This curry, from what my mom tells me, contains the basis of pretty much all the curries she makes - you can replace the egg with something like chicken, and you now have what's more or less an authentic South Indian chicken curry! You can make this into either a wet or dry dish, change up the spice mixture, add in whatever vegetables you'd like, and end up with a solid curry that can be enjoyed beside the peas pulao (or other carbs like idlis, vadas, and dosas). # Ingredients - [ ] 8 eggs - [ ] A big onion - [ ] A big tomato - [ ] ~ 5 garlic cloves - [ ] Ginger (roughly the same amount as the garlic) - [ ] A handful of cashews - [ ] A couple tbsp of coconut powder (or a bit of the leftover coconut milk) - [ ] Whole spices: - [ ] Mustard seeds (optionally mixed with some udad dal; about a teaspoon) - [ ] Red chili peppers (about 6) - [ ] Fennel seeds (~ a tbsp) - [ ] Cardamom pods (2) - [ ] Cloves (2) - [ ] Bay leaves (2) - [ ] Curry leaves (a palmful) - [ ] Cumin seeds (~ a couple tbsp) - [ ] Powdered spices - [ ] Turmeric (~ 1/2 tsp) - [ ] Coriander (~ a couple tbsp) - [ ] Salt (~ a tbsp) - [ ] Optional: mint - [ ] Some ice and water - [ ] A bit of oil (I use avocado) # Tools - [ ] 4 prep bowls, one large (for eggs), three medium (for onion, tomato, and ginger/ garlic) - [ ] A pot (to boil the eggs) - [ ] A large pan/ pot for the curry - [ ] A small blender/ food processor - [ ] Something to stir the pot with - [ ] A knife and cutting board # Steps ## Boil the eggs 1. Fill a bowl large enough to fit all the eggs with ice water and keep it aside. 2. Place eggs in a pot, then fill with cool, salted water. 3. Bring it just up to a boil, then immediately cover it, turn the heat off, and let it sit for exactly 8 minutes. 4. Once the time is up, transfer the eggs to the ice bath and let them sit there until you've finished the next step ## Cut 'n' peel 1. Gather the rest of the ingredients 2. Roughly chop up the onion and put into a prep bowl. 3. Roughly chop up the tomato and put into a prep bowl. 4. Finely chop the ginger & garlic and put them into a prep bowl. 5. Peel the eggs and put them back into the ice bath bowl, ensuring there's no shells. It's completely okay to butcher this part nearly entirely - as long as you have a few eggs mostly intact, the rest don't have to be perfectly peeled and can even be in pieces. ## Cook the onions 1. Heat up the pan on medium-high heat with some oil and sprinkle in the mustard seed mix until they start to crack. 2. Add the onions and sauté until they're between translucent and brown: about blonde. 3. Transfer these back to the prep bowl for now. ## Temper the spices 1. Add the rest of the whole spices to the pan on medium heat with some oil, along with the ginger and garlic, for about five minutes. 2. Turn off the heat and put everything back into the prep bowl. ## Blend into a curry 1. Add a handful of the onion, a handful of the chopped tomato, some coconut powder or coconut milk, half of the tempered spices (including 3 chili peppers), some of the mint, the powdered spices, and the cashews to a small blender/ food processor. 2. Blend until you get anything close to a curry-like consistency; add water as needed, and it's okay to add a bit more than you need because it'll evaporate later anyways. ## Put it all together 1. Sauté the tomatoes in the tempered spices for a few minutes. 2. Add everything else except the eggs and bring it up to a nice simmer. 3. Add the eggs, and simmer for as long as you'd like (5 minutes suffices), adding water as necessary to get the consistency you prefer: you can have a soupier version that resembles Thai curry, or a drier version that caramelizes the onions. Stir the eggs brutally - make sure to chop some in halves or quarters, and mix all that egg throughout the curry; I like to leave half of them somewhat intact. 4. Give the curry a taste. If it feels like it's missing that "kick" - add in more salt or some chili powder; if it feels like it's lacking "depth," add in more spices or your choice of Indian masalas (sambar powder, rasam powder, garam masala, etc...). 5. Let it sit for a bit - the curry tastes much better when it's been stored in an airtight container in the fridge overnight, with eggs soaking in all the flavor. 6. Eat it with a carb of your choice - peas pulao is great, but dosa makes this into a killer breakfast. > [!tip] Summary: boil, cut 'n' peel, caramelize, temper, blend, combine