This is a great brunch dish. Fried hard-boiled eggs are cooked in a spicy tomato sauce. It comes together quickly, the eggs are very different from the usual and it's a crowd-pleaser.
Brunch recipes are a safe topic too when it comes to food. And eggs.
And this dish called egg curry that involves homemade harissa and hard-boiled eggs that are fried, does the job pretty nicely, don't you think?
Even though it doesn't have bacon. You can forgive me for that.
But it does have fried hard-boiled eggs guys. First hard-boiled, then fried. You didn't see that one coming.
Breakfast all day long. Or brunch in my case, since my breakfast is coffee.
How do you like your eggs?
For me it's scrambled or poached, the latter over hot french fries or rice with butter, a meal from my childhood.
This one today is probably a new idea. I saw it in David's blog and couldn't resist it. Maybe I was hungry? Or wanted to use that homemade harissa I had in the fridge? He posted a beef curry with a pic of the Burma cookbook opened in this recipe.
Homemade harissa paste
I substituted harissa for all the red chiles, cayenne, and garlic it called for.
After all, what is harissa but a blitz of dried chiles and garlic mostly, right?
The fried hard-boiled eggs are a fun thing to do, and they come together in no time, all blistered and golden.
The flavor is not very different, but there's a barely there crunch.
And the spicy tomato mix is perfect. Sort of huevos rancheros if you really need a comparison.
This would be a great brunch recipe to use those leftover hard-boiled eggs, from the last time you took eggs to a picnic and returned home with a few, or miscalculated the amount of deviled eggs you wanted to make.
So my advice is to make and enjoy it now.
Just because it's a great, tasty, spicy, brunch dish.
PS: Leftovers are great over rice.
Egg Curry with Homemade Harissa
This is a great brunch dish. Fried hard-boiled eggs are cooked in a spicy tomato sauce. It comes together quickly, the eggs are very different from the usual and it's a crowd-pleaser.
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
For the harissa:
- 2 oz. dried red chiles
- 4 garlic cloves (peeled)
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ¼ cup olive oil
For the egg curry:
- 4 eggs (hard boiled)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tbs sesame oil
- 2 small shallots, minced
- 2 tablespoons harissa (homemade or store-bought)
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- Salt to taste
- Bread or toast, to serve
Instructions
For harissa:
- In boiling water, soak dried red chiles until soft, about 1 hour. Chop coarsely.
- In a clean skillet (I use my crepe skillet), heat coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant, about 1 or 2 minutes, stirring.
- Careful not to burn. Transfer to mortar and ground with the pestle. Or use a nut or coffee grinder.
- Put soaked chiles, seeds, garlic, and salt in a food processor.
- Process until it begins to form a paste, while you add the olive oil in a thin stream. You will probably have to use a spatula a few times to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl before you have a paste. If necessary add a few more tablespoons of olive oil.
- Remove from the processor, add the lemon juice and transfer to a jar with a lid. Keep refrigerated.
For egg curry:
- In a pan or skillet, heat both oils.
- Add peeled hard-boiled eggs and brown on all sides. Use tongs to aid you in this. Transfer to plate and reserve.
- To the same skillet, add shallots and harissa.
- Season with salt to taste, and cook for a minute or two, until softened.
- Add tomatoes and cook until they start to break down.
- Add Worcestershire sauce and turmeric, and cook until it's the consistency of a chunky sauce.
- Cut eggs in half and add to the skillet.
- Cook for a minute or two, and add a few tablespoons of water if needed to prevent tomato mixture from sticking to the bottom.
- Serve immediately with crusty bread.
Notes
Spiciness: you can use purchased harissa paste, harissa powder, or another type of spicy ingredient you like.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Brunch & Breakfast
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: International
Keywords: egg curry
Harissa recipe adapted from Food Wanderings and Wonderland Kitchen.
Curry adapted from Rasa Malaysia and David Lebovitz.
Filipino Store says
Egg curry with harissa looks scrumptious. I thank you for creating a fabulous post which has given me an excellent idea about tomorrow's dinner.
Ethnic Food says
Curry with harissa is my favorite. LIke your post
mkakudo says
looks like a fun and delicious dish! I'm always looking for another way to serve eggs for dinner, although I'm not getting the curry part other than the turmeric? oh, but the poached egg over french fries or hot buttered rice sounds like comfort food luxe!
Bam's Kitchen says
Glorious new way to eat eggs. My boys like it spicy so this would be perfect. I am always looking for new weekend brunches and this one I need to try this weekend.
yummychunklet says
How delicious!
Laura Dembowski says
Hard boiled eggs that are then fried? I've never heard of that but it must taste fantastic. I'm always looking for something new to do with eggs.
Dana @ Simply Romanesco says
This looks scrumptious, Paula! I usually prefer omelettes, but I think that we'll try this gorgeous dish for brunch this weekend! It looks so good 🙂