This easy egg curry post is sponsored by Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs. All opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the companies that keep this blog going.
Tender eggs are smothered in a super rich curry sauce with a tomato and coconut base. This easy egg curry recipe shows you how to cook a tasty curry using minimal ingredients, making it a perfect dish for a busy weekday dinner. {Gluten-Free}
Egg curry is a dish I came across when traveling in India in 2017. During the trip, I was impressed by the variety of the Indian curry types. I came across many unfamiliar herbs that go into the curry base that make it special. I learned that there is not just one type of “curry powder”. To make a certain type of curry dish, you need to mix different types of herbs and spices together to create the base.
When I got back to the US, I found out that it’s really hard to make traditional Indian curry dishes on a daily basis. It’s just not easy to find all the ingredients to make the proper blend. A dish usually involves a lot of different spices and it takes time and effort to locate and pull out 20 bottles at a time, and put them back.
When I was developing this egg curry recipe, I decided to use a different approach to make it simple.
Why this recipe
1. Easier prep
The dish uses a pre-mixed curry powder from the grocery store instead of making your curry blend at home. To make the taste rich with more depth, I added coconut milk, tomato, and a touch of soy sauce. You’ll be surprised how nice the curry turns out, with such a simple approach.
You might also be surprised to see soy sauce in a curry recipe. It was actually inspired by some of my Chinese recipes that use curry powder as a part of the seasoning, such as stew, fried noodles, and dumplings. We have a family braised beef dish that my mom makes a couple times per month, which also uses curry powder, soy sauce, and tomato paste as the base. The combination works beautifully.
2. Eggs cooked to your desired texture
The traditional Indian egg curry is made with hard boiled eggs. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I cannot resist a runny egg yolk. I even made traditional Chinese tea eggs (which also use hard boiled eggs) with runny yolks. When I developed this recipe, I decided to change the process so I could get runny egg yolks in the finished dish.
The traditional version of this recipe would simmer the boiled eggs in the curry base for a couple minutes, to infuse the seasoning into the eggs. But I noticed that the extra cooking time doesn’t make a huge difference, since you’ll be serving the eggs covered with a blanket of sauce that adds tons of flavor.
In the recipe below, I’ve included different cooking times so you can cook the eggs to your desired texture. You simply need to add the eggs to the cooked curry base at the end.
Egg curry cooking notes
1. Egg quality matters
I love Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs and I’ve talked about some of their advantages in my previous egg foo young post. Pete and Gerry’s works with more than 125 small independent family farmers to raise humanely treated hens that produce eggs with the highest quality. Their eggs are USDA Certified Organic – containing no pesticides, no added hormones, no antibiotics and no GMOs.
Do all these efforts also translate to better taste? The answer is YES. I noticed their eggs have bigger yolks with a vibrant color. Their eggs are so fresh and have a richer taste that you will notice when you bite into them.
Many grocery stores, including Whole Foods, carry their eggs. Take a look at the egg package in the picture below, so you can find them in the store the next time (or simply use there store locator, here.)
2. How to cook the perfect eggs
Ideally, you should be using an Instant Pot to get the most consistent results. However, I understand that not everyone has an Instant Pot.
I’ve included a foolproof method that my mom taught me. However, do note that egg cooking time varies depending on many factors. For sample, the size of the egg, whether they are at room temperature or just out of the fridge, the stove you use, and the altitude of your location etc. So please do use the timeline I provided as a guideline and tweak the time according to your own situation.
3. Recipe quantity
It might look like a lot of sauce once you’re done cooking. But I found that this is the perfect amount of sauce for six eggs.
If you want to cook up to eight eggs, you don’t need to tweak the sauce quantity. Simply season it with a bit more salt and you will be able to serve more people.
If you’re cooking for a smaller crowd, you can reduce the egg quantity. But I highly recommend making a whole batch of curry gravy. The leftover sauce will taste even better after a night in the fridge. Plus it’s such a great sauce and goes with almost everything. Simply heat up the sauce and throw in some chopped veggies, leftover rotisserie chicken, shrimp, or anything that has little-to-no seasoning. You’ll have a great meal in no time.
More easy egg recipes
- Easy Egg Foo Young
- Chinese Egg Drop Soup
- 3-Ingredient Egg Fried Rice
- Classic Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
- Cheesy Kimchi Pancakes
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and @omnivorescookbook and @peteandgerrys on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Easy Egg Curry
Ingredients
- 6 large Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs
- 1 tablespoon butter (or vegetable oil)
- 1 white onion , minced
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger , minced
- 4 tablespoons curry powder (or 3 tablespoons for a less spicy dish) (*Footnote 1)
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 can (14 oz / 400g) tomatoes , diced
- 1 can (14 oz / 400g) full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari sauce for gluten-free)
- Salt to taste
- Chopped cilantro leaves for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
Boil the egg
- To boil the eggs, heat a pot of water (enough to cover all the eggs, but not including the eggs yeover high heat until boiling. Turn to low heat. Carefully place the eggs into the pot using a ladle, to prevent the shells from cracking. Boil 6 minutes for runny yolks, 8 minutes for medium soft-boiled, or 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.
- While cooking the eggs, prepare an ice bath by combining ice and tap water in a big bowl.
- Once the eggs are cooked, immediately transfer them to the ice bath to cool for 2 to 3 minutes. If you don’t have ice on hand, simply run cool tap water over the eggs for a couple minutes until they cool down.
- If you plan to serve the curry as soon as the sauce is done, peel the eggs and set them aside. If you’re making the curry ahead and serving it later, store the eggs in the fridge for up to 4 days and peel them when you’re ready to serve.
Cook the curry
- Add butter or oil to a 4-quart / 3.78-liter dutch oven (or a medium-sized nonstick skilleand heat over medium heat until hot. Add onions. Cook and stir until soft and lightly golden, 8 minutes or so.
- Add the garlic and ginger. Cook and stir for 1 minute to release the fragrance.
- Add the curry powder, cumin powder, and ground black pepper. Stir and cook to mix well, 1 minute or so.
- Add the canned tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock or vegetable stock and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Turn to medium-low heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, or until the curry thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt if necessary. Turn off heat and remove the pot from the stove. Add the eggs when you’re ready to serve, especially for the runny yolk / soft boiled eggs, so they stay soft.
- Serve hot over steamed rice garnished with cilantro (if desireas a main dish.
Notes
- I used packaged curry powder mix in this recipe. The mild Madras curry powder will work well, too.
love this kinds of dish, thank you, and nice tip about mimicking the scratch curry powder with the universal powder, coconut milk and even some soy sauce, thank you
This recipe looks good!
There are no GMO eggs, so it’s misleading to say that these eggs “contain no GMOs.”
Thanks Maggie. This looks so good, I am definitely trying it!
Here is another way to cook the eggs that I learned from a British chef. The timing is similar to what you have explained but the results are slightly different. The egg whites do not become rubbery at all although they are cooked completely.
Have the eggs at room temperature, take them out of the refrigerator one hour before doing this.
Bring the water up to boiling. Gently add the eggs and boil for two minutes. Turn off the heat and cover.
It is not necessary to keep boiling the eggs. Just boil them for two minutes.
Leave them in the hot water for six minutes for runny yolks and about 12 minutes for hard boiled.
Plunge them into cold or ice water immediately after the allotted time.
Hi Pamela, thanks for sharing this! I’d love to try it out next time. I love runny yolks that’re perfectly cooked.
Dear Omnivore,
Your egg curry is excellent!
I must say I had my doubts. I make all kinds of curries almost every week. Never with soy sauce. (And I did substitute ordinary curry powder with freshly ground Madras curry spices combined with freshly ground black Sri Lanka spices). I also cheated with the soy sauce (used coconut sauce which has 90% less sodium) but kept everything else as is.
Fabulous.
I love following your recipes and can only regret the fact that you do not yet deliver to Canada.
Thank you for your great recipes and advice!
Thank you so much for this recipe, Maggie. I’ve made it multiple times, and my husband and I think it’s great—nutritious and delicious, and so quick and simple for tired nights. I use ghee instead of butter and serve it over cauliflower rice. I confess, I use precooked eggs, but I’m sure freshly cooked eggs with soft yolks would be so good! I’ve long wanted to try an egg curry, but I lack the fortitude to collect and assemble the myriad ingredients usually required. This recipe is just what I’ve been searching for, and it really hits the spot! Thanks again.
An egg is one of the best sources of energy and also make the diet more balanced. However, having egg curry is not under balanced food but it is delicious and very tasty. I just love it. I prepare that every weekend and every time try yo make that different from the previous one. I’ve read your recipe and found that awesome hence saved it for this week. I found this recipe very healthy and very delicious. I just can’t wait to try this recipe at home. Thanks for sharing it!
Mmm so good. I used my stick blender to make the sauce smooth and luxurious. It was delightful with my 7 minute eggs and hot rice. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Maggie, Your recipes are wonderful. I am not a cook but am turning out top class food by following your instructions. This was my first curry ever and it was sensational. I used a hot Madras curry so backed it off to 2 tablespoons, and it was plenty spicy.. just used some hard boiled eggs left over from the weekend. added some BBQ chicken as well! Thanks.
Excellent. Can I use the same curry mix recipe that you share with the “Butter Chicken “? If yes, how can I adjust the quantities. Thank you!!!
I’m pretty sure you can. Once you mix all the ingredients, measure out 4 tablespoons for this recipe.
Thanks Maggie! This recipe is amazing.
This was so good. My boyfriend and I were originally planning on learning how to make soup dumplings but when the weekend rolled around, we were absolutely exhausted and didn’t really have energy to even get groceries lol. We already had all the ingredients, so we made it and dannnggg for being such a simple recipe it was so tasty and filling. This recipe is definitely gonna be on rotation since it’s so easy and delicious.
A big hit. We have several other egg curries that we make, but this is our first that uses coconut milk and we like it a lot.
Bingo! I chose the right one first time! This recipe is spot-on, strong flavours, quick and easy. Thank you so much. I’ll be using this sauce as a basis for many curries to come 😄👍
I was looking for ways to use up eggs. We love curry. I rarely use a recipe and 20 ingredìents!?! No, thanks. I was about to make something up when I found your recipe. It’s very similar to an easy buttered chicken I make with equal amounts of coconut milk and Campbell’s tomato soup. The only change was only 1T of my favorite curry powder and 1t garam masala for more flavor without heat.
This recipe is quick, little mess, and tasty! I’ve tried about 5 of your recipes and ALL of them were amazingly flavorful and so YUMMY! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us!
Tasty! I was apprehensive because I had a couple options for curry powder but ended up blending two together. I also only had a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles but it turned out really nicely at the end. I personally couldn’t taste the coconut milk at the end. I don’t like tasting coconut milk in savory dishes but it did impart this creaminess that really rounded the dish out nicely.