Egg curry (or Anda Masala as it is known in India) is one of those dishes that sounds a little bit wrong to a western palette but is in fact a great dish. Quick to prepare, cheap and incredibly healthy, what’s not to like?  This dish is based on a North Indian recipe a friend showed me.

While the masala sauce is onion and tomato based (no coconut oil like many South Indian egg curry recipes) the eggs seem to bring an almost creamy taste to the dish. This works equally well as a vegetarian main dish as it does a side.

The following recipe will serve 2 people if served as a main or 4-6 as a side dish.

Egg Curry Ingredients

• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 1 and a half finely chopped onions
• 1 piece of cinnamon bark (2 inches long)
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of ground coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• 1 fresh green chilli (cut diagonally in half)
• 2 large tomatoes (skinned, peeled and pureed)
• 1 cup of water
• Fresh coriander to garnish

[ad name=”square”]

To hard boil the eggs place them in a saucepan of cold water over a high heat. As soon as the water comes to a rolling boil switch off the heat and place the lid on the pan. Leave to stand for 9 minutes before rinsing the eggs under lots of cold water in order to stop the cooking process. Once cooled fully peel the eggs and leave them to soak in cold water while preparing the gravy.

An easy way of de-skinning and pureeing the tomatoes is to cut them in half and grate them over a bowl. Do this in advance while the eggs are boiling.

Next up, the masala sauce.

Add the cumin seeds to a pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over a medium heat.

As soon as the seeds start to brown slightly add the chopped onions and cinnamon bark. Stir regularly over a medium heat, cooking down the onions until they start to brown. Don’t rush cooking the onions as this is the key part in any Indian curry and imparts amazing flavour in to the final sauce.

Once the onions are just starting to brown, add the chilli powder, ground coriander seeds, turmeric, garlic, green chilli and salt. Fry this off for a minute or two – it will likely go very dry in the pan.

Add the pureed tomato and cook for a further minute stirring regularly before adding the water. Turn the heat down, place the lid on the pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Finally remove the lid, slice the eggs in half and carefully place them in the pan, sliced side up. Carefully spoon some masala over the eggs and simmer gently for another 5 minutes before serving with some fresh coriander.

Macaroni cheese is a classic and surprisingly easy to make. Forget the packet stuff, once you realise how easy this recipe is and how much better it tastes you’ll never look back. Mac cheese has got a bit of a bad reputation for being a bland ready meal but it needn’t be the case. The mustard, white pepper, stock and thyme are what makes this recipe so good so make sure you don’t leave these out.

Macaroni Cheese Ingredients

• 500g of dried macaroni
• 1 teaspoon of english mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of Bouillon (vegetable stock granules)
• 3 bay leaves
• bunch of fresh thyme
• 100g of mature cheddar cheese
• 35g of fresh parmesan cheese
• 1 fresh chilli
• 1 handful of breadcrumbs

[ad name=”square”]

Basic White Sauce Ingredients

• 40g of butter
•  3 tablespoons of plain flour
• 750ml of milk

Cook the macaroni in a large pan of salted water as per the instructions on the packet (typically about 11 minutes). Aim to cook the macaroni a little less than al dente as the pasta will continue to cook a little when in the oven with the cheese sauce.

Meanwhile make the basic white sauce by melting the butter over a medium heat in a saucepan. Next add the plain flour and immediately start whisking. The butter/flour mixture will form a dry paste. Continue to cook this off for 2-3 minutes while continuing to whisk.

Next start adding the milk a little at a time, whisking throughout. After about 10 minutes the sauce should be a nice pouring consistency. Add in the bay leaves, thyme leaves, cheddar, chopped chilli, mustard, pepper and vegetable stock powder and continue to stir with the whisk for a few minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked drain it over a colander. If you sauce is a little thick you can use some of the pasta water to thin it a little. Don’t forget that your sauce will continue to thicken when in the oven so aim to have it slightly too thin when you combine it in the tray/dish with the pasta.

Add the pasta to the saucepan with the sauce and stir to combine the two. Finally pour it into an oven proof dish before sprinkling the grated parmesan and breadcrumbs on top and bake for about 20 minute at 180°c until the top looks golden brown. If you really can’t wait brown off the top under the grill.