Egg masala-Easy Indian style Egg Curry | TummyKhush

You have “vegetarians” , you have “non-vegetarians” and then you have “egg-itarians”. That is the level of importance given to eggs. A lot of in-flight lunch menus these days have a separate section for people who don’t eat non-vegetarian food but love their eggs. And I am proud to say that hubby and me are a part of that elite group. Egg is a versatile ingredient. Have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, in between snacks. Have it with bread for breakfast, eat it with rice or rotis as main course, make a biryani or fried rice out of it. And how can one forget the ever green omelette. The options are endless. And if you are Indian and you love your curries, what better option than to make a nice spicy egg curry. That is what we are doing today. Simple ingredients that you would have in your kitchen even your weekend after the fridge has been raided completely and needs to be filled with a trip to the market. Weekday hurried cooking, weekend comfort food cravings ..this dish will work for you.

INGREDIENTS:

Eggs                         – 3 to 4 (really depends on the number of people you need to feed)
Onions                       – 2 medium finely chopped
Ginger                       -small piece grated
Garlic                       -3 to 4 cloves (depending on your taste,you can either slice the garlic if you like the bite or grate it finely)
Cumin seeds                  – 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies broken         – 1 to 2
Asafotieda/hing                 – a pinch optional
Turmeric                    – a pinch,for colour optional
Salt                         – to taste
Pepper powder                – to taste
Curry leaves                 -few
Green chillies – 3 to 4 sliced or chopped
Tomato paste or tamarind paste- depending on availability and your personal taste
Sugar                        – 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder/cayenne pepper – 1/2 tsp or depending on your taste
Coriander/dhania powder      – 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder(optional)- as per taste

PROCEDURE:

Boil eggs remove skin. Make small slits with a knife and keep aside.Slits will ensure that the masala is absorbed well into the eggs in the cooking process. (SEE TIPS BELOW)

Heat oil in a kadhai or heavy bottomed pan. Add the cumin seeds and allow them to splutter. Add the dry red chillies, turmeric, asofotieda and fry. Now add the ginger and garlic.You can use ginger-garlic paste too if you want an easy short cut.
Continue stirring. Add green chillies and curry leaves.

Once they are done, add the onions and fry till they turn translucent.
If you plan to add tamarind paste or tomato paste add it at this stage along with some sugar. Sugar will help to cutdown the sourness and enhance the flavour. Remember not to add too much sugar. We are looking for spicy not sweet.

Once everything is cooked it is time to add the spice powders. Chilli powder or cayenne pepper, cumin powder, garam masala powder. You can even add chicken masala if you wish. Just play around with the flavours and see what you like. Add salt too at this stage and mix well.

When oil start leaving the sides of the pan, that is your cue that the base is ready. Add a little bit of water, mix well and let it come to a boil. You could add broth too instead of water if you wish.

Add the boiled eggs to this and cooked on low flame for about 5 minutes till you feel eggs have absorbed the base and are flavoured well.

Garnish with chopped coriander and some spring onions.
Serve with rice, bread or rotis

SOME TIPS:

• Few tips to get good hard boiled eggs:
  Make sure to get the eggs to room temperature before boiling them.
  Adding salt and a match stick to water are two things I learnt from my online research. They prevent eggs from cracking and the egg white running into the boiling water and creating a white cloud
  Once done with boiling, allow the eggs to cool down to room temperature before removing the shells.
  Removing the shells under running cold water ensures that they come out properly resulting in good looking hard boiled eggs 😛

• Add some butter or half and half or some ghee just before serving

SERVING IDEAS:

• You can serve this egg gravy with rotis , naan or any indian breads of your choice.
• This goes well with plain rice or fried rice.
• You can have the left over egg curry with white or brown bread for a yummy breakfast.