Muttai Kulambu / Boiled Egg Curry - South Indian Style | Indian Egg Curry Recipes

There would be quite a few family recipes we all love but have forgotten. Being far away from my family and home country, certain dishes just vanish from my mind though the taste lingers in the thoughts. This is one such dish which I remembered one fine day and promptly called up grandma for the recipe. She patiently mentioned every ingredient and measurement with the steps involved. I also got a bonus recipe (another type of muttai kulambu). I followed the recipe to the T and arrived very close to the taste. I believe it was her touch that was missing :)

Ingredients:
Serves - 4
Eggs - 4
Onions - 1/2 cup chopped
Tomato - 1 - chopped
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 2 tsp + 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
To grind:
Coriander Seeds - 3 tbsp (heaped)
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1" piece
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Raw Rice - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves - 3 or 4
Grated Coconut - 4 tbsp (heaped)
Dry Red Chillies - 4

Method:
Boil the eggs as mentioned below and slice into two lengthwise. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a kadai and roast all the ingredients under "to grind" except coconut. Roast until the rice takes a light brown shade. Remove from heat and mix in the grated coconut. The residual heat is sufficient for the coconut to get roasted. Cool the mixture completely and grind to a smooth paste in a mixie/blender. Heat the remaining oil and splutter the mustard seeds, urad dhal and curry leaves. Add the chopped onion and saute until it turns pale. Add the chopped tomato with a pinch of salt and saute until the tomato becomes mushy. Now add the ground paste and mix in medium heat until the raw smell disappears, about 10-12 minutes. Add required quantity of water per the desired consistency and allow it to boil. When the kulambu boils, add salt, do a taste check and drop the halved eggs slowly. Simmer for about 5 minutes and remove from heat. Serve hot with steamed rice. This is also a great side dish for chapathi, idli or dosa.
How to boil eggs:
In a medium saucepan, bring 2 litres of water to boil. Drop the eggs slowly into the boiling water. Cook in medium-high heat for 15 minutes. Drain the water and fill with cold tap water. Set aside for about 5 minutes and then peel the eggs. Wash again in running tap water to remove any tiny bits of shell.