Egg curry!

Egg curry is so easy to prepare and still, manages to make a meal special, without being very heavy. It was from my roommate R that I got a liking for egg curry. Nupur had made Egg Rassa (Egg curry-Marathi) and reading that reminded me of my roommate. So, I decided to try it.

The recipe was pretty similar to mine except for the addition of tomatoes, but the amount of spices used was very high. I was sceptic about the amount of cloves and cinnamon used, but then decided to give it a try. I tweaked the recipe a bit without affecting the originality of the recipe. I turned down the heat (reduce the number of red chillies) and reduced the amount of coconut used. That's it. No more changes. I have a habit of saute-ing the ginger and garlic in a cast iron pan before grinding them to a paste. This avoids the raw smell of garlic and ginger in the curry and also speedens the cooking time. Since the recipe suggest roasting the masala ingredients, I was more than happy.

Ingredients:
4 eggs, hard-boiled
2 large onion, very finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, very finely chopped
3-4 tbps grated coconut
1 inch ginger - chopped
4 cloves garlic - chopped
6 whole cloves
8 whole peppercorns
3 dry red chillies
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric & salt to taste

Preparing the masala: In a cast iron pan (any pan can used), heat the oil. Add the spices (cloves, peppercorns, red chillies, poppy seeds and fennel seeds) and saute well till the spices are aromatic and sizzling. Now add the onion, ginger, garlic and saute them till browned. Add the coconut and saute till well-roasted. Add the tomatoes and continue saute-ing for another 3-4 minutes. Allow this mixture to cool down and then grind it into a fine paste, adding some water when needed.

The Curry: Transfer the paste back to a saucepan, add salt and turmeric and enough water to make the desired consistency; bring to a boil and simmer for 10 mins. Peel the boiled eggs, halve them and add them to the curry. Simmer for another 3-4 mins. Garnish with cilantro.

Nupur suggests to serve this dish with the traditional Jeera rice. It, sure, is a great combination. But, I was not in mood for more oil or ghee(clarified butter). So, I made flavored rice to go with this. Boil rice with a few bay leaves, two cloves and two cinnamon, and Voila! Flavoured rice! :) I'm glad I tried the recipe without changing its originality. The Egg curry with flavoured rice was well received at home and I'll be making it very often from now on. Thanks Nupur!