EGG CURRY WITH COCONUT POWDER

Hyeee.  Its been a loong time since I blogged, and I honestly missed it lot.  Reasons for my absence were guests at home, and most importantly my laptop was giving me trouble and I just couldnt blog as much as I wished I could.  However, alls well that ends well, and I am back and going to post big time, coz I have a lot on my drafts folder.

Life has been good.  God has been kind.  I am finally beginning to settle down after moving into Tanzania 6 months ago, and thankfully the weather is better.  I think the weather is one of the main reasons for me to feel good about the place.  It was terribly hot when I had moved in.  When I compared it to the lovely ever between 18-22 deg of Nairobi the 26-30 deg of Dar felt terrible.  I had in just about 2 years forgotten the almost 48 deg of Delhi!!!

Life is strange, or are we strange??!!! We get adapted to our surroundings, especially what comfort us so soon, that we become complacent.  We want to forget whats not in sight and just enjoy whats good.  Homes in Delhi were smaller, homes in places where we've lived lately are much much more bigger.  I always wonder if I will be able to get back into the smaller house once we move back to Delhi??  I have forgotten how unclean the roads in Delhi and how much garbage is accumulated on roadsides.  When I go for my yearly visits, I find that soooo strange that people keep the surroundings where they live so unclean. 

I am not pinpointing the good and bad of countries, but I am just wondering how human nature adjusts to the good and bad of life.  How we ourselves set our own standards.....

Lets now get onto our recipe.

I looooove eggs. Especially love eggs in the form of curry and I do make it in a few different ways.

Today I am sharing with you a simple one, which is a keeper and will surely satisfy your tastebuds

Prep Time - 10 minutes
Cooking Time  - 15 minutes

Serves - 2 adults

Ingredients
4 hard boiled eggs
1 big onion - chopped
1 big tomato - pureed
3 flakes - garlic (grated)
1/2 inch pc - ginger (grated)
2 tbspn - coconut powder  or 1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tspn - turmeric powder
1 tspn - paprika
1 tspn - red chilli powder (optional)
2 tbspn - dhania or corriader powder
1 tspn - garam masala
2 twigs - curry leaves
a handful of dhania / corriander leaves

Method
In a wok add about a tbspn of oil and once hot put in the chopped onions. 
Once they turn pinkish brown add the ginger and garlic and fry
Add in the turmeric powder and fry well
Add in the corriander powder and fry well
Now put in the tomato puree and cook till the oil seperates
Add the paprika and chilli powder and fry well
Add the coconut powder or milk and fry for about 1/2 a minute along with the curry leaves
Now put in about 1/2 cup water or more if you want a thinner gravy
Make gentle slits on the boiled eggs and drop them into the gravy
Cook till you achieve the desired consistency
Garnish with green chillies and corriander leaves

The coconut powder adds instant richness to the curry.

HONEY CHILLY CHICKEN

When you come to a new place, there come a lot of new experiences along with it.........right??

New people, new surroundings, new foods, new markets, new weather........new, new, new!!!

I am surrounded by "new" right now, and honestly I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I am experimenting with food mostly, and loving going around the markets, exploring new ingredients.

I dont know how many of you enjoy a certain sweetness in your food.  Sweetness as not in desserts, but sweetness in your main course, your curries??  I certainly love that tinge of sweet in my curries.  I almost always add a little sugar to most of my cooking, especially gravies!!  Yes thats a secret.

I had Honey Chilly Chicken at a nearbly Chinese Restaurant the other day, and honestly since then I have been craving to have my own version of the same.   So here it was, and it tasted great, appropriately flavoured to my own liking....

Ingredients:

1st step -

1/2 kg boneless chicken - diced into small cubes
1/2 cup - cornflour
1 tbspn soya sauce
1 egg
1 tbspn - chilli sauce
salt to taste


2nd step -

1 big onion - chopped into big chunks
1 big capsicum - chopped into big chunks
1 tbspn - soya sauce
1 tbpn - honey
green chillies - as many as you like
1 tsp - tabasco sauce
1 tsp - vinegar
salt to taste

Recipe :

1st step

Make a paste (as you would for pakoda) with the ingredients above except for the chicken
Dip the chicken pcs into this paste and fry crisp
keep aside

2nd step

Add some oil into the pan. 
Add the capsicum, green chillies and the onions and saute them on slow flame stirring in between
Cook till the onions are tender and pink and the capsicum has cooked
Add the soya sauce, tabasco and salt
Mix well
Add about 1/4 cup of water and let it come to a boil
Add the chicken pcs. Mix well
Add the honey and mix well
Add the vinegar and mix well

You have a really delicious dish to enjoy either alone or with boiled rice. 

It is a completely satisfying meal, you sure wont crave for a dessert, even though the sweetness is not too much

ANDA ALU CURRY

Here is yet another recipe for an Egg curry combined with potatoes to give you a wholesome curry.

Ing -
4 eggs - boiled & slit into two
3 potatoes - boiled & coarsely broken
3/4 stalks of curry leaves
2 big onions - chopped
2 tomatoes - chopped
3/4 flakes garlic - grated
1/2 inch ginger - grated
1 tspn - mustard seeds
2 tbspn - corriander powder
1 tbspn - garam masala or meat masala
1 tspn - turmeric powder
green chillies as per desire

Method -
In a kadai add some oil. When hot, add the mustard seeds
When they sputter add the garlic & ginger.
When they are fried, add the onions & roast till the onions are brown in colour
Add the corriander powder, garam masala, haldi & the chillies.
Fry for about a minute.
Add the tomatoes & fry till oil separates.
Add about 3 small cups of water & salt
Let it boil & then add the potatoes & place the split eggs carefully.
Simmer till the required consistency of the gravy is acquired.

Goes well with both chappatis & rice.
When hot add the

EGG MASALA

Egg has become staple for me these days. Easy to cook, yet a fulfilling meal anytime. That's why EGG is so,so my favorite!!!

Ing -
2 eggs
5 onions - sliced not very thin
3 tomatoes
1/2 inch pc of ginger - grated
1/4 tsp - haldi / turmeric powder
green chillies - as per desire


Method -
In a flat pan add some oil.
Fry the ginger first
Add the onions & fry till pink
Add tomatoes & fry till the oil starts separating
Add the green chillies, turmeric & salt
Fry till oil separates.
Spread the masala as widely as you can on the pan.
Carefully break the eggs onto the masala away from each other.
Drizzle some water on the sides of the masala.
Lower the flame, close the lid & cook till the eggs are fully cooked.

This is an yumm dish.

I enjoyed them with brown bread.

EGG KORMA

This is a stolen recipe (!!!) stolen from a colleague's wife. He gets yummilicious egg curry & today I called her up to get the recipe from her. I have made a few changes in her recipe.

I am total egg freak. I can eat it in any form, except raw (of course). It is a substitute for every food that I dont like.........not that my list is a long one.......but still.

Here goes the recipe

Ing -

6 - Hard boiled eggs
2 - big onions (sliced thinly)
3 - big tomatoes (pureed)
5 - garlic flakes (grated)
1/2 inch - ginger (grated)
1/2 tsp - jeera / cumin seeds
1/2 tsp - mustard seeds / kadugu / sarson
1 tsp - turmeric powder
green chillies - according to taste
1 tsp - corriander powder
1 tsp - garam masala
1/4 cup - milk
corriander leaves to garnish

Method -
In a kadai (wok) heat a little oil & add the mustards seeds & cumin. Let them sputter.
Add the grated ginger & garlic
When done add the onions. Fry well till a nice pink colour
Add the tomato puree & a little salt for quicker cooking
When the oil separates, add powders & saute till done.
Add the milk & cook till it evaporates
Now slit all the egss into two. Out of these take two egg yolks & crumble them into the masala. Mix well & saute for about a minute.
Add the eggs into this masala & slowly mix well ensuring that the masala coats the eggs.
Let cook for another minute or two.
Garnish with corriander leaves

Serve with chappatis, parathas or even plain rice

MUTTA TAALICHADU (SIMPLE EGG CURRY)

This is a dish my mom used to make regularly & I have picked it from her. I love the simplicity of it, & it comes out really well. This is a traditional recipe from her mother / grandmother.

Whenever I used to come back from school, & mom would have prepared something I didnt like for lunch, I used to make this up. It really satisifies my soul (truly!!), till date. Try it n maybe you will get the same feeling.

The following recipe will serve four people, @ of one egg per head. But if somebody wishes to indulge in an extra egg - most welcome !!!

Ing -

4 Eggs
Curry leaves - 2/3 stalks
2 onions - chopped finely
2 big tomatoes - chopped finely
turmeric / haldi powder - 1/2 tsp
green chililes - according to taste
salt - according to taste

......yes you need nothing more than this

Method -

In a kadai, add a little oil & then add the onions.
When the onions are pink in colour, add the tomatoes & the curry leaves.
When the oil starts floating, add the haldi, chillies & salt.
You can substitute the green chillies with red chilli pwdr, this will give a very nice red colour to the dish, or else, it will be yellow.
Add about 2 cups water & let it boil.
Now take one egg at a time & break it carefully into the boiling water.
Take the second one & break it away from the first one.
In the same way break the other two also.
Now lower the flame & cover the kadai with a lid.
Let the eggs cook on a low flame
After about 5/8 mins, check if the yolk is firm by inserting either a toothpick or a fork.
The gravy will also have thickened by now, if not cook for some more time so as to thicken the gravy.

Remove from fire & serve
Goes well with either chappati or rice.