Egg Curry: My Nana’s Recipe
on Aug 06, 2015, Updated Sep 26, 2023
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This easy and delicious Indian Egg Curry is one of the many recipes up my Nana’s sleeve! The spicy onion and tomato gravy packs the curry with irresistible flavors and makes it perfect for a weekday dinner or weekend lunch. This full-on punjabi style heart throbber is best enjoyed with family around!
I don’t think it comes as a surprise that a lot of stories in my life revolve around food. I think it’s beautiful how a meal has the power to take us back to a certain time. And this one is special and is really close to my heart. This egg curry is sort of my nana’s recipe. I didn’t actually ask him for one, but I’ve tried hard to mimic the taste.
So the story goes like this. As kids, we would love visiting nana’s place for the mango tree in the backyard, the inevitable pampering and the food that was made specially for us. While nana loves feeding people, he only steps in the kitchen on special occasions, and I would like to believe that our visit warranted it. And on days that he did, he would whip up something magical. Like this egg curry, that was inspired by a visit to a dhaba on one of our many road trips.
Nani would have a field day, running around at his beck and call, chopping up this, mincing up that, reaching out for ingredients and cleaning up the hurricane that he left behind. But she knew the result would be worth it and never complained.
His preparation was intense, and I’ve as usual taken an easier route, but the flavour reminds me of those days when we would wait patiently at the table for his epic Egg Curry which made for a brilliant lunch and tasted amazing with rice. For me, it tastes like heaven and the spicy gravy goes really well with the boiled eggs. To top that off, it tastes like nostalgia.
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Egg Curry: My Nana’s Recipe
Ingredients
Paste
- 2 Onions, cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon Garlic, chopped, or 3 cloves
- 1 teaspoon Ginger, chopped, or 1/2 inch piece
- 2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
- 1/4 Cup Coriander leaves, 15 grams
Curry
- 2 tablespoons Ghee, or Butter
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 2 Cloves
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cinnamon, small Stick
- 2 Pods Cardamom, Green
- 3 Tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder, heaping
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric, Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala, Powder
- 1 teaspoon Tomato Ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Salt, to taste
- 2 teaspoons Coriander Leaves, Chopped
Tempering
- 1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 5 Eggs, Hard boiled and peeled
- 1 Teaspoon Oil
Instructions
Paste
- Grind onions, garlic, ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves to a fine paste. Keep aside.
Curry
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan or Kadhai. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to it.
- Once they start to splutter, add the onion paste and cook till the oil starts to separate and colour changes to golden brown.
- Add tomatoes, chili, coriander, turmeric powder and salt. Cook till the tomatoes look like they’ve melted into the gravy. Add half a cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add garam masala powder, ketchup and coriander leaves and cook for another 2 minutes.
- At this stage, you can add the tempered eggs and serve the gravy as is. But I like to fish out the whole spices (bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves) and pulse the gravy in a mixer grinder 4-5 times so that the gravy becomes slightly smooth. This step is completely optional and depends on whether you like your gravy chunky or smooth.
- Garnish with some more chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or chapatis.
Egg Tempering
- Make a slit along the length of the egg as shown in the video. Toss it with salt and turmeric powder. Set aside.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan and add eggs. Saute for 2 minutes and turn off the flame and add to gravy.
This turned out great. One question is in the curry ingredient section there is mention of both butter and oil, but the recipe written doesn’t show adding oil or when? Also we don’t see a video link and were unsure of whether the slit in the egg meant cut in half or just make a slit for the spices to get in. ty!
Hey Lisa, oil to be added with butter or ghee and Eggs to be slit along its length & not cut into half. Thank you for your query.
Hi, Why does the prep time say 18 hrs and 43 minutes?
Did I miss something?
Hey Vidya, sorry it was a typo. thanks for pointing it out. it is updated now.
Best egg curry ever!! I have no words, was perfectly balanced with spice and sweet (don’t skip the ketchup @ the end) and absolutely yummy flavours!
Thank you for sharing this Richa.
Thanks for trying out this recipe Ninoshka and leaving a comment. Soooo glad you liked it.
Superb dish. Took some time but it tasted great and everyone in my family enjoyed it.
Thanks Amrita!
Richa jee,,,,.Your article is very good, it’s great to read your article, I also try to make today,
Such an easy & spectacular curry! Followed the instructions to the T & my husband said that the curry was on point!
PS- I’m pretty new to cooking but your easy to follow recipes that really deliver what they promise, makes cooking so easy & enjoyable for me 😊
Thank you so much Saima! So lovely to hear your feedback 🙂
This egg curry looks stunning. I can’t wait to try it. But to make it less spicy. How much red chilli powder and green chillis should I use. Waiting for your reply, Thank you.
Hey Ella, Just reduce the chilli powder and green chillies by half to begin with. I recommend tasting as you go, and adding more till it suits your spice levels.
Hi, just made this recipe for my DH. For me it’s tasting heaven.now waiting for him to come from office and relish this dish. Hope he comes soon else I’ll finish it up 😉
Hahaha glad you liked it!
Deeps I’m sooo happy you liked this! Thanks for trying it out 😀