An Egg Curry with a Story

It was a Saturday evening and not a curry was found in the fridge. It was a busy day for all and one thing led to another with no time to be had for grocery. A heavy depression surrounded all – esp Mom & Dad – who didn't want to go out again just for grocery on this cold, cold rainy day. Dad who was suffering from an onslaught of seasonal cold allergies decided to sleep it off with a nap and make do with toasted bread for the whole family when the time came. After giving it some thought, Mom decided to investigate the fridge. And there it was! A lonely, lonely egg all by itself in the egg carton. Egg is a favorite ingredient of Mom's and this provided the inspiration for a curry.

With added zest Mom was able to discover the following:

A 2/3 piece of green bell pepper.

Some (8-9) small red potatoes – the kind that does not need to be deskinned!

2 pathetic looking but still alive carrots

½ a head of cabbage

1 big onion – this item was plentiful but only one was needed

Other stuff deemed necessary to make it into a curry:

coriander powder – 4 tbsp

chili powder - ¼ tbsp

kashmiri chili powder – 2/3 tbsp

turmeric powder - ¼ tsp

garam masala powder - ¼ tsp

½ cup milk

2 ½ cup water

salt to taste

What happened:

A pan was out on the stove with oil to heat.

The onion was sliced and added to the oil. Salt was added and stirred well together.

All powders were added and mixed together by adding little water. At this point Dad woke up from the heady aroma of roasted curry mix in the air and remembered the frozen thinly sliced beef in the freezer. This he thawed in the microwave with new found vigor and added to the pan. The meat was saute'ed in the mix for 3-4 minutes. 2 ½ cups of warm water was added and after boiling once, diced and sliced veggies except cabbage were added. After boiling once the pan was covered and allowed to cook for 10-15 minutes. Once the all the ingredients were cooked, the one lonely egg which was behind all this was broken into the boiling water and scrambled to join the rest of the crowd. As you can see from the pic it all but disappeared!! Cabbage was added last and mixed well. Then ½ cup of warm milk was added and after boiling once, removed from heat.

This was heartily enjoyed by the whole family with fresh cooked rice and a dollop of yogurt. The wonderful meal with the things found in the fridge was surprisingly tasty and wholesome!

The whole thing reminded me of a story I remember reading in a Children's Magazine (Poompatta?) long time back. There was this man who liked to spring visits on families just as they were having their meal so they'd have no choice but to invite him to join them. One day it so happened that the family who spotted him from far away finished their meal rather fast and informed him of this “sad” fact. Not to be fazed in adversities the guy said that they could still have some dessert. When the family mentioned that they have no ingredients for any dessert he said “ but you don't need any ingredients to make vellarankallu payasam/kheer and it is so tasty you'd want more” Vellarankallu are small white stones/rock pieces that can be found anywhere in the land. This of course raised the familiy's interest and the visitor generously offered to make some for the family as a favor. In no time he got them to boil a pot of water to which he added the cleaned stones the kids brought in. After a while he tasted the “payasam” and said that it would have been even better if only he had some milk. The family by now fully vested in the making of this extraordinary payasam brought out the milk. After a while he tasted again and in similar fashion got them to provide him with jaggery, coconut and other “normal” payasam ingredients without the family catching on!! The 'vellarankallu payasam” was finally ready and the eager family tasted to find that they were conned into making a payasam for their cunning guest after all... The visitor left after having his fill of the wholesome payasam!

So here it is, my “Egg” Curry:-)