Historical April 1991 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
When I study an author, I like to immerse myself in the writer’s culture.
When I was writing a book about Flannery O’Connor, I went to Milledgeville. Georgia, and learned to eat grits.
I am now studying Kipling, and to get in the mood—which is even more fun than doing the research—I have been eating a lot of Indian food. One of my favorite dishes is curried eggs. It’s an especially good dish for the days after Easter, because it uses up left over hard-boiled eggs.
3 tbs. vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
a 1-inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 green chili, chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground roasted cumin seeds
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. tomato paste
2/3 cup chicken stock
6-8 hard-boiled eggs.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions, and fry until the pieces are
browned at the edges. Add the ginger and green chili. Stir and fry for a minute, then add the cream, lemon juice, ground roasted cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, curry powder, tomato paste, and chicken stock. Stir thoroughly and bring to a simmer. Put the egg halves into the sauce in a single layer, cut side up. Cook for about five minutes, spooning the sauce over the eggs. Put the egg halves carefully into a serving dish, and pour the sauce over them. You can garnish the dish with chopped parsley.
To make the ground roasted cumin, put a few tablespoons of whole cumin seeds into a heavy frying pan. You don’t need to add oil. Place the pan over a medium flame, and stir the seeds until they turn several shades darker.
The seeds give off a roasted aroma when they are ready. You can grind them in a coffee-mill, or crush them between sheets of foil with a rolling pin.
The dish can be as hot or as mild as you like, depending on how much cayenne pepper you use.
In some ways, a mild version is more authentic: hot peppers were brought to India by the Portuguese.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1991.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1991_04.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
