Stir-Fried Eggs and Potatoes

Alu Pyaj Deem Bhaja

The internet, and Facebook in particular, are an endless source of inspiration. This recipe, taken from a food group in Facebook, is one of a myriad of egg curry recipes and is also the easiest. The eggs and potatoes are boiled for 20 minutes, cooled, peeled and cut, then stir-fried with onions. By boiling the potatoes first, they taste wonderfully soft after cooking.

We had this with steamed rice, but it can be served with any Indian bread and tastes really good rolled up in a tortilla. 

Egg Curry & Eggplant-Zucchini Posto

Clockwise from top:

Egg Curry/Dimer Dalna

Simple Salad

Diced cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, green chilies, salt and lime juice.

Eggplant-Zucchini Posto/Begun Zucchini'r Posto

Steamed Basmati Rice

Burmese Egg Curry - Chet Oo Chin Hin

Chet Oo Chin Hin

Egg curry in Burma is generally made from duck eggs (bae oo) but in North America duck eggs are scarce, so chicken eggs (chet oo) are more commonly used. I've left the eggs whole to keep them in tact. Halved eggs tend to lose their yolks during this cooking process.

A Burmese lady in our Burmese food group on Facebook introduced us to her hassle-free way of cooking egg curry. After hard-boiling and peeling the eggs and potatoes, all the ingredients are combined in a saucepan with enough chicken broth and/or water to cover and slowly simmered together until the potatoes are cooked through and the gravy thickens.

This spicy-hot and sour curry is best enjoyed with steamed rice.

Dimer Dhokar Dalna - Steamed Egg Cakes in Tomato & Onion Gravy

Dimer Dhokar Dalna

An interesting variation to Egg Curry, eggs beaten with turmeric powder, salt, minced onions, tomatoes and green chilies are steamed in the microwave oven and cooked in a tomato-based gravy.

Dhoka, which means fake or deceptive in Bengali, refers to the vegetarian substitute for meat served on auspicious occasions. Dhokar Dalna is generally made with lentil cakes in gravy. The lentil cake method is tedious and time-consuming requiring soaking the lentils overnight, blending them the next day and cooking the paste until all liquid evaporates, then cutting the cake in cubes and frying the cubes until browned. In the process, a lot of oil is used and a lot of effort expended. 

Dimer Dhoka is much simpler to make, although it would not be considered a vegetarian dish. It doesn't require as much preparation and uses a lot less oil.

Dim-er Dalna - Egg Curry

Dim-er Dalna

Eggs in any shape or form are easy to prepare for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Hard boiled eggs and boiled baby potatoes in an onion and tomato sauce are an egg-cellent choice for a dinner entree because they go so well with steamed rice.

The sauce is easy to prepare too, because all it requires is for the onions and garlic to be blanched in boiling water and blended with tomatoes, a green chili and ginger, then stir-fried with spices and the potatoes and combined with the eggs. 

Bengali Egg Curry - Dimer Dalna

Dimer Dalna

The eggs in this Egg Curry are sometimes halved before simmering in the tomato gravy. It is, however, more conventional to leave them whole when cooking them in the Bengali way. After hard-boiling and peeling, the eggs are slit vertically five to six times around the circumference, so that the gravy penetrates through to the core.

Channa Dal with Hard Boiled Eggs

Chana Dal e Dim Sheddho

This is a quick and easy recipe for channa dal. The addition of hard boiled eggs takes it from a side to a main dish, if need be. 

Omelettes in Onion & Tomato Gravy

Omelette Curry

Another dish that brings Mum to mind! Wish she were here to coach me through this, but I think she would approve of my improvisation. 

Dry Egg Curry with Potatoes

Alu Pyaj Deem Bhaja

All credit for this dish goes to Pritha Sen who shared it on Kitchen Raagas in Facebook. For the benefit of those who cannot access the recipe on Facebook, I am detailing how I made this. 

Bengali Egg Curry - Dimer Dalna

Dimer Dalna

The eggs in this Egg Curry are sometimes halved before simmering in the tomato gravy. It is, however, more conventional to leave them whole when cooking them in the Bengali way. After hard-boiling and peeling, the eggs are slit vertically five to six times around the circumference, so that the gravy penetrates through to the core.

Eggs in Coconut Sauce

Deem-er Malai Curry

Bengalis make Malai Curry with fish and shrimp, so why not with eggs? It's basically an Egg Curry, which most Bengalis love, with coconut milk added to it. I've gven it a South Indian flavor with the use of curry leaves. 

I'm fortunate enough to have a curry leaf tree growing in a little container in the house, so it's readily available. Curry leaves may be replaced with cilantro.