Egg Masala - A Random Recipe

This post is for Dom at Belleau Kitchen's A Random Recipe. I was quite intrigued by this challenge when I saw it in Phil's blog. Like quite a few people, I have a pretty large collection of cookbooks. My collecting has tapered off a bit in recent times, as I had to give up a significant part of my collection as part of the big move. But I still retained a sizable collection, and, like most people I know, I tend not to use them as much as I should. So this challenge was perfect for dusting off the shelf and making something different.

The rules said the book had to be picked randomly and the recipe too. So, as suggested by Dom, I brought down all the books from the cupboard (I have been meaning to sort them out for ages!), and ran my finger over the spines. I got Aditi to count to ten, and at the count of ten, stopped, and my finger was on this book here.

Wow, I had forgotten I even had this book! It's called Randhpi or The Cook, and its by Isidore Coelho. I remember these books being the staple of my mum's cookery book collection (that I have been slowly migrating to my own cupboard) and they are really good for easy everyday cooking. Ocasionally you get a recipe in them that starts with 'kill a young chicken and collect its blood', but I can live with that :-)

Then I opened it up, again randomly, and the recipe that showed up was this one. Egg masla.

I think I lucked out really :-) I had everything I needed to make it almost straightaway, except the vinegar, but that didn't matter. So I rushed into the kitchen, and rustled it up for our evening meal. It took less than half hour to put together, and tasted just like my dear mum's (co-incidence?). I wonder if I can get Dom to make this challenge a monthly one, as I can just see myself doing this random thing fairly often now. What a good idea it turned out to be!

And even better, my cookbooks are now all neatly organised alphabetically and by cuisine type and are all dust free and clean!

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)
Adapted from Randhpi by Isidore Coelho

4 eggs
¼ kilo tomatoes (I used 2 medium)
1 large onion, sliced (dice them for a more presentable look to the dish, slicing looks messy, but the taste is the same)
1 tbsp oil or ghee (I used ghee, it adds a nice flavour)
4 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder (I used ½ tsp, didn't want it super hot)
1 tsp garam masala
1 inch piece ginger, chopped finely
Salt to taste (I used 1 tsp)
A little vinegar (I used one tsp of lemon juice)

Method:

Boil and peel the eggs. Cut them in half lengthways.

In a sauté pan, heat the oil, then fry half the sliced onions till they are transparent. Add the spices, and fry for another few minutes, stirring.

Add the remaining onion, chopped ginger, salt and diced tomatoes. Fry for about 5 – 7 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft.

Add roughly 1 cup water to the mixture, and simmer till the curry is thick. Stir occasionally.

Taste, then add a little lemon juice or vinegar. Adjust seasoning. Gently lower the eggs into the curry, and take off the heat.

Serve with rice or naan.