chettinad special egg curry

Boil eggs and peel them once it cools down and keep it aside. Next step is to prepare Chettinad masala. To a pan, pour oil. Out of 1 tbsp fennel seeds, add 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds followed by cumin seeds, pepper corns, curry leaves, red chillies. Then add 2 cinnamon sticks that are of 2 inches, cloves and cardamoms, bay leaves and grated coconut. Saute them until they all turn aromatic and golden brown.

While roasting the spices, the key point to be noted is, coconut must not get overcooked or burnt. Once the above mixture cools down, grind them into a fine masala paste by pouring required amount of water. The texture mustn't be coarse. It should have a fine texture.

Now pour oil in a pan, once it gets hot add the remaining 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds, 2 bay leaves and a 1 inch of cinnamon stick. Once it splutters, add finely chopped onions and saute until they turn 90% brown. Also add some curry leaves to it. Then add 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste. Saute well till the raw smell goes away. Then add chopped tomatoes to the mixture followed by turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Pour little bit of water and cook the tomatoes well.

Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the ground chettinad masala paste. Saute for 2-3 mins. Then add required amount of water. While the gravy gets cooked, grind 2 tsp of grated coconut in water and add it to the gravy. It is added to get a smooth texture to the masala, at the same time subsides the spiciness added.

Last step is to add the boiled eggs. I usually make small cuts on the eggs to let the masala penetrate. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Rice or Roti.