My mom made this for my husband and I when we had dinner at my parents’ house before kids long, long ago. I don’t even remember what life was like back in those days. Anyway, my husband raved about it and my mom’s response, “Oh you like that? It’s just what we call poor man’s meal”. She said in South Africa they would often make it for a quick dinner or when there was no meat in the house. It’s basically a bed of curry flavored tomato sauce where nestled eggs provide protein for the dish. Since then he’s been asking me to make it and I finally did about a year ago. Given this current quarantine situation, I thought this might be a great time to add this to the rotation.

I have to admit though, this version is not the traditional South African one I was taught. It incorporates coconut milk (I’m obsessed) and the original South African version has no cream component but rather a vinegar based sauce with brown sugar. Tikka masala is one of my favorite dishes and this is basically a simplified version of it, so it is more Indian inspired than South African. But it can certainly be made either way, depending on your cooking style.

I should also mention that a comforting starch of some sort is absolutely necessary. I make this with traditional South African fat cakes, pictured below (recipe coming soon!) to soak up all that delicious curry from the bowl. I assume rice or potatoes would do but would encourage bread product such as naan or fried dumplings. You’ll be happy you did.

Ingredients

6 eggs

olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1 tbsp garam masala

1 and 1/2 cup crushed or grated tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup coconut milk

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Start boiling the eggs by placing them in medium saucepan on medium high heat. Once it starts boiling, turn off after 5 minutes of boiling however keep pot on the burner to finish cooking. If you like your eggs soft boiled, drain water and replace with ice water.
2. Meanwhile, heat a pan on medium high heat with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add onions and sauté until translucent.
3. Add garlic and ginger, along with masala. Stir together about a minute until fragrant.
4. Add in tomatoes and 1/2 cup water and turn heat to medium. Allow it to simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Turn the heat to low and stir in coconut milk.
7. Peel the shells from the eggs and add into the curry sauce. Allow the eggs to simmer on low in the sauce for about another 10 minutes to give the eggs some flavor.

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