Omelette Curry

After that something in him snapped I guess and he started rejecting eggs. Thankfully this curry was very well received and he asked for seconds. It was unbelievable for a mom like me who has tried to sneak in eggs in every possible way in his meals only to find them back, untouched.

Omelette Curry
Prep time: 20-25 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

For the basic egg curry:

For the masala:

• 4-5 long dry chillies (deseeded) * see notes
• 2 Kashmiri chillies (deseeded) * see notes
• 4 peppercorns
• 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8th teaspoon (just a pinch) mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 3/4th cup grated coconut
• 1 marble sized ball of tamarind

Other ingredients for the curry:

• 1 small onion finely sliced
• 1 cup thick coconut milk (extracted from 1/2 a grated coconut) * see notes
• 1 teaspoon coriander leaves finely chopped (for garnish, optional)
• 250-300 grams potatoes (approx 1 large or 2 medium sized potatoes), boiled, skinned & quartered
• oil for frying
• salt to taste

For the omelette:

• 4 eggs
• 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
• 1-2 small green chillies minced (adjust to taste)
• 1 inch ginger finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves finely chopped (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying

For the coating/batter (optional but recommended):

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour/maida

Method:
1. To make the omelette, in a bowl beat the eggs well and add the rest of the ingredients mentioned under ‘For the omelette‘ except the oil.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and pour the egg mixture evenly over the surface. Let the omelette cook on a medium flame. Don’t touch it for at least half a minute after which you can gently left the side to see if it has turned golden in colour underneath. Use a wide based spatula to fold a third (1/3rd) of the omelette and after a few seconds gently shift it a little. The excess egg mixture will spill out and cook. Then fold the other end of the omelette and cook. Fold once again till you have a cooked omelette in the shape of a log. Remove from heat and cut into slices of about 1 inch each.
3. Optional Step: In a bowl beat the egg and flour to make the coating. Gently dip the omelette slices in it and fry again until golden on all sides. Remove and keep aside.
4. To make the curry, grind all the ingredients mentioned under ‘For the masala‘ to a very fine paste, use water sparingly. Retain the masala water from the mixer.
5. In a heavy based pan heat the oil and fry the sliced onion till golden. Add the ground masala and fry on a low heat till the raw smell vanishes and masala starts to leave the sides of the pan. Add the reserved masala water, salt to taste and boil for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the boiled potatoes and omelette pieces and simmer for another one minute. Finally add the coconut milk and reduce the heat, do not cover the pan as the milk may curdle. Do a quick taste check, simmer for half a minute and remove from heat.
7. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or chapathis.

Notes:
1. If you can brave the heat then use whole chillies without deseeding them. You may use any one type of chillies but the Byadgi variety gives the real flavour and aroma of Mangalorean cuisine. The Kashmiri chillies give an excellent colour but are low on spice but they are a good substitute.
2. To make this curry in a hurry and skip the process of extracting fresh coconut milk, just dissolve 4 tablespoons of coconut milk powder (I use Maggi) in 3/4th cup of warm water. This will yield approximately 1 cup of thick milk.
3. This recipe calls for re frying the omelette pieces in a batter of flour and egg just so that they don’t crumble/break in the curry. If you are confident that your omelette wont crumble in the curry you can skip this step