What gets eaten first, the curry or the egg?

by Caroline on August 11, 2009

egg curry in panBoiled eggs with their fatty yellow yolks are one of my top ten favorite foods (with fried and poached eggs somewhere on that list, as well). So when I discovered curried eggs at Raja’s, my Indian lunch spot downtown Miami, I knew I had to find a recipe to try at home. 

With good fortune, I discovered 660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking by Raghavan Iyer a few weeks ago through a Serious Eats Cook the Book post. Of his 660 curries, three are egg. And I had all of the ingredients on hand to make an amended version of his “Easter Eggs with Onion-Garlic Sauce.”  

In lieu of Iyer’s custom garam masala blend, I used an off-the-shelf version I picked up at Whole Foods. (It’s going to take major stocking up at Asia Grocery before I can seriously tackle this cookbook.) I also subbed yellow onion for purple and used one chile rather than two. These variants surely affected the flavor of the final product, but with one bite I ceased to worry. 

Gently reheating the eggs softened their yolks into a creamy golden mass that melted on my tongue. And the sauce was a perfect complement. It didn’t mask the yolk’s glory, but formed a fragrant pool to slurp and sop up with bread and maybe my fingers. I didn’t leave a drop in the pan.  

Curried Eggs with Onion-Garlic Sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 cup water
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro 
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 serrano chile, stems removed and split lengthwise
1 medium tomato, chopped
6 large eggs, hard boiled and cut in half lengthwise

Instructions
Heat oil over medium in a large frying pan. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 10 minutes, until golden. Stir in garam masala, and cook one minute more. Transfer onion mixture to a blender, add water, and puree until smoothe.

Pour liquid back into pan, adding cilantro, salt, chile, and tomato. Bring mixture to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Place eggs in pan, yolk side up. Spoon sauce over eggs as the sauce thickens, cooking for 8 minutes. 

Divide eggs into bowls, pouring the sauce over each portion.

Serves 3

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Guiltless eggs in Purgatory — Occasional Omnivore
November 2, 2009 at 8:50 pm

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Caroline August 27, 2009 at 7:17 pm

What a great idea. I haven’t tried the smoked eggs yet, but I’ll have to order them next time you all do a weekend share.

margie, Bee Heaven Farm August 26, 2009 at 3:03 pm

ooooooooohh! sounds yummy. I bet it would be great with our smoked eggs…

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