Egg curry in coconut milk

I don't make egg curries very often. We like our eggs fried, in omelets or scrambled. But when your in a rush and have no time for an elaborate meal, this curry comes to your rescue. I got this recipe from my friend Allie, who makes this egg curry quite often. Her recipe calls for only four ingredients- garlic, East Indian bottle masala, coconut milk and boiled eggs. I know many may wonder, how can it be so easy or will it taste good enough. But I can assure you, having eaten this curry at her home a couple of times, it is delicious, specially when paired with hot steamed white or brown rice.

I make this curry a little differently. I add a few ingredients to make it more suitable to our palates at home. The original curry tastes coconuty and creamy, and has delicate flavor of spices. My variation makes it a little more spicy with the addition of green chillies and ginger and has onions and tomatoes. It is still one of the easiest things to make when in a rush or if you like eggs in a curry !

Recipe credit: Allison D'souza

Ingredients:

1. Boiled eggs - 8 nos
2. Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
3. Tomato - 1 large, finely chopped
4. Green chilly - 4 nos, finely chopped
5. Garlic - 8 falkes, minced
6. Ginger - 1 inch piece, minced
7. East Indian bottle masala - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
8. Salt - to taste
9. Oil - as needed

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onion and garlic, fry till brown. Then add ginger and green chillies and continue sautéing for a minute.
2. Add the tomatoes and salt and continue sautéing till they turn mushy. 
3. Once the tomatoes look done, add the bottle masala. Mix it and slowly add the coconut milk.
4. When the curry comes to a boil add the boiled eggs. After about three minutes switch off the flame. 

How to boil eggs:

1. Fill a pan or pot with enough water to cover the eggs. Gently ease the eggs into the pan.
2. Add a 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp vinegar to the water
3. Put the pan on the stove and let the water come to a boil. Lower the flame and let the eggs cook for five minutes.
4. After five minutes switch off the flame and let the eggs rest in the hot water for 12 minutes.
5. Wait for the eggs to cool down completely before cracking the shells. You may put the eggs in cold water, to fasten the process.
6. If the eggs are still hot or warm and you try to crack the shell open, they tend to break and you have egg white coming off with the shell. So be patient and gentle.

French Toast

French toast or egg bread as David calls it, is a favorite breakfast dish in my house. This is one of the only two ways David eats eggs, the other being eggs fried sunny side up. He refuses to eat eggs made any other way and that is extremely frustrating. But reserach says children refuse any new food twenty times before they decide to try it. So I have a long journey ahead of me, I guess, before he tries other egg preparations. Phew! But that's just a mum's rant.

Coming back to today's post, French toast is a easy breakfast recipe and can be tweaked to suit individual tastes and preferences. Typically, french toast is sweet but I remember eating this snack in my office cafeteria, where the chef added green chillies to suit our palates and there was no hint of sweetness whatsoever. It was more like eating a masala omelette bread. :-) But it was a popular dish and I loved it for my evening snack.

It is a simple dish and can be cooked by novices too. Specially if you have to make breakfast for a large group, this is a good choice.

Ingredients:

1. Egg - 1 no
2. Milk - 1 tbsp
3. Sugar - 1 tsp (as per taste)
4. Salt & pepper
5. Bread slices - 2 nos
6. Oil - for shallow frying

Method:

1. In a bowl, break the egg, add the milk, sugar, salt and pepper. Beat it well.
2. Dip one slice of bread completely and let it soak in the egg mixture.
3. Immediately transfer to a hot pan that has been drizzled with oil, and shallow fry on each side for a minute or two.
4. Repeat the same process with second slice.

Serve with tomato sauce.

 

Masala Omelette

An egg is a very  versatile ingredient. Your imagination and creativity can create wonders when you have eggs to experiment with. One can cook different dishes with eggs - starters, finger snacks, main course and even deserts. I am an egg lover, I can eat eggs as often for a meal and not feel bored. In fact I love omelettes and can have them at any time of the day. An omelette is a quick fix meal and that's the beauty of it. It takes absolutely no time to make an omelette. Omelettes can be had for breakfast, lunch or dinner or as an in between snack. Omelettes are made by beating eggs and seasoning with salt and pepper. One may add different ingredients for making a delicious heavy meal. They are made differently across the world - folded or flat. And fillings could range from onions, mushrooms, cheese, ham et al. 

The recipe I have for you today is the one you'd find in a typical Indian home for breakfast or at road side eatery. Indian omelettes are flat and typically contain onion, green chillies and coriander leaves and this is called - Masala omelette. I prefer a masala omelette for breakfast or as a side dish for dinner with dal or vegetable curry and rice. However, I also add tomatoes to my omelette. It's easy to make and for hard core non-vegetarians, an easy substitute for meat. 

Ingredients:

1. Eggs - 3 nos 
2. Onion - 1 small 
3. Tomato - 1 small
4. Green chilly - 1 no. 
5. Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp 
6. Ginger - 1 tbsp (grated) Optional 
7. Salt - to taste 
8. Turmeric 
9. Oil - for shallow frying 

Method: 

1. Chop the onion, tomato, green chilly and coriander leaves finely. Make three portions of these ingredients, including grated ginger. 
2. In a big bowl, break one egg, add salt, turmeric and one third of all the chopped ingredients. 
3. Beat all the ingredients well for a minute. 
4. Heat a pan and pour oil as required for shallow frying. Pour the egg mixture on to the pan. 
5. Egg cooks real fast and will set in about two minutes. 
6. Check if the egg is cooked and flip it to the other side. Let it cook on the other side as well for 2 to 3 minutes. 
7. Remove from the pan and repeat for the remaining two eggs as well. 

Alternatively, all three eggs and all the ingredients can be beaten together and three to four portions can be made. 
  
Omelette tastes best with pau, or bread which is lightly roasted on the pan after the omelette is taken off the pan. A hot cup of tea (chai) with the meal or at the end of it makes the meal complete.