Egg curry (or Anda Masala as it is known in India) is one of those dishes that sounds a little bit wrong to a western palette but is in fact a great dish. Quick to prepare, cheap and incredibly healthy, what’s not to like? This dish is based on a North Indian recipe a friend showed me.
While the masala sauce is onion and tomato based (no coconut oil like many South Indian egg curry recipes) the eggs seem to bring an almost creamy taste to the dish. This works equally well as a vegetarian main dish as it does a side.
The following recipe will serve 2 people if served as a main or 4-6 as a side dish.
Egg Curry Ingredients
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- 1 and a half finely chopped onions
- 1 piece of cinnamon bark (2 inches long)
- 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
- 2 teaspoons of ground coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- 1 fresh green chilli (cut diagonally in half)
- 2 large tomatoes (skinned, peeled and pureed)
- 1 cup of water
- Fresh coriander to garnish
To hard boil the eggs place them in a saucepan of cold water over a high heat. As soon as the water comes to a rolling boil switch off the heat and place the lid on the pan. Leave to stand for 9 minutes before rinsing the eggs under lots of cold water in order to stop the cooking process. Once cooled fully peel the eggs and leave them to soak in cold water while preparing the gravy.
An easy way of de-skinning and pureeing the tomatoes is to cut them in half and grate them over a bowl. Do this in advance while the eggs are boiling.
Next up, the masala sauce.
Add the cumin seeds to a pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over a medium heat.
As soon as the seeds start to brown slightly add the chopped onions and cinnamon bark. Stir regularly over a medium heat, cooking down the onions until they start to brown. Don’t rush cooking the onions as this is the key part in any Indian curry and imparts amazing flavour in to the final sauce.
Once the onions are just starting to brown, add the chilli powder, ground coriander seeds, turmeric, garlic, green chilli and salt. Fry this off for a minute or two – it will likely go very dry in the pan.
Add the pureed tomato and cook for a further minute stirring regularly before adding the water. Turn the heat down, place the lid on the pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Finally remove the lid, slice the eggs in half and carefully place them in the pan, sliced side up. Carefully spoon some masala over the eggs and simmer gently for another 5 minutes before serving with some fresh coriander.
