
Egg curry with rice
Hard-boiled eggs, blistered in a hot pan and simmered in a spiced tomato and onion sauce, make a cozy curry from things already in the cupboard.
- 50 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.72 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free

Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 8 large eggs
- 1½ cups basmati rice
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 3¼ cups water, divided
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- ¾ tsp ground turmeric, divided
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Each serving has about 530 calories, 20 g protein, 65 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $1.72 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No basmati rice? Jasmine rice or long-grain white rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the eggs in a medium , cover them with cold water by an inch, and over high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
As soon as it boils, turn off the heat, cover, and leave the eggs for 10 minutes. Then move them to a bowl of cold water.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Hot water, then off the heat, gives creamy yolks with no green ring.Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
the rice, then put it in a with 2¼ cups water and ½ teaspoon salt and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low for 15 minutes. Then take it off the heat and keep the lid on until the curry is ready.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
the eggs and prick each one a few times with a fork. Roll them in 1 tablespoon oil, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and of salt.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Dolly’s tip: The little holes let the sauce soak in, so it doesn’t just slide off.Heat a large over medium heat and fry the eggs, turning them, 3 to 4 minutes, until and blistered in spots. Move them to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: They may pop and spit a little. Keep your face back and turn them with a spoon.Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the onion to the pan and cook, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Take your time here. Well-browned onion is what makes the sauce taste deep, not just tomatoey.Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon and the rest of the turmeric and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the tomatoes, 1 cup water and ¾ teaspoon salt. Turn the heat to low and 10 minutes, until thick, then nestle in the eggs for 3 minutes more.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
Taste the sauce and add salt if it needs it. Fluff the rice with a fork and spoon the eggs and sauce over it, with cilantro on top.

Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
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