Indian Egg Curry

Set a medium sauce pan 3/4 full of water over high heat. Cover and let water come to a boil. Using a ladle, gently add whole eggs to the pan, one by one. Set the timer to 12 minutes to cook the eggs. Perfect hard boiled eggs every time!

While eggs are cooking, blend onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and green chili into a fine paste. Set a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat and add oil to it. Once oil is nice and shiny, add cumin and nigella seeds. After about 30 seconds, carefully add blended paste, as it might sputter.

Add turmeric, red chili, coriander powders and mix. Cook masala until all the moisture evaporates and you can see tiny droplets of oil appear on the edges of the masala. This will take 10–15 minutes. If at some point the masala begins to stick to the bottom of the skillet, sprinkle a few drops of water to loosen the bits and continue cooking.

Once the timer on the eggs is done, turn heat off and carefully drain the hot water. With the eggs still in the pan, fill the pan with cold water and let eggs sit for a few minutes. After the eggs have cooled down a bit, peel the eggs.

Set a nonstick pan over medium heat and add just a few drops of oil to it. Add peeled, boiled eggs and cook for just a few minutes to get a crispy texture on the surface of the eggs. Set aside.

When masala is almost done, add tomato ketchup and sugar or honey to counter the tartness of the masala. Add the water to the masala along with salt and increase heat to high to bring the curry to a boil. Lower heat to medium and let curry bubble away.

Add the eggs to the masala along with garam masala powder and gently mix. (I like to cut the eggs in half before adding them to the prepared masala. This way, some of the yolk flavor goes into the curry. But this is totally your call—keep the boiled eggs whole or cut in half.)

Turn heat off, taste and adjust for seasoning, and cover with a lid to let the flavors marry. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving. Enjoy with chapathi (Indian flat bread), naan or rice.