Eggs in an Indian kitchen

[Suvir Saran]

Ande ke karee (curried eggs), ande ke khagnee and akuri are some of the ways in which I love eggs.

How do you use eggs in your Indian kitchen?

Where are these recipes from?

Any egg stories from India?

[torakris]

One of my kids' favorite curries is an egg and potato tomato based curry. The recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey, not sure of the Indian name though.

[Suvir Saran]

Taree waale ander or Ande kee Curry... is what you are describing. The same thing I mention in the first post.

I love them and have loved them since I was a young boy living in Nagpur. Aunty Hassan, a family friend from Allahabad who was also living in Nagpur at that time, would prepare it for me. It became a quick favorite of mine, and has become a staple of my kitchen.

[Suvir Saran]

BBhasin had asked for me to start another thread on eggs in the Indian Bread thread.

Maybe some of you would like to read about how eggs have found their way into the Indian bread making world in a much bigger way than some would believe to be true.

[PCircles]

Do you know of a dish called aloo dum? Not sure if this is the real name - my mom used to make it for parties when I was a kid.

Well, along with the aloo, you can add bard-boiled eggs. The spices soak into the eggs and make them just fabulous!

[Suvir Saran]

Do you know of a dish called aloo dum? Not sure if this is the real name - my mom used to make it for parties when I was a kid.

Well, along with the aloo, you can add bard-boiled eggs. The spices soak into the eggs and make them just fabulous!

Seems like we grew up in similar homes.

Dum Aloos are a favorite in my household. And it is the same sauce that we use most often for Ande Kee Curry.

Have a recipe from your family that you enjoy most? Care to share?

[Suvir Saran]

Panditji would always fry the eggs.. but in my NYC kitchen, I often do not. Depending on how formal the occasion is. If it is family, I always do.. they enjoy the extra effort. Otherwise, I am happy without the deep fried eggs. They do make for a great contrast. But one has to remember to poke holes into the eggs after they have cooled down from the frying.

We also make doe eyed egg curry where the eggs are fried after being halved.

[BBhasin]

Andae aur Andae

My favorites..

I sometimes crave the oily overcooked omeltte made by the guy who operated this shack outside my college. Sandwitched in a bun with a glass of high caffene/tannin '90 mile' tea.

Also, remember the Anda Tarka? The dhabaewalla scrambled some eggs with chopped onion, green chilies, tomatoes etc. and then ladled a portion of his dal into the pan. Finished with fresh cilanto, great with some fresh roti or chappati.

Omelette Curry.. Make a masalla omelette with chopped onion, tomato, green chillies, fresh corriander. Cut it into bite sized pieces and simmer in leftover chicken curry.Just plain old 'mordern' bread was fantastic with this.

And the egg parathas....... these two were my favourites

In calcutta, near Dum Dum, there were these wayside vendors who used a white flour dough similar to naan. They would roll it out a bit and then stretch it out quite thin on the metal table top. They would then beat up a couple of eggs with, onion, tomato, green chiiles and corrianger. This would then be poured in the center of the streched dough. The four corners would then be lifted and folded towards the centre, like an envelope. This would then be lifted and placed on a hot tawa (griddle), cooked and then shalow fried.

In Delhi, I forget if it was Moolchand or Southex, but this guy would make his parathas which were stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes. He would do the paratha on the Tawa and when he applied oil, the paratha would swell up for a moment a bit like a poori. At this moment, with a closed flat chimta (tong) that he held in his left hand he would pierce the edge of the paratha, release the tong a bit, creating an opening and in his right hand he had an egg which in one smooth movement he would break and fling the white and yolk into the paratha though the opening in the edge. He would pull the chimta(tong) out and press the paratha on top breaking the yolk and spreading the egg throughout the paratha.

He let me try it a couple of times but each time the egg went flying onto the sidewalk or the tawa but never into the paratha!

Hard boiled eggs in keema curry. The yolks added a velvetty smoothness while the whites gave the keema a geat texture.

A Bengali friend of mine, who managed a deluxe restaurant, could order anything from the menu would go crazy over simple fresh boiled rice atop which he would break a just boiled egg and pour melted butter. I am not very familar about Bengali fare but he told me that bengalis loved it.

Guess I am egged out now

[Suvir Saran]

BBhasin,

Moolchand, IIT (Hauz Khas area), JNU and Dhaula Kuan were the famous Anda Paratha vendors. We would go LATE, late at night. Just plain ole heaven. Simple and amazing food.

Omlette Curry is fantastic. I make omlettes and fold them into the sauce as one would sheets of pasta (ravioli).

And the omlettes at the Midway between Delhi and Haridwar/Mussoorie were most famous. Cheetal was the name of the stop over. Lines of people would wait for Noors omlettes and now they have become HUGE. Air Conditioned dining room and all. When we were kids it was just a way side Dhaba. Today it is a huge business and so very different from a Dhaba. A part of me feels sad, another is happy for the owners.