TANGY TOMATO EGG CURRY

The sight of eggs remind me of Devang Patel's famous ad "Monday to Sunday...Roz khao andey hi andey" as part of NECC's promotional advertisement on health benefits of having eggs. Oh! How my mother  relentlessly tried to persuade me, my brother to have eggs , the two egg haters, citing example from this particular advertisement.

One cannot deny the health benefits of egg. It is amongst most nutritious foods on planet. Though eggs are high in cholesterol, they don't adversely affect blood cholesterol. In fact eggs raise the HDL, the good cholesterol . It contains choline..... an important nutrient required by us and help reduce risk of heart disease  among us[WIKI]. The list is big. Let's stop here with the note that We should have eggs on a regular basis.

My husband is extremely fond of eggs, it is a regular in our home. For  egg curries, we Bengalis prefer duck egg, it tastes better. Duck eggs being banned in this island, we remain faithful to  the more popular bird, hen.

Today, let's cook tangy tomato egg curry. Bengali curries are usually red, hot but this one not that much, neither an authentic Bengali curry.

INGREDIENTS :

Eggs ( preferably of duck, else hen ) : 6 nos.
Tomato : 4 medium sized
Onion : 1 big sized
Garlic paste : 2 tsp
Ginger paste : 1 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli Powder : 1/2 tsp (it is known more for enhancing colour of  curry but is mild)
Green Chilli : 3 nos
Salt : As per taste
Bay Leaf : 1
Cumin Seeds : 2 pinches
Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp
Bengali Garam Masala (an 1 inch size cinnamon stick, 2 green cardamoms, 3 cloves , roasted, powdered)
Oil (Mustard or otherwise) : 2 tablespoon.

PROCEDURE :

I am cleanliness freak, I prefer washing eggs before boiling. Boil eggs with half spoon of salt, once done let them cool. This helps shell to come out quickly without damaging egg white.

Cut each tomato into 4 pieces, discard seeds, wash, put into blender to get smooth paste. Get paste of onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies...... all separately .

Discard shell of eggs. Wash again, make 2 slits on both ends of each. Apply some salt, turmeric on them, rub well.

Heat oil in wok. Lightly fry eggs. Take out. Temper oil with bay leaf, cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start spluttering, add in onion paste. Fry until raw smell goes. Add garlic, ginger paste. Fry until raw smell goes off.

Pour in tomato paste , keep stirring for 3-4 minutes, add green chilli paste, salt, turmeric, Kashmiri mirch powder. Keep on stirring  until oil seperates from spice mix.

Add a cup of water. Let boil for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add eggs. Cover, let boil for another 3-4 minutes. 

Add garam masala powder. Stir well. Add little sugar if you wish to. It's done. The gravy should be of creamy consistency.

This curry goes well with both steamed rice, flatbread.