Make Kerala Egg Roast the original Malayali way!
Simbly Yummy!!
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Feeds: The recipe is for 12 eggs. Rather than say 'for 2 people', which may be erroneous if 'people' are like me, who eat 5 eggs, this one quantifies eggs! Eat as you like!
Ingredients:
(a) Boiled, shelled eggs - 12 (make 2 thin slits on the eggs, for the flavour to enter)
(b) Onions, (medium sized) sliced thin into strips - 8 (mix salt to taste)
(c) Tomatoes - 2 (cut into strips)
(d) Green chillis (slit length wise) - 6
(e) Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
(f) Chilli powder - 1 tsp
(g) Coriander powder - 4 tsp
(h) Oil - 4 tbsp (Coconut/ Sunflower etc)
(i) Ginger - 1 small piece (about 5 cm long)
(j) Garlic - 10 pods
(k) Whole black pepper - 10 (crushed)
(Grind the last 3 ingredients in a mixer/ blender without water and keep aside)
How To? :
1. Heat 3 tbsp oil over less than maximum heat. Do not let it smoke (As always, smoking is harmful to health!). When hot, add the above paste and the crushed pepper and stir well, until light brown. This is the crux tastemaker, so add a spoon of 'love' to it!
2. Add onions. Stir well and place a lid. After every 1 minute, open the lid and stir well, turning things around and upside down (Idea is to brown the onions all around uniformly, sans discrimination). The whole exercise takes about 5 minutes, give or take a minute. Over-stirring does not help matters any!
3. When onions are dark brown, add 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Lower heat to medium and add turmeric, chilli and coriander powder and stir well. (Be careful not to burn the contents. Approximately 1.5 minutes. Care required, otherwise Fire Brigade, Smoke Signals etc may result!)
4. When the powder is well mixed with the onions, add the tomatoes and stir well. This will result in a slightly more wet gravy, when the tomatoes start melting on continuous heat-n-stir. You can cover with lid and leave for 1 - 2 minutes, if bored of stirring. At the first sign of the contents sticking on the bottom or drying up, add a few drops of oil and mix well.
5. When the tomatoes are partly mashed and the whole gravy looks slushy, add 1 cup of clean drinking water, 2 tbsp of salt (more or less, depending on own preference and your blood pressure!) and curry leaves, stir well and cover with a lid. Let it be for 3 -4 minutes. This brings out a thick, good brown gravy.6. Turn off the heat. Gently place the eggs into the gravy. With a big spoon, gently roll the eggs over a couple of times, so that the gravy coats the egg surface and also enters inside through the slits on the egg-white.
7. Cover with a lid and let it cool naturally over the stove itself. If cooking in non- coconut oil, add 2 dros of coconut oil on top before covering with the lid.
8. Serve hot or cool, with Chapati, Rice, Idli, Dosa, Appam, Puttu, Bread or whatever else you want to.
- An interesting variant can be made, by adding coconut milk (made by mixing coconut poder to warm water or by grinding dessicated coconut with water in a mixer/ blender) to the proceedings with the curry leaves, instead of water. This lowers the spice levels and adds a distinct fragrance, so like Kerala dishes. Now, that's called two curries with one egg!
