Thool Zamboor, Egg Curry

Thool Zamboor is a super quick and easy Kashmiri egg curry recipe which is rich and redolent. With no onions and garlic to peel and chop, it’s a breeze to prepare this one anytime of the day!I say anytime of the day because my family loves to eat it simply anytime …for breakfast with parathas, for lunch with rice or for dinner as a side with some lentils.

The curry has the standard Kashmiri dried spices; in old days Kashmir being very cold during most part of the year didn’t have access to fresh spices and herbs, so instead of onions, garlic and fresh ginger most Kashmiri dishes use dried ginger and asafoetida as flavour boosters.

6 hard boiled eggs, shells removed
5-6 medium tomatoes, puréed
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper powder or Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 black cardamoms
3-4 cloves
1 bay leaf or tez patta
a pinch asafoetida or 2 teaspoons onion and garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground dried ginger ( saunth)
1 teaspoon ground aniseed ( saunf)
4 tablespoons sunflower oil

For perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs, place eggs in a big enough saucepan so that they don’t bang into each other. Cover them with cool water by 1 inch. Slowly bring water to a boil over medium heat; when the water has reached a boil, cover and remove from heat. Let sit 12 minutes.
Or
Bring the water up to boiling point then turn to a simmer, cook for 7 minutes if you like them cooked through. As soon as they are cooked drain off the hot water.
Immediately run under cold water to stop further cooking and to remove the shell more easily.

If you don’t like the pungent smell and taste of hing, or it’s not available where you live, you can use a mix of garlic and onion powder instead. Hing or asafoetida is like a powerful concentration of these two flavours.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and fry hard boiled eggs till golden on outside. Remove from heat, set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the same pan. Dilute red chillies in a little water and add to the oil. Sauté for a minute or till the chillies turn dark in colour and aromatic.

Add tomato purée, salt, black cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf and hing (or garlic+onion powder).

Sauté till the liquid dries out and masala separates from oil.

Add eggs, ginger and aniseed powder and 1 cup of water. Cover the pan and let it simmer till you get the required consistency of the curry. Traditionally it is served as a dry curry.

Serves 2.