The first time I had a really good egg curry was when I was a Congressional staffer living in Washington, DC. We would scrape together our loose change and head to Connecticut Ave. whenever possible to indulge in The Bombay Club's weekend champagne brunch. It offered crispy fresh-from-the-tandoor naan and bubbly, and a front seat to the political action and spot political heavyweights like Janet Reno, attorney general at the time.
Set under distinctive decor of the British Raj era, brunch included a delicious egg curry. I eat mostly plant-based, but I cannot resist this dish every once in awhile - if it's made well. While most North Indian egg curries, including the one featured in my third book Indian For Everyone, are made with a tomato base, this one uses coconut milk. I was enticed by the photo in one of my favorite Indian cookbooks, A little taste of India.
I did modify the recipe and skipped deep frying the egg, added Thai chiles, subbed tomato paste for fresh tomato, and made a few other minor changes, including the order in which I added the ingredients. In the original recipe the curry leaves are added towards the end, but I like them fried in the ghee lightly to really pull out flavor. I also reduced the amount of coconut milk used. The original recipe calls for another 2/3 of a cup, but I think 1 cup was perfect. Add more if you would prefer more of a base. Overall, I think you are going to love this recipe. If you don't eat eggs, no worries, use any baked tofu or other vegetarian substitute. You could even use the baked cauliflower recipe from my Gobi Manchurian recipe featured previously in the same base curry featured below.
Watch me make it in this Facebook Live class - just click here.
3 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil, divided (I used coconut oil)
1 pinch hing (asafoetida), optional
1 1/4 teaspoons turmeric powder, divided
6 boiled eggs, peeled and cooled
1 small shallot or yellow or red onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
10 curry leaves, optional
2 - 4 green Thai chiles, stems removed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted tomato paste
1 cup coconut milk, divided (I use Chef's Choice)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red chile powder or cayenne
1. Heat a heavy frying pan or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the ghee, the hing, and 1/4 teaspoon of the turmeric powder. Stir and cook for 1 minute until the ghee melts. Carefully add the eggs and saute them for 1 minute until they take on the beautiful yellow hue of the turmeric. They will stick a tiny bit, but gently move them around with a spatula taking care to keep them whole. Remove them and the extra ghee in the pan to a bowl to cool.
2. In the same pan (or in a different pan if you used a non-stick pan), add 2 tablespoons of the ghee. Once it melts, add 1 teaspoon of the turmeric, onion, and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes until the ingredients soften.
3. Add the curry leaves and fresh chiles. Stir and cook for 1 minute. While I love the taste of curry leaves, they are not easy to find. Just leave them out if you don't have them.
4. Add the tomato paste. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add 1/2 cup of the coconut milk. Stir and bring the contents to a simmer and cook for 30 seconds.
6. Add another 1/2 cup of coconut milk and again bring to a simmer. Stir and add the salt and red chile and cook through.
7. Slowly add the eggs from Step 1. Stir carefully until all the eggs are coated. Serve immediately with a side of rice or on a dosa. All the spices including the curry leaves are edible.
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