How to prepare egg curry North Indian style

Know the North Indian Egg Curry

A North Indian egg curry is basically an easy to make, protein-rich egg preparation with boiled eggs in a thick, creamy, tangy tomato onion gravy with aromatic spices such as cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, red chili powder, garlic, and ginger. It is different from South Indian or Bengali egg curry in flavors as well as in the spicing style.

The egg curry in North Indian style is spiced differently and is usually bright red in color. The gravy is usually medium spicy, thick and creamy in texture and the masalas are more oniony-tomatoey.

The flavor of this comforting dish is more spicy than tangy, but also, with strong earthy undertones. It has a deep, rich flavor with a creamy texture, mostly with bright red color and the spice level varies from mildly spiced to hot and spicy. It is highly aromatic and a pure vegetarian version that can be served as a main course with rice, roti, or naan.


The eggs in this curry are not the star of the show, but they certainly do play a very important role. The hard-boiled eggs add to the mild creaminess of the gravy. So, both the sauce and the boiled eggs complement each other to make a perfectly spiced and comforting dish, that tastes great for lunch, dinner and even as a festive meal.

Select Fresh Eggs

Fresh, high quality eggs are the key to any good egg curry recipe. Use organic, free-range eggs if you can. The size of the eggs should be medium, fresh with no age marks. Always buy fresh eggs to use in your egg curry as older ones tend to be rubbery white and sometimes the yolks may turn green after boiling. It is always better to check that the shells of eggs do not have any cracks as they will surely break and spread the white all over your boiling water.

Fresh eggs are always easy to peel, that is why it is very important to choose the best quality eggs. If the eggs have a lot of age marks and you see they are not fresh then it is better to avoid buying them as you don’t want cracked, unevenly boiled and unevenly cooked egg whites all over your curry!

Boil the Eggs Perfectly

Boiling eggs perfectly is another important step in the egg curry recipe. Add the eggs in a saucepan and cover them with water. Add a pinch of salt to this water, this helps the eggs from cracking when you boil them. Boil for about 9-11 minutes on medium heat.

The egg yolks for this curry should be firm and hence hard-boiled eggs are what you should use to make this curry in the North Indian style. The best way to boil them is to use a saucepan with lid, fill it with water and add some salt to the water.

When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the eggs and cover the pan. Boil it for around 10 minutes on medium flame. Once boiled, drain the water and add them in cold water immediately. This stops the cooking process and also helps you to peel the eggs easily.

For the traditional recipe you can skip the step of boiling eggs to the stage of soft-boiled and use them with a creamy yolk. Hard-boiled eggs are the best for the egg curry in the North Indian style as the firm yolk does not get mashed when you simmer the eggs with the gravy.

Prepare Eggs for Curry

Peel the eggs and rinse them in water to remove the egg shell residue. You can also chop, break or halve the eggs to allow more gravy to seep in. Eggs can also be scored lightly, without halving them. Using a knife, make a small crosswise slit on the boiled egg, allowing the masala to seep in to make the eggs more flavorful.

To make it more delicious, one can shallow fry the boiled eggs in 1 tbsp oil, till golden brown on all sides. This is an optional step, but highly recommended if you want an egg curry that is a little more textured and more flavorful.

Make the Flavorful Base

Heat oil or ghee in a pan and sauté the finely chopped onions, garlic and ginger in the oil over medium heat. The onions need to be cooked till they turn a rich golden brown color and caramelized. Make sure that you sauté them on low to medium heat. This step is important to make your curry aromatic and flavorful.

You can also add some slit green chilies in the oil for mild spice.

Roast and Add the Spices

Whole spices such as cumin seeds, cloves and green cardamoms are lightly roasted in the hot oil before the ground spices are added to the tempering or tadka. Dry roast the turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and garam masala.

Dry roasting of spices in a hot oil releases their flavors to enhance the curry. Roasting ground spices can take away the raw smell, so it is important to temper your spice powders before adding them to the onion-garlic-ginger mixture.

Add Tomatoes and Make Gravy

Tomatoes are what add tanginess to the curry as well as the body to the gravy. The best way is to use pureed or very finely chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes can also be blanched first to make the peeling process easy.

Add the pureed tomatoes to the oil and sauté till the tomatoes are soft and mushy and you can see oil has started to separate from the sides of the pan.

Adding a little water or stock, depending on how thin or thick you want the gravy to be. Reduce the flame and simmer the gravy, this will allow all the spices to get infused in the tomato-onion gravy.

Adjust Consistency and Creaminess

For a creamier and smoother gravy, you can add a little cream, yogurt or cashew paste after you have cooked down the tomatoes and added the spices. This will also neutralize the heat of the red chili powder and black pepper used in the curry.

Add water or stock gradually, to achieve the right consistency. Egg curry in North Indian style usually has a medium-thick gravy that clings to the boiled eggs.

Add the Eggs to Curry

Drop the prepared boiled eggs into the simmering gravy and simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes, while stirring in between. This will help the eggs to soak up all the wonderful flavors of the gravy.

Try not to break the eggs as you mix and stir them in the gravy as they are delicate.

Finish with Herbs and Garnish

Finely chopped coriander leaves can be added for a fresh aroma and some chopped green chilies if you want a more spicy egg curry. A generous sprinkle of garam masala powder can be added just before removing the pan from heat.

To make it even more flavorful, you can add a little tempering or tadka of cumin seeds fried in ghee over the curry just before serving. Garnishing is important in any dish, as the garnish is what adds to the flavor as well as the aroma and presentation of the curry.

How to Serve the Egg Curry

This easy and delicious egg curry tastes best when served hot, along with steamed basmati rice, jeera rice, roti or naan. The best accompaniments would be a bowl of dal and some vegetable sabzi or a simple potato-peas curry along with a pickle. Leftover curry can be refrigerated and reheated before serving.

Serving options and suggestions are important to take into consideration while cooking so that the curry can be paired with other side dishes or relished as a meal on its own.

Tips and Tricks for Best Curry

A few tips and tricks to keep in mind while cooking an egg curry are that the consistency of the gravy can be changed as per your taste, the spices and spice powders have to be well balanced to get the right flavor and curry has to be simmered slowly for the spices and the tomato onion masala to blend in nicely and evenly.

It is best to marinate the boiled eggs if you want to shallow fry them before adding them to the gravy. Try not to overcook the eggs, as they are added at the end. Simmer slowly for longer, to let the gravy infuse the spices well.

Always taste and adjust the salt, spices, tanginess and sourness of the gravy just before you remove the pan from heat.

The fresher the ingredients, the better it tastes! So always use good quality and fresh ingredients for a delicious, lip-smacking North Indian egg curry that rivals any restaurant-style food.

Conclusion

North Indian Egg Curry is an easy to make yet very delicious and comforting everyday dish of boiled eggs simmered in an aromatic, tangy tomato onion gravy. The simple steps of selecting the ingredients and boiling the eggs perfectly is a vital step for the egg curry recipe. It also requires the right spice roasting, tempering of spices and simmering so that the curry turns out delicious and the masalas blend in nicely and evenly with the other ingredients to make this a comforting and flavorful dish that tastes great with rice, roti or naan.