Florida Food Lover: Egg Curry

Tonight we had our neighbor, Vimmi, over for dinner and made egg curry. I learned about this dish from my college roommate, Amy, whose family is originally from Kerala, India. Whenever her parents came to visit, Amy’s mom would bring a cooler full of her homemade Indian food.

While I’m not an expert in Indian cooking at all, I’ve attempted to make this dish on my own about half a dozen times now. Here is the recipe I follow:

Egg Curry (adapted from Unfussy Epicure)

Ingredients:

· 8-10 eggs (the original recipe only calls for 4, but trust me, you’ll want more)

· 4 T vegetable oil

· 2 tsp black mustard seeds (available at any Indian grocery store)

· 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

· 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

· 1½” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

· ½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced. (My version isn’t nearly as spicy as the authentic Indian version…the original recipe calls for 3 Serrano peppers instead. Use your own judgment depending on the spice level you’d like)

· 4 tsp Aachi brand Egg Curry Masala mix (I purchased this from an Indian grocery store – it is a blend of coriander, chilli, cumin seed, pepper, turmeric, clove, and salt) If you don’t have this, you can substitute 2 tsp ground turmeric, 2 tsp cumin seeds, and a dash of salt & pepper instead.

· 3 T dried coconut

· 1 cup plain yogurt

· 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

· Naan (I bought the Stonefire brand Tandoor baked garlic Naan)

Directions:

1. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Place on the stovetop on high heat, then when the water comes to a rolling boil, turn stove off. Let sit, covered, for 10 minutes, then drain and cover in ice water. When eggs are cold, peel and cut them in half lengthwise.

2. While you prepare the remaining curry, cook the rice according to instructions.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. When the oil starts simmering, add the mustard seeds.

4. When the seeds start to pop, turn the heat down to medium and slowly add the onions (careful – the popping mustard seeds can hit you with hot oil!) Cook the onions until soft and golden, around 5-10 minutes.