Egg In Tamarind Gravy/ Guddilu Pulsu in Telugu or Anda Masala in Hindi…….eventually ‘Muttai Kara Kuzhambu’ in Tamil.

When talking about boiled eggs, people always insist of making hard boiled eggs for curry dish. I prefer ‘Not. I wish to have soft semi-boiled eggs. As you know the property of egg protein(or any other protein for that matter). They get harder and harder over heating. So the product could be very rubbery.

When we apply heat, it agitates those placidly drifting egg-white proteins! Making them to bounce around. They slam into the surrounding water molecules! They bash into each other. All this bashing breaks and weakens the bonds. The bonds are nothing but one which keeps these protein curled up! The egg proteins uncurl and bump with other proteins that have also uncurled! So now new chemical bonds form. Rather than binding the protein to itself, these bonds connect one protein to another. After enough of this bashing and bonding…..the solitary egg proteins are not solitary any more! They have formed a network of interconnected proteins!!! The water in which the proteins once floated is captured and held in this protein web. If we leave the eggs at a high temperature for too long…..too many bonds form and the egg white will really become so rubbery(so unlikely to consume).

So keep it simple….boil them for few minutes….later we’re going to infuse in the curry as well! Double hard boiling won’t be such a good idea after all!

Ingredients:
soft Boiled eggs 6 (make pores using a fork at all side or slightly slit at 3-4 sides)
Cricket ball size tamarind or 1 spoon of thick tamarind paste
Red onion 1 large finely chopped
Garlic 1 large peeled and semi crushed
Tomato 1 large chopped
Jaggery or brown sugar 1 spoon
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/2 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Rice powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil 1 cup
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Fenugreek seeds 1/2 spoon
Chenna dal 1/2 spoon
Urad dal 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/2 spoon
Dry red chilies 3-5
Curry leaves

Method:

1. In a bowl have the slitted eggs aside.

2. In a deep pan heat few spoons of oil. Add garlic, fry till its raw smell goes off. Further add onions, fry till they turn to golden brown color. Now add tomatoes, fry them till they loose their water content.

3. Now add salt, turmeric, chili powder, sugar and rice powder. Blend them together.

4. Later add tamarind paste and 2 cups of water. Cover and cook over medium flame.

5. Once the gravy consolidates add eggs to it. Allow it to boil once or twice.

6. In a separate pan, heat oil. Add mustard, cumin, asafoetida, fenugreek, chenna dal, urad dal, dry red chilies and curry leaves. Let them pop and splutter well. Run this seasoning over the gravy.

Serve this along with plain steamed rice. Run a spoon full of ghee over it…..just before serving.