EGG CURRY AND STEAMED RICE

Cooking with tulip 

Egg curry with steamed rice edition 1 

Rumi, the poet who talks about life and everything in it, wrote recipes. Recipes of random food, though it may not be random to him but I like to think it is. See for me Rumi is not the 13th century poet and revolutionary thinker (which I know he is), he is my friend. An old man in a white robe who sits on the sides of my kitchen with his back to my library wall. I think he is a mad man but sometimes when his tongue flows out of his mouth he tells me weird things. So sometimes he tells me recipes for food I have never heard off but sometimes he talks about how to make something as easy as bread & butter. I have difficulty in writing but a man told me that I should write about simpler things. Writing a recipe seems simple and if my old friend did it, then maybe there is a taste to this madness. 

So when I cook anything, I like imagining myself on TV with an audience who totally adores me and are really excited to know my techniques and the amazing  maneuvers I make to cook these awesome dishes! But reality is far from that, when I was cooking my egg curry last time, I had Gary (Gary Mehigan, a chef who I know

from Master Chef Australia) as my guest and to show him how wonderful Indian cooking and food is! But the I did also burn by aloo ka paratha the last day, so maybe Gary is doing just fine in real life without me. But food is unique to the person making it, I believe like writing, driving, thinking - making food

is really unique to the person doing it and it should be! So here's how I make Egg Curry with steamed rice as I also talk to Gary about India and me! 

So we start with a pan, could be non stick or frankly could be a sticky one; I never really understood the need for that? We put the pan on low flame, put like two spoons of oil with jeera, ginger and onion. (You see, Garry *as I do my charming laugh* Indian food is simple,

really simple you just need to understand the core elements) So we let that fry for a while..

Curry is always difficult for me, I have problems with the right proportions to put in to get the right thickness and consistency.  Add diced or canned tomatoes to the pan after you see that the onions and the garlic is fried. So back to the curry, its just water right? But this water is supposed to change the taste and the the face of the dish so it’s really important. By the time it takes the tomatoes to cook (about 3-5 minutes) put your rice to cook. I usually put on the pressure cooler with the rice and the potatoes as well to cook. It takes upto 3-4 whistles on the pressure cooker and about like 20-25 minutes if you are boiling the rice & potatoes in an open pan. Its about having brains you know, cooking? 

Spices; gotta put the spices man. Salt, tamarind, red chilli powder, lemon, coconut powder, rassam powder and anything more that you think adds taste to your curry or your tongue. Cooking is an emotion. How you feeling today? Angry? Fuck that shit up with excessive chilli powder; easier to die on than cocaine. Don't do that if you’re cooking for someone else though, maybe they don’t feel about it the same way. Make sure when you cook (for someone else to share the food with) the emotion you look for is love. Pure, unhindered and healthy love. My mum always tells me - if you don’t put real time and effort into cooking that it wouldn’t produce good food. But she is a little intense though; love can be measured in different contexts, I think so. 

So now with the onions, tomatoes and spices up to a nice fry you put in water. And let that boil for 5-10 minutes, as you get the potatoes out of the water, check if they are cooked and peel them. For the curry to be thick or just not feel like water (which it is), add the boiled potatoes in the curry with some boiled eggs. Usually people fry the egg but I find it rather unnecessary. When the rice cooks, you can pair the both and enjoy a decent meal. Cooking might not be that great especially when you don’t know how to cook or just have a terrible time being in the kitchen. But just for a day maybe; leave your bong aside and tinder on mute. Put on some music, clean your house and cook some food for yourself can be a great way to detox and have a healthy relationship with yourself.