Muttai Kulambu (South Indian Egg Curry)

Muttai Kulambu is a Tamil Nadu style egg curry where boiled eggs are added to a spicy coconut-based gravy. Serve this South Indian egg curry with steamed rice or roti for a hearty meal (gluten-free).

Jump to:

• About Muttai Kulambu
• Ingredients
• How To Make Muttai Kulambu
• Pro Tips By Neha
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage Suggestions
• You Might Also Like
• Recipe Card

About Muttai Kulambu

Muttai in Tamil means “eggs” and Kulambu (Kuzambhu) means “gravy”.

Muttai Kulambu (Muttai Kuzambhu, Egg Kulambu) is a delicious curry from the state of Tamil Nadu, where boiled eggs are added to a curry prepared with tomatoes, freshly ground coconut paste, and a few more simple ingredients.

It is a great curry to serve for everyday meals with steamed rice, dosa, phulka, or paratha.

Make this traditional South Indian egg curry using my easy recipe for a hearty meal.

This muttai kulambu recipe is gluten-free and you can easily double or triple it.

Try a few more egg recipes here

• Kolhapuri Egg Curry
• Egg Masala
• Kerala Egg Curry
• Chettinad Egg Curry
• Egg Butter Masala
• Mughlai Egg Korma
• Egg Bhurji
• Masala Omelette
• Anda Matar Masala

Ingredients

To Make The Paste

For the freshly ground paste, you will need a few whole spices, neutral-flavored cooking oil, red onions, fresh ginger, garlic, cashew nuts, green chilies, and fresh coconut.

Whole spices such as cloves (laung), black peppercorns (kali mirch), black cardamoms (badi elaichi), star anise (chakri phool), cinnamon (dalchini), bay leaf (tejpatta), fennel seeds (saunf), cumin seeds, and white poppy seeds (posta dana) are added to hot oil that makes the muttai kulambu curry more flavourful.

Skip adding poppy seeds if they are not available where you live.

Adjust the green chilies depending on how spicy you want the curry to be.

This recipe uses fresh coconut, but you can use dry coconut as well.

Use good quality cashew nuts. It adds that perfect creamy texture and a little hint of sweetness to the curry.

To Make The Curry

You will need cooking oil, fennel seeds, fresh tomatoes, a few Indian spice powders, salt, hard-boiled eggs, and cilantro (fresh coriander leaves).

Use any neutral-flavored cooking oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, etc.

This recipe uses basic spice powders such as coriander powder, turmeric powder, and Kashmiri red chili powder.

I like to boil the eggs in an air fryer as they come out perfectly without any fuss. Do check out my post on how to boil eggs in an air fryer.

How To Make Muttai Kulambu

Make The Masala Paste

Heat 2 tablespoon cooking oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

Once the oil is hot, add

• 2-3 cloves
• 4-5 black peppercorns
• 2 black cardamoms
• 1 star anise
• 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds 
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon white poppy seeds

and saute for 4-5 seconds.

Add

• 1 cup of chopped red onions
• 2-inch piece of ginger (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 5-6 garlic cloves (peeled)
• 2-3 green chilies

and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add 5-6 cashew nuts and cook for 2 minutes.

Now add ½ cup of grated fresh coconut and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the ingredients to a blender along with ½ cup of water and blend to make a fine paste. Scrape the sides of the blender a few times while blending.

Keep the paste aside.

Make The Curry

Heat 2 tablespoon of cooking oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

Add 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and saute for 4-5 seconds.

Add the masala paste and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Now add 1 cup of pureed tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add

•  1 teaspoon coriander powder 
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

and cook for 1 minute.

Add 1 cup of water and mix well.

Reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring 2-3 times in between.

Add 6 boiled eggs and 1 teaspoon salt to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add more water if the curry is thick for your liking.

Check for salt and add more if needed.

Tip – You can also add a teaspoon of tamarind paste at this stage if the tang from the tomatoes is not enough.

Garnish the muttai kulambu curry with 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro and serve hot.

Pro Tips By Neha

I have prepared muttai kuzambhu using boiled eggs, but you can also break the eggs on top of the masala, cover the pan, and cook until the eggs are cooked to make a new variation. This variation is traditionally known as Udaitha Muttai Kulambu.

Serving Suggestions

Muttai Kulambu tastes great with steamed Basmati rice, brown rice, or ghee rice.

You can also pair it with idli, plain dosa, phulka, tawa paratha, lachha paratha, ghee roast dosa, neer dosa, or Kerala parotta.

Storage Suggestions

Muttai Kulambu will easily last for 2-3 days when stored properly in a clean and dry airtight container in the refrigerator.

Reheat in a pan or microwave before serving.

If the curry has thickened after refrigeration, add a little hot water to adjust the consistency while reheating,

You Might Also Like

Recipe Card