Kerala Egg Curry image Used Under Creative Commons License From nashplateful.blogspot.com
Citizens, behold in wonder at the fact that we are now on day 3 of our Indian culinary tour, and are now visiting one of my favorite parts of the country – the great Southern state of Kerala!
Nicknamed “God’s own country”, the cuisine of this region is heavy on spices (especially the region’s renowned black pepper!) and coconut and this curried egg dish is a specialty of the region. I have one other egg curry here on TFD, but it is from a different state – this one from Kerala is also incredibly delicious, but with a different flavor profile.
As noted on xyuandbeyond.com:
Southern Indian or Kerala cuisine tends to be lighter and less spicy than Northern cuisines, a main feature of cooking is the curry leaf and the coconut, and frying is always done with coconut oil. Kerala was known as the spice capital and along with nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, tamarind, and ginger they sent items like tapioca, coffee and cocoa to other European shores.
The cuisine of Kerala is characterized by the use of coconut, either chopped or grated and used as garnishes, coconut milk or paste is used to thicken gravies and coconut oil is used for cooking. Though one can’t imagine Kerala food without chilies, curry leaf, mustard seed, tamarind and asafoetida (which is a very pungent spice used to replace onion, and garlic in Indian cuisine).
Vegetables such as beans, cabbage, beetroot, carrot, onion, potato and yam form part of the cuisine of Kerala. Bananas and coconut are available year round and are also a staple of the Kerala diet. Seafood is also very popular as some of the freshest fish and shellfish are available year round in Southern India.
Kerala cuisine features both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods equally. The non-vegetarian dishes are characteristically very hot and spicy while the vegetarian food is flavored mildly and not as heavily spiced. A great deal of Kerala cuisine is based on seafood and shrimp with some incredibly layered and complex curry dishes found in India.
This is a straightforward recipe, my Citizens, and certainly one with great savor – the more unusual ingredients such as fresh curry leaves and Kashmiri chili powder can be purchased from the links.
Battle on – The Generalissimo
Ingredients
- 5 eggs, hard-boiled & peeled - TFD prefers duck eggs in this recipe
- 4 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 2 jalapeños, split lengthwise
- 1 ½ tsp peeled ginger, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ tsp thinly-sliced garlic
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- ½ tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp freshly-ground fennel seeds
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- ½ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 2 sprigs fresh Curry leaves, leaves torn into pieces
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Coconut oil + more to taste
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Boil the egg with 2 tsp salt and water. Adding salt prevents the egg from cracking while boiling. Use a large pan with enough water to cover the eggs completely. Once cool, peel the shells and set the eggs aside.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add in onion with a bit of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, dark golden brown and slightly caramelized, about 10-15 minutes. Then add chilies, curry leaves and tomatoes and cook, until tomatoes are broken down into a soft mass, 5 minutes.
- Push the onion-tomato mixture to the side of the wok, drizzle in a bit of coconut oil, and sauté the spices for a few seconds until fragrant. Then add water and lemon juice and stir to combine. Season to taste.
- Cut a few gashes lengthwise in the egg white and add to the wok. Reduce heat to low and simmer until spices are absorbed, about 5 minutes. Splash a bit of water if masala gets too dry. Switch off heat and drizzle with extra coconut oil, if you like.
- Serve hot with warm appam, flatbread, or rice.
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