Ohh this weather! It has started to get really chilly now and while I like sipping a cuppa in the morning, I absolutely hate the idea of cooking especially in the evenings after work. It’s.just.too.cold.to.cook. Brrr..
Most of the times, I get away by whipping up this quick and super easy Carrot & tomato soup, which BTW is amazing. But then in our family, we can’t have soup every day and do need our share of curries and sides for a satiable meal to end the day. Thanks to our Indian genes!
I do try to keep my time in the kitchen as short as possible and prepare dishes that are really easy and quick to prepare with keeping the health quotient in place. There are loads of dishes which are a regular in winter like-> Paalak aloo (potatoes with spinach), Patta gobhi matar (Cabbage stirfry with peas), Batata chi bhaji (potatoes cooked with coconut and curry leaves), Aloo gobhi (potatoes stirfry with cauliflower) etc.
And then there are lentils. Yummy, protein rich lentils! So its kind of a lentil + side dish combo which I try to maintain in my kitchen over weekedays.
Some easy and healthy dal (lentil) recipes-> Chana dal Paneer | Restaurant style dal fry | Andhra style mango dal | Dal banjari | Gujarati sweet and sour dal | Rajasthani panchmel dal
Occasionally, I spur an excited nerve and jump in to create something special (i.e. time taking) to treat myself and Mr. Husband. All the pain and hard work does seem worth it at the end though. Happy spoonfuls of delicious anda curry with rice or roti does end the day on a satisfying note. Ahh, little joys of life!
Coming out of my melodramatic zone, this Egg curry with methi (methi is one such dish which I can totally vouch for. Its fairly easy to make, is quite nutritious and gives a feel of a luxurious dish. You could easily pair it up with simple lemon rice or laccha paratha and that would make quite a royal treat in itself.
More rich curry recipes-> Malai Kofta | Beetroot Koftas in avocado gravy | Chickpeas cauliflower curry | Chettinad paneer curry
I had it first time in a Pakistani restaurant in Southall here and instantly fell in love with it. Have had it a couple of times since then and yet havent grown out of it. So I have kind of created this recipe of my own which tastes quite similar to the original one. The only difference which I feel is that the eggs in the restaurant were used as deep fried. Whereas I like to have them lightly sauted in tad bit of butter. You can take your pick or totally leave the extra fat out of it.
Click here to see how to make perfect hard boiled eggs.
Methi leaves (fenugreek) blend in so well with cream and eggs, it is like a jodi of Jai-Veeru from Sholay or Penn & Teller for my non Indian friends. Click here to see the health benefits of methi leaves (fenugreek). The only drawback is that you might never want to fall back on the good old egg curry again and always would want some methi in it.
More Methi recipes-> Methi suva bhaji (Banaras style) | Methi aloo (Jain style) | Methi ki poori | Methi aloo with peanuts | Methi Kala chana pulao | Methi matar malai
Very quickly- I usually use fresh methi leaves to prepare this and any other dish, but lately I have come across frozen methi leaves and that has kind of changed my world! So if you havent used frozen methi yet, give it a try folks. That will save you hours of picking the leaves and cleaning. Of course I know that the fresh ones are better but I would rather have the frozen ones than to not include them in my diet at all. Phew! Over and out.
This is a Gluten free curry. Click here to see more gluten free recipes.
Creamy egg curry with methi leaves
Ingredients
- 6-8 eggs hard boiled
- 1 leaves bunch of methi or 1 cup of frozen methi
- ½ cup cream
- 2 onions chopped roughly
- 3-4 garlic pods crushed or minced
- 1 tomato pureed
- 3-4 cardamom pods crushed
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp coriander powder dhaniya powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- A pinch of nutmeg powder
- ½ tsp Garam masala
- 1 ½ tsp salt or as per taste
- A few sprigs of coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp of oil (i used Sunflower oil for this curry)
- 1 tbsp of butter- optional
Instructions
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Peel the boiled eggs and prickle them with knife or skewer roughly a few times. Keep them aside, covered in a bowl else they might start stinking soon.
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Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, throw in the crushed cardamom and fry for about 10 seconds. Add the minced garlic and sauté it for a minute.
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Add chopped onion and fry for good 5-6 minutes. The onion pieces should turn pink and start to caramelize.
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Once the onion start getting golden brown, turn off the flame and transfer the mixture to a blender. Add the tomato, let the mixture cooled down a bit and just pulse it once or twice to blend into a course paste. DO NOT blend it while it’s still hot, give it at least 8-10 minutes to cool down. And do not make a runny paste out of it. You could also skip this blending part if you like onion pieces a bit chunky.
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In the meanwhile, add 1 tbsp of oil in the same pan. Add methi leaves and fry them for a few minutes till they get all wilted and shrink in size.
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Once the methi leaves are cooked, pour the onion tomato paste into the pan and start cooking again at low flame.
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Add in the cumin powder, red chili powder, salt and turmeric powder and cook covered for a few minutes till it starts to dry up a bit and tomatoes get well cooked.
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Add about ¾ cup of water, mix and let it come to boil, then turn the flame to the lowest.
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Add the eggs, one by one, gently folding them within the mixture. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes at low flame so the eggs start soaking in the flavours from the spices.
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Finally, add the cream along with nutmeg powder and garam masala, gradually mixing it with the eggs and the gravy. Keep the gas at the lowest. Simmer this curry for the next 7-8 minutes, folding the eggs very gently once or twice in between to coat them evenly with the gravy. If adding butter, add at this point.
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Once done, turn off the gas and let the curry sit there, covered for a couple of minutes before serving.
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Finally garnish with the chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice or paratha.
Recipe Notes
If you are using frozen methi leaves, thaw them properly and squeeze any excess water out of them If the cream curdles when you add it to the gravy, try adding 1 tsp of corn flour with it.
You could also add some dried Kasuri methi towards the end along with garam masala and nutmeg powder.
You could also roast or saute the boiled eggs into butter lightly, before adding to the gravy. It gives an amazing taste to the curry
More egg recipes you might like:
Baked eggs with spinach nad tomatoes
Awesome, Thank you for sharing this blog. I love egg curry so much. I always eat this delicious dish every time I visit any restaurants. I have tried to cook it at home but I didn’t know the proper recipe. But in this blog, I got full knowledge about cooking egg curry. I would love to cook it again with the ways you have shared. Thanks again.