Punjabi Egg Curry (Anda Curry)
on Aug 11, 2022, Updated Sep 25, 2023
This Punjabi Egg Curry (Anda Curry) is a flavorful curry with hard-boiled eggs simmered in an onion—tomato-based gravy. It can be made in under 30 minutes using simple ingredients.
Here are some more egg curry recipes that you may like: Kerala Egg Curry, Kolhapuri Egg Curry, Chettinad Egg Curry, and Egg Butter Masala.
About Punjabi Egg Curry
Punjabi Egg Curry (Anda Curry) is a spicy, robust Indian curry made with hard-boiled eggs simmered in a spicy onion-tomato gravy.
This gluten-free and dairy-free curry comes together in under 30 minutes using basic ingredients.
Each home has a different style of making anda curry, and with a few variations, you get a new taste. In this post, I am sharing my mom’s recipe, which she has been making for years.
Serve it with phulka, naan, or tandoori roti. It also goes well with steamed rice or jeera rice.
Ingredients
You will get all the ingredients to make this spicy egg curry in the Asian aisle of a supermarket or any Indian grocery store.
Eggs – For the best taste, use fresh, organic, free-range eggs. However, this recipe works great with white, brown, or country eggs.
Oil – To make this curry, use sunflower, canola, mustard, or light olive oil.
Whole Spices – You will need cumin seeds, cloves (laung), and black cardamom (badi elaichi).
You can also add bay leaves (tejpatta) and dry red chilies if you wish to.
Spice Powders – You will need a few basic Indian spice powders, such as coriander powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, and salt.
Add a little cumin powder and black pepper powder for a spicy kick.
Tomato Puree – Use canned tomato puree as it tastes more concentrated than freshly pureed tomatoes.
You can also use tomato paste in place of tomato puree.
Kasuri Methi – Kasuri methi gives a lot of flavor to the curry.
Others – You will also need red onions, fresh ginger, garlic, freshly squeezed lime juice, and cilantro (fresh coriander leaves).
Fresh ginger and garlic cloves can be replaced with ginger garlic paste.
You can also add some roasted gram flour (besan, chickpea flour) to thicken the curry and make it more flavorful.
How To Make Punjabi Egg Curry
Hard Boil The Eggs
Add 6-7 cups of water to a medium-sized saucepan and keep the cold eggs in a single layer at the bottom of the pan.
Eggs must be covered with water for at least an inch.
Add 2 teaspoon salt to the pan. Adding salt will prevent the eggs from breaking and the whites from running out while boiling.
Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat.
Once the water reaches a rolling boil, switch off the heat and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.
Let the pan rest for 12 minutes.
Drain the hot water and fill the pan with cold water.
Let the eggs cool down for 5 minutes. Drain the water, take the eggs out, and peel them.
Your perfect hard-boiled eggs are ready.
Fry The Eggs
Wipe the peeled eggs with a kitchen towel and prick them with a fork. If you don’t wipe the eggs, they will splutter a lot while frying because of their moisture. Pricking also helps while frying.
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
Shallow fry the eggs until they are browned from all sides. Keep rotating them while frying. If it is spluttering a lot, cover the skillet with a lid.
Take out the fried eggs on a plate and keep them aside.
Make The Curry
Add the remaining oil (2 tbsp) to the same pan and heat it over medium-high heat.
Add the following ingredients once the oil is hot, and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3-4 crushed cloves
- 1 crushed black cardamom
Add 1 cup finely chopped onions and cook until slightly browned, stirring frequently (4-5 minutes).
Now add 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1 teaspoon chopped garlic and cook until onions are golden brown (4-5 minutes).
Add ½ cup tomato puree (or ¼ cup tomato paste) and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the following spice powders and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
If the masala is getting too dry and is starting to burn from the bottom, splash a little water.
Now add 2 cups of water to the pot and bring the gravy to a boil.
Add the hard boiled eggs and mix well.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-6 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoon crushed Kasuri methi and 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice and mix well.
Garnish with 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro and serve hot.
Pro Tips By Neha
You can skip frying the eggs and add them directly to the curry.
You can choose to keep the gravy thin, semi-gravy, or dry.
To make the curry richer, add cashew nuts, almonds, or poppy seed paste. Heavy cream can also be added at the end of the cooking.
Replace water with coconut milk to give this easy egg curry recipe a South Indian taste. You can also add some mustard seeds and fresh curry leaves to the hot oil along with cumin seeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
To check the freshness of eggs, you can perform the “float test.” Fill a bowl with cold water and gently place the egg. It is fresh if the egg sinks to the bottom and lies flat on its side. It is less fresh but still usable if it stands upright on the bottom. And, if the egg floats to the surface, it is no longer good to eat and should be discarded.
To give the anda curry a smoky flavor, you can do a Dungar method: smoking the curry with coal in a bowl with hot ghee. Heat a piece of coal or a cinnamon stick over direct heat until it is red hot. Keep a small bowl in the center of the pot with the curry. Keep the red-hot coal in the bowl. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil over the coal and close the pot lid immediately. Let the curry absorb the smoke for 10 minutes. Open the lid and remove the bowl. Give the curry a gentle stir. Heat it once again and serve.
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Punjabi Egg Curry Recipe (Anda Curry)
Ingredients
- 4 cold large eggs
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil (sunflower oil, canola oil, mustard oil or ghee, divided)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3-4 cloves (laung) (crushed)
- 1 black cardamom (badi elaichi) (crushed)
- 1 cup finely chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- ½ cup tomato puree (or ¼ cup tomato paste)
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 2 tablespoons crushed Kasuri methi
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
Instructions
Hard Boil The Eggs
- Add 6-7 cups of water to a saucepan and keep the cold eggs in a single layer at the bottom of the pan.
- Eggs must be covered with water for at least an inch.
- Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the pan. Adding salt will prevent the eggs from breaking and the whites to run out while boiling. Try this tip and thank me later 🙂
- Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat.
- Once the water comes to a rolling boil, switch off the heat and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.
- Let the pan rest for 12 minutes.
- Drain the hot water and fill the pan with cold water.
- Let the eggs cool down for 5 minutes. Drain the water, take the eggs out and peel them.
Fry The Eggs
- Wipe the peeled eggs with a kitchen towel and prick them with a fork all over. If you don’t wipe the eggs, they will splutter a lot while frying because of the moisture in them. Pricking also helps while frying.
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
- Shallow fry the eggs until they are browned from all sides. Keep rotating them while frying. If it is spluttering a lot, cover the skillet with a lid.
- Take out the fried eggs on a plate and keep them aside.
Make The Curry
- Add the remaining oil (2 tbsp) to the same pan and heat it over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, cloves, and black cardamom, and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
- Add onions and cook until slightly browned, stirring frequently (4-5 minutes).
- Now add ginger and garlic and cook until onions are nicely browned (4-5 minutes).
- Add tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, and salt, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- If the masala is getting too dry and is starting to burn from the bottom, splash a little water.
- Now add 2 cups of water to the pot and bring the gravy to a boil.
- Add the boiled eggs and mix well.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-6 minutes.
- Add Kasuri methi and lime juice and mix well.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
I added 6 eggs instead of 4, I think you could add even more
This is a great recipe and was super easy to make
Will definitely make it again 🥚
I love your recipes, Thanks you to searing with us🙏😊
Hi there! just found your article when I was looking for making Egg masala recipe by ourselves at home.
Thanks for sharing this very well-written and worth reading article.
wish to see more in the coming days.
thanks for sharing delicious egg curry recipe with us.
Thnx for trying