Beetroot Egg Masala.

Beetroot Egg Masala ... what does one do when there are lots of beetroots lying in the house but you want to eat Eggs ... Yeah, You just go ahead and prepare Beetroot Egg Masala ... here is a delicious egg curry that I prepared using my favorite veggie beetroot  ... Yummilicious ... 

** Sometimes you just end up having more vegetables than necessary at home either by double purchase or forgetfulness. I somehow forgot a kilo of beets lying in the bottom rack of the fridge for a week and ended up with 2 kgs. by purchasing another kg. too. Was just wondering what to do. I had already zeroed on Egg curry for the day and I did not want to change that. I did not feel like preparing beet rice once again. Finally I just thought I will add some to the Egg Curry, let’s see what happens. I added in 2 large size of beetroot and increased the spice level by adding more red chillies to the masala while grinding, as beets are sweet in nature and I did not want to end up with a sweet curry. And I must say, surprise ….. this is one egg curry I am going to keep repeating as it simply turned out great. I guess I should try it with other dishes too. Anyways here is my Beetroot Egg Masala which I combined with simple pepper rice.

** Put 2-4 (or desired no. of eggs) in a vessel full of water and put it on high flame and bring to a boil, let it boil for about 4-6 minutes. Remove and drain off all the hot water and allow to get rinsed in plenty of cold water to arrest further cooking of the eggs. Once its cool enough shell them and keep them ready aside.

** Peel and cut 2 beetroots into thick strips like that off potato finger chips. Wash and put it in a pressure cooker pan and add one cup of water. Cook on medium flame to 2 whistles and remove and let the pressure drop on its own. Remove and keep this aside ready.

** For Masala : Grind to a smooth paste ½ cup of coconut, 8-10 red kashmiri chillies, ½ tsp haldi powder, 1 tsp jeera powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tsp fennel powder, ¼ tsp of cardamom powder with a small marble sized tamarind to a smooth paste. Grind the masala with as little water as possible. Remove the masala and keep aside ready.

** Heat ½ cup of ghee / oil in a thick bottomed kadai, add ½ tsp of jeera, ½ tsp of mustard seeds, when the mustard starts to splutter add in 1 large or 2 medium sized onions cut finely. Fry till the onions are light brown in colour, add in ½ tsp of ginger paste and 1 tsp of garlic paste and 8-10 curry leaves, fry all till the colour changes. Now add in the ground masala and futher fry for 5-7 minutes on low flame. You can sprinkle with the beetroot cooked water in between if you find the ground masala getting burnt.

** Add in cooked beetroot along with the cooked in water, salt to taste and mix well. Add more water if necessary to get a thick gravy consistency. Bring all to a boil, lower the heat, add in the eggs and simmer for another 5 minutes. Garnish with ½ cup of finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve the Beetroot Egg Masala with Paratha, Roti, Kulcha, Pulav, Coconut Milk Pulav or Pepper Rice. This is a spicy dish so goes well with slightly less seasoned pulavs.