Egg Curry
Anda Curry
Yashoda Gupta (Mamta's mum)
This is an excellent curry to make when you have unexpected guests. It used to be very popular when I was a child but became less popular since the cholesterol scare. Now that the eggs are back in favour, it might catch up again! My family loves it, especially with hot Chapatties or Plain Parathas.
Please note that most Indians of my generation will boil their eggs hard, when full boiled eggs are mentioned. Although I love soft boiled eggs with a runny yolk for breakfast, I have to have them with hard yello in my curry. You can choose to keep is soft, but it will run into the curry gravy and make a mess.
Serves 6March 2023
Ingredients
6-8 eggs, hard boiled* (keep the yellow runny, if you prefer, but they are usually hard boiled in India), peeled and halved
200 gm. (1 large) onion
1/2 inch piece of ginger peeled
2 cloves of garlic peeled (optional)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped finely or 125 gm. tinned tomatoes
2-3 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida or hing powder (optional)
2-3 whole red chillies (optional)
1-2 bay leaves**
1/2 stick cinnamon**
2 large black cardamoms**
2 tsp. coriander powder**
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. chilli powder
Salt to taste
1-2 cups water
A small bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Optional:
1 heaped tbsp. coconut milk/cream powder or coconut milk to taste or a couple of tablespoons of double cream.
**Most Indian of my generation like their eggs hard boiled, 6-7 minutes. If you prefer yours with a runny yolk, boil accordingly, 4-5 minutes maximum.
**If you do not have whole spices, use 1 tsp. Garam Masala powder. However, the special flavour of the whole spices is very distinctive and can not be replaced by garam masala powder.
Instructions
Grind onion, garlic and ginger finely into a smooth paste in a food processor or blender.
Heat oil, add cumin seeds, hing powder, whole chillies and whole spices*. When cumin seeds splutter, add onion, ginger, garlic mix and fry until golden brown and oil begins to separate. If you are using less oil, you won't see the oil separating, but the whole mass will begin to come of the pan, see picture 3. Towards the end, frequent stirring is required to stop it from sticking.
Add coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder and salt, stir for 10-20 seconds.
Add tomatoes and cook, stirring all the time, until most of the liquid is evaporated and oil separates.
Add 1 cup of water and simmer the gravy for 10 minutes. The gravy should be thick like custard, so that it sticks around the eggs. Turn heat off.
Add 3/4th of the coriander leaves and garam masala powder, if used.
Add coconut milk/powder/cream here, if using.
Place the halved eggs in a serving bowl and pour over the curry sauce, covering all eggs.
Garnish with the remaining chopped coriander leaves and serve with hot Chapatties or Nan and Plain Pulao/Pilaf Rice.
Notes
Garnish can include nicely browned onion slices (1 small onion).
You can add 2 tbsp. double cream or sour cream or Quark's very low fat soft cheese to the curry sauce, towards the end of step 6