SAOJI EGG CURRY
Saoji Egg Curry was brunch today. I learned from the recipe introduction that this style of cuisine is intended to by fiery and use Bhiwapuri chiles (100,000-300,000 Scoville units). This is not a chile I can get in my area and does not seem to be available on Amazon. The author of the recipe has made this somewhat less spicy, using a mix of Kashmiri and Guntar chiles. My sanaam chiles from Penzey’s are listed as 40,000 Scoville units on the bag. I decided to make up the difference of the heat by adding a fresh habanero to the ginger-garlic paste when I made it.
I made the masala powder for the recipe yesterday in anticipation of brunch today. You roast the chiles, along with dried coconut, poppy seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, ajwain (I subbed caraway and a little thyme), green cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, cloves, mace, and a new to me spice, kapok bud. It is peppery and a little mustard seed like in flavor. Then everything is ground together.
Cook some onion in oil and then add the ginger-garlic (and habanero) paste. Add tomatoes (I used a mix of canned and fresh to accommodate what was in my pantry/fridge), turmeric, the masala powder, water, and salt to taste. Let simmer until it thickens (about 10 minutes). Then add hard boiled eggs and simmer another 4 minutes. I decided to poach eggs in the sauce instead, since we like runny yolks.
Garnish with cilantro.
I served this with the suggested Burani Raita and some pita bread that needed to be used up. With the habanero, it definitely reached “fiery”, at least to us. The garlicky yogurt was a nice foil to the heat. This was a welcome meal on a chilly late morning!
