoured to be a guest blogger for Paz, whom I came to know even before I set up my own blog.

When Paz invited me to write for her blog, I only had one dish in my drafts, and no story to go with it. And I had promised to send her the post as soon as I could, so ever since we spoke to each other before I sent this post, my hours were filled with thoughts about how to put the egg curry in context.

I’m no great believer in the happy statement that things have a way of falling into place but that’s exactly what happened with this post.  I came around to deciding how, in India, when there is no meat readily available to feed visiting guests or even not-so-staunch vegetarian guests, eggs come in handy. Today, I had a guest, and because of having to accompany her on her rushed schedule, we made do with leftovers for lunch, but back home for dinner, we made omelettes with coriander and curry leaf and our meal was made! Immediately special! Despite the presence of a dozen eggs in my refrigerator, I wouldn’t have thought of the omelettes if I hadn’t been thinking about the post.

Guests or not, eggs are a sort of a halfway house - they are seen as making up for the lack of meat, somewhat, and they are dressier than vegetables, or even an elaborate all-vegetarian meal. If you simply don’t have the energy to rustle up a full-fledged non-vegetarian dish, just the presence of eggs will liven up the dining table, and everyone’s minds. It’s as if you’ve made a fair effort to cook something special. Of course, you can even resort to eggs when you don’t want to spend money on meat J

Eggs are friendly - they are easy to cook, are versatile and are done fast. And the egg curry, or should I say sauté, I’m talking about here is a nifty dish that takes only relatively little time to make, and is satisfying as well.

Ed. Note:  This dish takes about 10-15 minutes to make, once the eggs are boiled and shelled.

Eggs Curry

When My Soup Came Alive

Eggs, boiled, shelled - 4

Onions, minced - 2 cups

Coriander/cilantro, chopped - ½ cup

Curry leaves (optional, but recommended) - 5-6

Green chillies - 3, chopped (or fewer)

Or

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 1-½ tsp (or very finely chopped ginger and garlic - 3/4 tsp each)

Mustard seed - 1 tsp

Cumin seed - ½ tsp

Turmeric - ½ tsp

Garam masala - ½ - 1 tsp (http://indianfood.about.com/od/masalarecipes/r/garammasala.htm)

Salt, to taste

Oil - 3 tsp

Score the eggs with a piece of the shell - this is to allow the spices to seep in. Three or four gashes will do.

In a wok, heat the oil. Pop in the mustard seed. Once it begins to splutter, add the cumin.

Now turn the heat down, add the onion and sauté. If you’re the impatient sort, add a bit of salt to the onion and continue to sauté - this is to hurry the process. Sweat the onions as much as you can. Wait long enough to let them turn pink and transparent, at the very least.

Now add the green chillies. Sauté. (If you’re using red chilli powder, wait.)

Add the ginger-garlic paste. Mix it well with the onions and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the curry leaves, stir for a few seconds.

Add the salt, turmeric, a pinch of the garam masala and red chilli powder, if you’re using it, at this stage.

Mix it all up.

Now add the eggs to the onion mixture and keep turning them around frequently (not constantly). They will break a little, or they may break up into thirds and halves but that’s the fun - they get coated with the spices, and the white, now yellow with all the spices, turns a crusty brown here and there as the heat roasts it. A slow fire is the key.

Sprinkle the rest of the garam masala over the curry and fold it in. Garnish with the coriander.

Bon appetit!

2008 © When My Soup Came Alive - All Rights Reserved