January 29, 2013

Kerala Style Egg Roast — Naadan Mutta Roast



Here’s a fun question—how do you like your eggs?

Scrambled? Poached? Runny with a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground pepper? Or perhaps sunny side up?



Personally, I’ve never done poached eggs. I like sunny side up, but then of course, I wouldn’t touch the sun. Runny eggs? Can’t stand them either. Er, correction—it’s the yolk I can’t stand. With the exception of omelet.  

The simple act of whipping white and yellow to perfection, then sizzling on the tava with chops of red onion, green chilies, tomato, fresh curry leaves, ginger, and a few dots of butter—yum-yum—is  nostalgia-laden. And who are we kidding? Omelet is not just comfort—the taste is downright awesome, and so very, very addictive. Oh man, I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And still crave a fluffy bite for snack time between two slices of bread. Okay, go ahead, judge me.



Of course, when considering favorite egg recipes, I can’t stop at omelets. There are more that deserve mention. For example, egg roast. Yea, I have a thing for good egg roast too. Egg roast the Kerala way.

Given that we have chicken and duck running around the courtyard of most rural homes in India, there is never a shortage of fresh organic eggs. Needless to say, egg is a kitchen staple in homes without (religious) dietary restrictions. There are countless ways of cooking eggs—fried, curried, and baked are all common—and the preparation varies from state to state, region to region. Gee, with the complexity of 28 states, 7 union terretories, 18 regional languages, 2000 plus ethnic groups, and a population of over 1 billion, trying to come up with a number for the different ways any ingredient is used in India would be an exercise in futility!


Egg roast and appam is a staple in Kerala, mostly found on the breakfast table across the state. It’s a meal from nostalgia land for me—I always enjoyed it as a child. And continue to do so until today. But frankly, I don’t make it often enough. And I wonder why.

Caramelized onion infused with aromatic spices and a soft mash of tangy tomatoes make the base of this classic curry. The taste is simply outstanding, even non eggoholics are instantly lured. The simple onion-tomato gravy is eggs-cellent on its own. And of course you can control the spice level to stop your mouth lighting on fire!


Okay, now for a few tricks to remember. Briefly toasting the ground spices in a bit of oil intensifies the flavor of the spice blend. Cooking onion until almost caramelized is the key to the appetizing reddish brown color and beautiful flavor. Add a bit of salt to help the onions cook faster and brown evenly. Traditionally coconut oil is used to make the curry. However, I use olive oil and limit the use of coconut oil for just that finishing drizzle.

This makes a perfect meal for those who are not heavily into meat, and even if you are, you will not be missing the meat—I promise.



Unpretentious. Easy. Delicious. A brilliant curry for breakfast, brunch or dinner. Need more? Eggs are a source of high proteins, vitamins, and minerals, with a caloric cost of just 70 calories per egg.

Time to get cracking, huh? Eggs-actly.


Kerala Style Egg Roast — Naadan Mutta Roast

Ingredients
Serves 2-3
Prep+cooking: about 30 min

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 tablespoons oil
2 ½ teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
3 large onions, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 large tomato, or 8 plum tomatoes, chopped small
3 green chilies, sliced
12 curry leaves, torn
1 ½ teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon garam masala powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
¾ teaspoon fennel powder
1/3 cup water



Directions

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai or wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger-garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute. Tip in onion with a bit of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, dark golden brown and slightly caramelized, about 10-15 minutes. Then add chilies, curry leaves and tomatoes and cook, until tomatoes are broken down into a soft mass, 5 minutes. Push the onion-tomato mixture to the side of the pan, drizzle a bit of oil, and toast the spice mix—chili, turmeric, garam masala, black pepper, fennel—for a few seconds until fragrant. Then add water and stir to combine. Season to taste.

Cut a few gashes lengthwise in the egg white, or cut each egg lengthwise into half, and add to the wok. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a few minutes until spices are absorbed, about 3 minutes. Splash a bit of water if masala gets too dry. Switch off heat and drizzle with extra coconut oil, if you like.

Serve hot with warm appam, flatbread, or rice.



Note: To boil eggs, add cold water to cover and cook over high heat for about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water, then shell when cool enough to handle.


For a change, I served this for lunch, together with steamed rice, and my family scarfed down the curry with no leftovers for dinner. It’s just that good.

35 comments:

  1. Who can resist to this irresistible roast,loving it.

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  2. Looks delicious n awesome. gorgeous clicks.

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  3. Great dish, esp if you make your own garam masala.

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  4. Beautiful nadan mutta roast.

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  5. My favorite egg recipe and I absolutely love the pics, stunning!

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  6. I absolutely have to try this! And gorgeous pictures!
    Alissa
    mangiables@blogspot.com

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  7. Delicious nadan mutta roast!! Lovely clicks

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  8. First I just enjoyed seeing the pictures and only after that I started reading the recipe. ;)
    Love eggs in any form. This egg roast looks delicious and inviting.. Will try it sometime..

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  9. I started eating eggs very recently and I love all the ways. All the pictures are very good. Wonder about the time it took for you to click all the picture. Appreciate your patience. :-)

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  10. love love love love love ur presentation soooooooooooooooooooooooo much...i can sit the whole day staring at ur pics....

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  11. Beautiful! My husband loves all kinds of egg curries so will try this recipe for sure.

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  12. stunning post Nash!!! I kept ogling at your photography. You have managed to capture the roast to perfection :)

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  13. my tummy full on seeing these gorgeous pics..

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  14. My amma makes this and I totally love it with aapams. Fabulous clicks

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  15. This looks incredible, i loved your commentary, it built up the flavour even before I could try this out :))))

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  16. i've come back here to comment again after doing it on FB... lovely lovely pics as usual!!! :)

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  17. Nash, you made the humble egg roast so posh...I love to have it with appam and puttu...amazing pics as usual.

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  18. Love egg anytime. Your photos are gorgeous!

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  19. As always, superlative photography!! This is one simple & humble dish but yet so very special..One of my favs...Adore it with Kerala parathas!! Like i said, all pics are mindblowing but esp loved the pics of the onions..!!Simple & Stunning!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  20. OMG, this looks so yummy. Question: have you ever tried cracking the eggs and "poaching" them in the curry to cook?

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  21. Clicks are sooooper cool....very well made and presented....very nice

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  22. Beautiful, gorgeous pictures. And a stunning recipe!

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  23. stunning pics and yummy egg roast!!can hav it with bread alone.

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  24. What a healthy dish this is. I don't care so much for hard boild eggs, but the recipe is awesome. Your pictures are stunning. Great post.

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  25. This looks incredible! I love hard boiled eggs...what a great new way to try them! :)

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  26. great post...wonderful photos...delicious eggs!!

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  27. looks wonderful lovely picture

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  28. This egg curry makes me so so hungry...
    Really beautifully captured!

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  29. idhe nalla swada indhavumallo. The photographs whet my appetite Nash!

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  30. Oh this is my favorite and I can dip appams and gulp it in minutes. Slurpp.... Love your pictures especially the garam masala and the turmeric/chili powder ones.

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  31. Love any egg related recipes. And this is no exception. So beautifully styled, Nash :)

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  32. love the post again ....the gravy consistency is just perfect you have an AWESOME space

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  33. Beautiful photography..Love this dish too especially with appam

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  34. tried n it turned out great...truly restaurant style...tx nashi :))

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  35. Hello Nashi,

    Lovely clicks.. And Egg fry looks great... Nice combo wth rice....

    Happy to follow you ....

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A million thank you's for stopping by, taking the time to connect, and coming back to visit again. I genuinely appreciate each of your kind thoughts, lovely words, love and support. Happy, happy to hear from you, and hope to see you again!

♥ Nashi