Ingredients
Scale
- 1 or 2 onions finely chopped (approx 1 cup chopped onion)
- 2 tomato’s deseeded and finely chopped (approx 0.5 cup tomato’s)
- 1 green chili chopped
- 0.5 cup dry coconut powder/flour (sub with dessicated unsweetened coconut but texture will be different)
- 2 tsp chopped fresh garlic
- 4 tsp chopped fresh ginger (wash, peel, then cut into thin discs, then into thin strips/juliennes and then chop these into finely chopped pieces)
- 1 cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 4 black peppercorns
- 4 tsp kashmiri red chili powder (this is sweeter colorful variety, reduce to 2 tsp or less if using the hotter red chili powder)
- 2 Tbsp Oil
- salt for seasoning
- 4 tsp finely chopped cilantro stems (very few leaves)
- 2 tsp or more lime juice for seasoning
- 4 hard boiled and peeled eggs
Instructions
- Add 1 Tbsp oil in the pan and set on medium heat till it heats up
- Add the cardamom, cloves, black pepper and heat them in the oil. The cloves should starts puffing up in the oil, but do not burn the spices
- Add the onions and sweat them on medium heat till they are cooked
- Add the garlic and half the finely chopped ginger (2 tsp), green chilies and sautee and stir briefly
- Add the coconut powder and sautee mixing well, not letting anything stick to the pan. Add a few tea spoons of water at a time if things stick and deglaze the pan
- then reduce the heat to low, add tomatoes and 1 tsp red chili powder and a few teaspoons of water if needed, and cover the pan with lid and cook for 10 minutes
- after 10 mins remove the lid and season with little bit of salt and let the mixture cool a bit and then grind to a smooth paste including the whole spices (getting the cloves ground into the paste is essential, you may remove the cardamom if your blender wont handle this)
- If needed add a tea spoon of water at a time to help blending it smoothly
- Return the mixture to the pan and add 0.5 cups to 1 cup of water as required, it should not be too thick like a gravy but it should not be thin like water either. It is best to add little water at a time instead of adding a lot and then reducing.
- Cook uncovered on medium heat for 15 minutes letting it simmer, keep adding little bit of water as needed.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a seperate pan on very low heat and when it warms add the remaining 3 tsp (less if you are using hotter kind) of the kashmiri red chili powder. As the oil warms up gently stir and the oil with start getting color and flavor of the chili powder. (optionally you can add a few pinches of kanda lasun masala or goda masala as well) It is important to not burn the powder so keep the heat low and once the oil starts to infuse turn the heat off and keep the pan to the side as it will continue to infuse
- In the pan with the egg curry, taste and season it with some salt and adjust the water now for final serving. Then reduce heat to low and add the infused oil on top and do not stir. You can deg-laze the oil pan with some curry and mix it back into the curry pot. Key is to not get a bubbling simmer at this point but just slowly warm the curry
- Cook for 10 more minutes and the red colored oil on top will get deeper red, at this point season and garnish with the remaining 2 tsp chopped ginger (this late addition does not cook through and retains its ginger flavor and presents itself as a flavor enhancer in one or the other bite refreshing your palate)
- Also add cilantro and lime juice and give a single quick stir and drop in the boiled eggs if you would like (it is okay to keep boiled eggs pristine white and add to the curry after it goes in the plate. Some people also like to fry the eggs in some spice. Our friend has also suggested to try poaching the eggs in this curry on gentle simmer for a variation)
- Serve the curry hot in a shallow dish with chapati or rice and a side vegetable salad and provide a wedge of lime for adjusting the seasoning.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Indian