Lost Recipes of India, Ep. 2
The Royal Egg, a dish from 1330's Vijayanagar Empire of India
"The Royal Egg" is an Honest Cooks interpretation of an egg dish reference we found in the book “The Vijayanagar Empire: Chronicles of Paes and Nuniz.” In the second episode of this series, we go back in time to visit the Vijayanagar Empire of Southern India.
The Vijayanagar emperors ruled a better part of present day India for over 300 years. Under their rule, many travelers visited and chronicled their journey. Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz were two such explorers who visited Southern India when the Vijayanagar empire was in its prime!
In their writings (which were later combined into a book) we can find elaborate narrations about the feasts and festivals. This dish, in particular, is very interesting. In the sense that one would expect eggs to be a poor man's food. But it seems that the chefs of this King, back in those days, knew how to keep things fancy! They created something extremely royal and rich with the eggs (the name has been lost in translation over time, but we feel "The Royal Egg" comes close).
Watch the video to find out what they did and how we adapted their recipe to fit our modern day kitchen!
Ingredients:
For the egg mixture:
Ginger: 2 inch pc
Garlic: 5-6 cloves
Green Chilies: 3-4 pcs
White Onion: small piece
Salt and pepper: to taste
Eggs, large: 3-4
To wrap the eggs:
Whole Wheat Flour: 3 tbsp
Water: as needed
For the curry:
Cooking oil: 2 tbsp
Bay leaf: 1-2 pc
Black Cardamom: 2 pc
Black peppercorn: 7-8 pc
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Red onions: 4 oz
Tomatoes: 4 oz
Turmeric: 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Garam Masala: 2 tsp
Salt: 1.5 tsp or to taste
Water: to deglaze the pan and as needed
Directions:
Make a paste of the ginger, garlic, & green chilies in a blender.
Crack the eggs from the top and empty out the egg in a bowl. Make sure no shells fall in. Do not discard the shell.
Mix 2 tbsp of the ginger-garlic paste along with salt and pepper into the eggs. Whisk to combine thoroughly.
Knead the flour with some water and keep the dough sticky. OR you can use Saran Wrap to cover the entire egg for step 6.
When your dough is ready, set aside. Go back to the egg mix and pour it into the shells - only halfway. Keep an egg carton handy to keep the prepped eggs in while you pour the rest.
Now, using the dough you just made, cover the opening on the egg's top. Make sure to leave no cracks or else it may leak when boiling.
Hard boil the eggs. Start in cold water and cook for 9-10 minutes. When ready, remove eggs back on to the egg carton and let cool.
When they have come to room temp., remove the dough and shell to reveal cooked half eggs. Set aside.
To the gravy now: Chop the onions and tomatoes. When you are ready, heat a pan and add some oil.
When the oil is hot, add in the bay leaf, cardamom, black peppercorn and temper for a minute or so.
Then, add in the cumin and mustard. When these begin to pop, add the red onions and cook on medium until the onions are soft.
Add a splash of water to deglaze the pan. Then, add the tomatoes. Cook until they are very soft, almost mushy. Add water as needed.
Add in the powdered spices and mix well.
Add in the remaining egg mix from step 3 and whisk well to form a thick and rich gravy.
Once the eggs are cooked, add the hard boiled eggs from step 8. Cook for about a minute or so and turn off the flame. Don't overcook the eggs - the gravy will not be as luscious.
Serve with naan or white rice!
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