Cozy Up With The Creamy Comfort Of Egg Curry

Few things are more comforting and craveable for those who love a taste of spice in their meals than a good bowl of curry. Curries come in all shapes and forms, with entire books dedicated to defining the meaning of the word. However, it is generally accepted that curry means "any spiced, stew-like dish," which makes sense when considering the multitude of curry varieties around the globe.

Curries often highlight a main ingredient, usually a protein of some sort. Chicken curries are ubiquitous, followed by those made with red meat or seafood. But sometimes, you do not want to spend all that extra time tending to a pot of curry, waiting for the meat to get tender. Enter egg curry.

Popular in Kerala, a state on the southwestern coast of India, egg curries are often made of boiled eggs served in a curry-spiced sauce. There are also styles of egg curry in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, variations on the theme brought over by centuries of South Asian migration.

The sauce of egg curry varies widely depending on the preference of both the cook and the diner. In India alone, there are hefty hariyali curries full of greens and more runny varieties like the Kerala style found in South India. These South Asian versions, along with egg curries from different regions, are eaten at all times of the day with suitable starches. Thick curries are good for mopping up with bread such as naan, while those with thinner gravies are perfect for pairing with a plain textured starch like idiyappam, which is noodle-like and made from extruded rice flour batter.

Eggs are packed with complete proteins, and it is safe to assume that many folks usually have a few eggs in their kitchen as a quick pantry staple. Spice pastes like curry mixes are also an everyday pantry staple for many cooks, so if you are the kind of person who tends to meal prep, this is an opportunity to add an easy meal to your rotation. Many egg curry recipes call for adding boiled eggs to the pan after most of the sauce is cooked; therefore, cooks can prepare both the boiled eggs and curry sauce separately in batches and assemble them for mealtimes.

Egg curry joins a group of beloved spiced egg dishes from around the world. The more popular preparations in that category are the party appetizer classic deviled eggs, as well as shakshuka, a popular brunch offering of poached eggs in spicy tomato sauce. Both dishes can be curry-fied easily. Swap in some curry powder instead of paprika or curry paste instead of harissa.

You can follow this train of thought and keep extrapolating the possibilities of egg and curry. Add curry paste to your morning scrambled eggs, or swirl a little curry into egg drop soup. With just a little imagination and foresight, an egg curry (or any of its delicious cousins waiting to be invented) will never be out of reach whenever the craving hits. So much can be done with curry — you just need to crack open an egg.