Name: Delicious Kerala Egg Curry Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 4 eggs; 1 yellow onion, sliced; 3 green chilies, seeded and diced; 1 teaspoon salt, divided; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 tablespoon red curry paste; 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder; 1 tablespoon chili powder; 1 teaspoon coriander powder; 1 teaspoon garam masala; 1 teaspoon fennel powder; 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced; 1 tomato, diced; 1/3 teaspoon mustard powder; 1 1/4 cup unsweetened plain coconut milk (carton or refrigerated); 1 1/4 cup canned coconut milk; 2 tablespoon coconut oil, divided; 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

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Curry is one of my favorite flavor-rich meals to prepare. One unique style of curry is this Kerala egg curry recipe. Curry typically consists of a rich flavored sauce with a protein or vegetable. In this case, hard boiled eggs take the place of meat or vegetable. If you like eggs and curry, then you will love this recipe.

Kerala Egg Curry Recipe

I confess, the idea of hard boiled egg curry just didn't sound appealing. Once you try it though, you'll be in love with the rich creamy flavor. Everything you like a bout a spicy curry comes together in this meal in under half an hour!

While this could be used as a complete meal, I find it is better as a side dish or in conjunction with another curry or protein. This has a single creamy texture, which is pleasant, but I prefer a meal that has a combination of textures. Regardless of when and how you serve this, you will love the richness in the sauce and the punch of heat from the chilies and spices.

What Goes with Kerala Egg Curry?

Traditionally most curries are served with rice as a base. This can be something as simple as some steamed Jasmine or Basmati rice, or can be a bowl of this fragrant Indian style rice recipe I recently shared.

Alongside with rice, egg curry will easily fit with any dish you like as a side. Since it is a rich protein option, you may lean toward vegetables and starches to serve alongside it at dinner. Rice is a great start, and in most Indian homes and restaurants you will find a serving of naan, roti, or chapati alongside curries.

Steamed or stewed vegetables are easy and pair well with any curry sauce. A curried vegetable like this 5-ingredient Indian potato curry is another good choice. I, however, prefer to serve a rich curry like this with a simple option like roasted broccoli or cauliflower for texture and nutrients.

How Long Should I Boil Eggs For Curry?

There are some standard cooking methods for boiling eggs that most will lean toward when preparing this recipe. How long you boil the eggs depends upon your preferred cooking method, size of the actual eggs, and how hard or soft you want them to end up being.

Since the eggs will simmer in the sauce, I prefer to leave them on the softer side. In that instance, the cooking method I share below would be for 8-9 minutes with a medium sized egg. This method could vary anywhere from 8-15 minutes cook time for your eggs.

Below I share how I cook eggs on the stove top. Another option is to use an egg cooker or to prepare them in the Instant Pot. I love using an Instant Pot when making multiple hard boiled eggs as it really seems to cook them evenly and makes peeling easier than ever to manage.

Tips for Peeling Hard Boiled Eggs

The most common way to make peeling eggs easier is to put them into an ice bath or a cold water bath immediately after you remove them from heat. This helps them to cool faster and tends to make separating the egg from the shell easier. Some other tips for peeling eggs are below.

Peel your eggs under running water.
Shake the eggs in the cold water bath to crack the shell and loosen from the membrane.
Add the eggs to boiling water before covering instead of starting in cold water and bringing to a boil.
Don't use farm fresh eggs. Slightly older eggs peel easier than fresh eggs.

How Can I Thicken This Curry?

Curry is naturally supposed to be a thicker sauce. When adding a lot of milk or liquid, you may find that a curry is a bit thinner than you want. Thickening a curry isn't hard to do when you know what you want the end result to become.

My favorite methods of thickening a sauce are to (1) continue cooking on low heat longer to reduce the moisture and thicken, or (2) adding a slurry of liquid and cornstarch to thicken the mixture. For this recipe, a tablespoon of cornstarch whisked with ¼ cup of the sauce and poured into the skillet will quickly and easily thicken the mixture without changing the taste.

For this particular recipe, you could also consider mashing one of the eggs and stirring into the mixture. It will increase the egg flavor in the curry while also naturally thickening the sauce somewhat.

What Coconut Milk Should I Use?

For this recipe, I use a combination of two coconut milks. The first is a traditional carton of coconut milk you would find in the refrigerated dairy section of your grocery or in the shelf stable milk section. It's thinner and used more in recipes and for drinking.

The second milk I use to thicken and add richer flavor is a canned coconut milk. This type of canned milk is typically separated by milk and cream. Mix this together and then pour into the curry for a thickened coconut milk and delicious flavor.

Ingredients

Eggs
Mustard powder
Onion
Green chili
Garlic
Ginger
Red curry paste
Turmeric powder
Chili powder
Garam masala
Fennel powder
Coriander powder
Tomato
Shelf-stable carton unsweetened plain coconut milk
Canned unsweetened plain coconut milk (thicker)
Coconut oil
Fresh parsley

How to Make Egg Curry

In a large saucepan, place eggs then cover with cold water leaving 1 inch of water above the eggs.

Heat the pan over high heat until it begins to boil then remove from the burner and cover the pan.

Let the eggs stand in the hot water until cooked through. I leave in for 9 minutes when using medium eggs, 12 minutes for large eggs, and 15 minutes for extra large eggs.

Drain the eggs immediately after timer goes off then run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Remove the shells from the eggs and slice each egg in half and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat coconut oil over medium heat.

Add in the onion, green chili, and salt into the pan and saute for 3-4 minutes or until the onion begins to brown.

To the skillet, add the ginger, garlic, and red curry paste then stir to combine.

Mix in turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander, garam masala, and fennel powder to this mixture and stir. You can add additional oil if needed and then cook for 3-4 minutes stirring regularly.

Add in the diced tomato and cook down for another minute.

Pour in the medium thick coconut milk into the pan and stir to combine. Add more salt if needed.

Then add the eggs into the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes coating the eggs well.

Add the thickened coconut milk and stir in without breaking the eggs then bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Serve with parsley to garnish and rice.

More Indian Style Recipes

My family loves all types of cuisine, but one of our go-to styles of cooking includes Indian flavors. The richer spices, thick sauces, and spice mixtures are appealing to our taste buds. This means I have a large collection of Indian dishes here to share with you including curries and desserts. Below are a few of our favorites.

Chef's Tip

One of the best investments for my kitchen that I ever made was a small egg timer. This helps make hard boiled eggs much easier to prepare. You add the egg timer into the pan with the eggs and water and it will change colors to indicate the hardness of the egg as it boils.

If you eat a lot of hard boiled eggs, you may also like the electric egg cooker options by Dash. They cook multiple eggs at one time and make perfect eggs every time.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 4