Egg Roast Masala- Hard-boiled eggs in a jammy onion tomato sauce. It goes so well with parathas, dosa, appams, and as a side to regular rice & dal or lentils. A famous recipe from South india.
Why this recipe works
1. Pantry Ingredients - this is a perfect recipe for days when you have only basics available.
2. An Easy way to add more protein to the Indian diet
3. The same sauce can be used with vegetables, shrimp, chicken etc too
4. It goes with almost everything - roti, rice , parathas, dosas, appams!you name it.
This egg roast masala is also called "Muttai Thokku" in Tamil and "Nadan Muttai Roast" in Kerala. It's best described as boiled eggs in roasted onion and tomato masala.
If you have ever had the famous Iyengar bakery Egg puff, this is the filling in it. The base sauce or "masala" as called in india is made with simple ingredients and indian spices, found in most indian pantrys.
All you have to do is slow cook the onion and tomatoes till they are jammy, soft and full of fragrant spices. This becomes the perfect contrast to otherwise bland Hard-boiled eggs.
They are best served with Roti, Malabar parothas(in the picture) , Appam(also called Hoppers) , Dosa or String Hoppers.
Key Ingredients
Onions & Tomatoes
Indian onions, Red, yellow or white onions will work here. If you have shallots, they will work great too.
Red plump juicy tomatoes will work best here. If you can't get fresh tomatoes, crushed tomatoes will also work.
The Masala calls for a lot of onions and tomatoes.I have used 500 gms of onions with around 600 gms of red plump tomatoes for 8 eggs. This does sound crazy but that's what is needed to make a beautiful spicy, slightly sweet jammy onion tomato masala for a perfect egg roast.
Hot Tip
If your tomatoes aren't as ripe as you hoped, you can add a tablespoon of tomato paste along with the chopped tomatoes.
Spices
We will be using the regular indian pantry spice powders. The one spice that is different from the usual list is fennel.
Fennel(saunf) along with pepper is a very defining chettinad spices.This will add an aniseedy taste very characteristic of South indian flavours.(Here is a recipe for chettinad style chicken curry)
The recipe also calls for 3 kinds of chillies- Green fresh chillies, Kashmiri Chilli powder and Black pepper Powder. All of these add their unique flavor to the masala and the heat reduces when you pair it with the boiled eggs.
How to make Egg Roast Masala
Step 1: Prep
Slice the onions as shown below. This will give it the specific texture we are after.
If you are boiling eggs in bulk, try the instant pot boiled egg method otherwise you can simply add eggs to boiling water and boil for 10 minutes to get hard boiled eggs.Peel and set aside.
Step 2: Make the Base Sauce
Even though this is tagged as step "2", I usually do this along with step 1.Start with heating oil in a wok/kadai/ pot. Once it's hot, add the onions.
Cook them on slow or low heat. You want to make them soft, brown & mushy, not crispy. We do this to bring out the sweetness of the onions.So Slowly caramelize the onions for 10-15 minutes atleast.
Once the onions are slightly brown, add the spices and aromatics - cumin, mustard and fennel seeds , turmeric, pepper, coriander powder, chili,ginger & garlic. Saute for a minute.
Now add the tomatoes. Cook this for about 15-20 minutes on low to medium heat, till the tomatoes are mushy. You can also use a potato masher to encourage the tomatoes to become mushy faster. This is the base "Sauce".
You can turn this into mushroom roast, paneer roast, vegetable roast, chicken roast and so many things!
Check the video to understand the texture of the masala. This is not the orange color egg curry(often called kerala mutta curry) with coconut milk. This is more of a thicker, jammier egg curry.
Step 3 :Add the Eggs
You can either halve the eggs or add them as a whole. Sometimes I slit the egg whites in a few places so that the masala can get into egg.
For the finishing touch ,Garnish with more curry leaves or chopped coriander leaves.
Serving Egg Roast
An egg roast is perfect side dish with simple dal and rice. This simple egg dish instantly lifts the humble meal to a feast !
We also love eating these with crispy parottas, Butter Naans, appams or dosas! It's one of those dishes that fits breakfast , lunch and dinner perfectly!
We love eggs. There is nothing that is easier to make, while being nutrient dense. Try my 2-minute quick chili crisp eggs and our house favorite breakfast egg dosa.
If you love South Indian recipes, do give Chicken 65- Indian fried chicken & Kerala chicken curry a try, too.
Speaking about South Indian curries, try this gongura chicken curry from Andra Pradesh. It's full of healthy green leaves, which give it a distinct flavor that's hard to beat!
If you make this delicious Egg Masala, do leave me a Rating & comment.I would love to hear from you!
South Indian Style Egg Roast Masala
Ingredients
- 8 Boiled Eggs hard boiled
- 500 gms Onions Sliced
- 600 gms Tomatoes Chopped
- 2 tablespoon Oil - Gingely or Coconut or Vegetable
- 6-7 Garlic Cloves -Minced
- 1 inch Ginger -Grated
- 10-15 Curry Leaves Fresh or dry
- 1 Green Chilies -Slit; optional
Spices
- 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds Saunf
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds Jeera
- 1 teaspoon Black mustard Rai; optional
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 2 tablespoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Chilli Powder Kashmiri Chili
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- 1 tablespoon Salt Approx. as per taste
- Coriander Leaves for Garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a big pot.
- Add the sliced onions.Cook on med-low heat, stirring often, till they are soft, light brown, and slightly mushy.
- Once the onions are ready, add the curry leaves, cumin, fennel , mustard, ginger, garlic & green chili. Also add the dry ground spices- pepper, chili powder, coriander powder, salt & turmeric
- Give it a mix and saute for about 20-30 seconds.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and cook at medium flame for 15-20 minutes, till the tomato is mushy and mixes with the rest of the masala.
- Keep sautéing the masala till you get a jammy consistency of the onions and tomato. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water if the onions and tomatoes are burning.
- Use a heavy ladle or potato masher to lightly mash the onion-tomato base sauce.
- Take off the heat.Add boiled eggs- whole or halved.
- Garnish with coriander and serve with parathas or rice.
Video
Notes
Serving
Egg roast masala is a semi gravy indian side dish.You can serve it on its own with parathas, rotis,kerala parotta, dosas or appam. It also works very well as a side dish with dal & rice.Heat Level
- Mild Kerala Egg Curry- Use half the amount of pepper. Omit every other type of chili- Kashmiri chili and green chili.
- Medium Spicy Egg Curry - Use the Kashmiri chili powder & pepper. Just poke a few holes in the green chili and use as per instruction.
- Spicy Egg Curry - Use all chilies. Finely chop up the green chili instead of keeping it whole.
Nutrition
Variations of Kerala Egg Roast Masala
- First variation, is to obviously try using different types of eggs- duck eggs, Quail eggs etc. The onion- tomato masala is so versatile that it would work very well with Paneer and Tofu too.
- Usually, if there is a little bit of the Masala left from the Egg Roast Masala I quickly saute some Shrimp/prawns in it too.
Storing, Refrigerating & Freezing
The Egg roast masala will last for 5-6 days in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze this dish. I usually make a large batch of the "masala" and freeze it in freezer boxes and ice cubes.
During the pandemic, I always had this sauce tucked away in the frozen for that "rainy Day". To eat, you just microwave the masala and bring it to room temperature.
All you gotto do is add eggs / paneer/ mushrooms to the base. And you are good to go!
Easy Accompaniments with Egg Masala
More South Indian Style Curries
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