Sri Lankan egg curry

"This is a curry that my Grandmother used to love. It’s full of goodness and really tasty. Deep frying peeled eggs gives it a tofu like exterior that absorbs the gravy." Peter Kuruvita, Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 6 eggs (see Note)
• salt
• 200 ml coconut oil, for deep- frying
• 1 tbsp Maldive fish flakes, ground in a mortar and pestle (see Note)
• 3 cm piece cinnamon stick
• 3 cm piece pandanus leaf, available from Asian grocers
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
• ¼ tsp dill seeds
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 small green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 sprig of curry leaves, leaves picked
• 350 ml coconut cream
• ½ tsp grated turmeric
• coriander leaves, to serve

Instructions

Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil, then plunge the eggs into the water and boil for 5 minutes. Remove and refresh in iced water until cool. Carefully peel the cooked eggs, then prick them all over with a fork and lightly salt them.  Set aside.

Heat the coconut oil in a medium saucepan or wok to 180˚C.  A good way to test if the oil is hot enough to start cooking is to put a curry leaf in and it should ‘pop’. 

While the oil is heating, combine all the remaining ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 8 minutes or until the onions are soft and the sauce has thickened.

Deep-fry the eggs in the hot coconut oil for 1 minute or until golden, then drain on absorbent paper. Add all of the eggs to the curry sauce and simmer for 4- 5 minutes. Season to taste and garnish with coriander to serve.

Note

• A tip for boiling eggs is to tap a small hole in the round end of the egg with a small knife.  This will stop the eggs from cracking when you put them into boiling water.

• Maldive fish flakes are made from skip-jack tuna and are used sparingly in Sri Lankan cooking to thicken and add a unique smoky flavour.

Photography by Dan Freene. Food preparation by Peter Kuruvita/Cody Fahey.

Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen airs Thursdays at 8.30pm on SBS. Visit the program page for more details, recipes and guides.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.