Easy Indian Kolhapuri Egg Curry
Hard boiled eggs cooked in aromatic spices and coconut - gluten free.
Posted By Savita
A spicy, flavorful, and easy Indian Egg Curry with hard boiled eggs cooked in aromatic Indian spices and coconut. This simple egg curry is THE best way to serve Indian Dinner under 25 minutes!
Be a non-vegetarian, or a vegetarian egg-tarian, eggs are a favorite breakfast, lunch or even dinner ingredient in many homes and my home is no exception! Egg Curry is a versatile curry which people love to enjoy for meaty meatless dinner.
My family is not vegetarian, but in my home, there are many days in week when we don't eat meat. On other days, even though I cook meat for Vishal, I love cooking a vegetarian curry for myself. If you follow my blog, I have shared many meat-main-course recipes in pairs: meat version and meatless version.
However, sometimes..... Vishal will adjust and say... Just make one curry and I'll eat vegetarian :) And I know what he mean by ONE curry.... it means a vegetarian curry with eggs in it a.k.a Egg Curry! This is one curry which we both enjoy equally!
My most favorite things about egg curry are:
1) First, quick cooking time, just 25 minutes from kitchen to dinner table. How good does that sound?
2) Second, flavor!!! Seriously, few boiled eggs do magic to any gravy you add it to and if it happens to be a curry-based gravy, the flavor-explosion happens!!
I'm telling ya'll, if you are fan of Indian Chicken Curry, you will NOT miss chicken for a second in egg curry!! I promise!
Kolhapuri Egg Curry
I've been all about eggs so far, but I have to tell you, today's egg curry is also special for the kolhapuri masala gravy.
Few years back, I was on an official trip to Pune, Maharashtra, a city in Western part of India. After my day's work in office, few of my colleagues took me to a local eatery which specialized in traditional regional curries. Everyone recommended me to try their Kolhapuri Curries which were THE most ordered dishes on their menu.
Kolhapur city is also situated in Maharashtra and is leading producer of Leather Products in India. Kolhapur Specialty: Kolhpuri Chapals (Sandals) are world famous and exported all over the word for the quality of leather and specially the hand-crafted work. You can easily spot Kolhpuri Chapals in Indian Stores and even in stores like International Market or World's Market. Not many people know that Kolhlapur food is also very delicious, aromatic, and packed with flavor.
So, that day, we ordered Kolhapuri Egg Curry and Stir-Fry to share. Once dinner was served, it was hard to resist the temptation to eat...... That aromatic scent of curry with nutty coconut flavor, served in beautiful looking traditional plates made it look like a feast, ready to be devoured!
I waited for just a few moments before I encouraged everyone to jump-in.... since I was diiiiieing to digg-in! Not sure if I was hungry or aroma was killing me, I savored every bite of that Kolhapuri Egg Curry like I may never get to enjoy it again......
Actually, it was my one and only trip to Pune and I've never been to Maharashtra again.... So, it sure was my only time I enjoyed the dish. But... I still enjoy (in my imaginations) the taste of that Egg Curry whenever I even talk about it.....
Few months ago, I came across a similar preparation of curry in an local Indian eatery. Even Vishal loved the Kolhapuri Egg Curry so much that we requested the hostess to convey our compliments to the Chef. Surprisingly, Chef specially came to receive thanks and also shared a few thoughts about Kolhapuri Cooking. And guess who was over-joyed listening the discussion?! Of course the foodie side of me... I wanted to just take all in!!
Today's egg curry is an adaptation and a quick approach, based on Chef's suggestions, about Kolhapuri masala. When I made it first time at home, even Vishal agreed that my version of kolhapuri egg curry tastes very close to what we ate in local restaurant.
To me, it was like a re-visit to eatery in Pune and totally unexpected one :) Never thought, flavors which I have missed for so long...... one day.... I will be working to develop those, at home, in my own kitchen.
See.... this is what makes me love blogging even more! It has given me an opportunity and thought-process to recreate many of my restaurant's favorite at home!
and...... that's not the best part....
Best part is..... I get to share all those flavors with you!
Few words about diet:
1. This curry is Gluten Free. If serving gluten free, make rice instead or serving whole wheat roti.
2. You can also use the Kolhapuri Masala Curry base for Vegan Indian Dinner. Just replace eggs with Tofu or crunchy vegetables like bell pepper, celery, and/or cauliflower.
3. Also, curry is dairy-free, nut-free, and soy-free.
PS: If you want to learn more about Kolhapuri masala and cooking.... wait for some days.... I will share a complete post one making Kolhapuri masala from scratch (still my favorite approach towards cooking).
Are you a Curry Fan?! Luckily, so am I :-)
Ingredients
- Kolhapuri Masala
- 2 tbsp Coconut (heaping spoonfuls, grated, frozen or fresh coconut)
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric (powder)
- 1.5 Cup Tomatoes (2 medium tomatoes, rough chopped)
- 1 Red Onion (about 1 cup when chopped)
- 1 inch Ginger (fresh ginger root, peeled)
- 3-4 Garlic (cloves)
- 1 Hot Green Pepper (small) (indian hari mirch, or use 1/4 serrano pepper)
- 1.5 tbsp Canola Oil
- 2 Whole Dry Red Pepper
- 1 tsp Poppy Seeds (khus-khus seeds)
- 5-6 Black Pepper (whole black pepper corns)
- Salt and Black Pepper
- Egg Curry
- 4 Egg(s) (hard-boiled, peeled and sliced in half)
- 1/2 tbsp Canola Oil
- 1 Cup Water
- Salt (as per taste)
- Cilantro (fresh coriander leaves, for garnish)
Directions
-
1. In a food processor, process onion, garlic, ginger, and hot green chili pepper to a coarse paste. -
2. Heat 1.5 tbsp oil in wide, heavy bottom saute pan. When oil is hot, add onion mixture to pan. -
3. Cook until onions are soft and start to brown at edges. (4-5 minutes) Then add spices: whole red pepper, poppy seeds, black peppercorns, garam masala, turmeric, and coconut. -
4. Saute until spices are fragrant and coconut has toasted a bit (about 1-2 minutes) Add chopped tomato and 1/4 teaspoon salt. -
5. Cook on medium heat until tomatoes are soft and mixed into the masala. (3-4 minutes) -
6. Transfer the cooked masala into a food processor or blender jar with 2 tbsp of water. (careful it will be hot.) Additional Notes:
If you don't like spicy, remove whole red chili pepper at this stage to avoid heat. Or just add one whole red chili pepper. Or remove both pepper and instead add 1/2 teaspoon medium paprika (red chili powder) -
7. Process to make a smooth puree. -
8. In the same pan in which you cooked masala, add remaining 1/2 tbsp oil and add sliced eggs, cut-side down. Cook for 1 minutes to give a rich color and aroma to egg slices. Remove eggs from pan and set aside. -
9. In a same pan, return the pureed kolhapuri masala with one cup of water. Bring to boil, then simmer until desired consistency. -
10. I cooked it for 4 minutes on medium heat. -
11. Add eggs and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. (add 1-2 tbsp more water if consistency gets too thick) Remove from heat. Taste and adjust salt. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve hot with chapati!
Savita's Recipe Notes:
You can also use leftover devil eggs for Kolhapuri or other egg curries.
Kolhapuri curry is also great base to cook chicken or Indian paneer (vegetarian)
You can even use Tofu to make vegan curry!
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