Egg, Potato and Cauliflower Curry

This blog post is really two recipes in one.

As the title hints at, this is a great weekday or vegetarian meal any time of the week.  Boiled eggs join roasted potatoes and cauliflower florets in a flavourful curry sauce.  Serve as is with naan or flat bread, or serve it over basmati rice.  Filling, easy, and flavour packed, this one will make the wallet sing as well.  Quite budget friendly.  Using eggs as the protein in a meal is a favourite way to create filling and delicious meals without spending too much on meat, which can be quite dear these days.

The other main component of this recipe is the Master Curry Sauce itself.  Make up a batch of this curry sauce, serve it with leftover rotisserie or grilled chicken. Simmer chickpeas and spinach in it and create a sort of dal.  Use it as a dip for veggies, or with bread as a fun lunch or appetizer.  Once you have the sauce, you can freeze some of it, and dinner is moments away.

What you Need for the Master Curry Sauce

This sauce starts with the aromatics of bay leaves, garlic, onion, ginger, chilli pepper and whole fresh cilantro.  Once these are softened, then all the spices and seasonings are added in.  Temper them with the aromatics, and then add the liquid. First the liquid that comes from a can of diced tomatoes and their juices.  Let them cook till softened and taking on the flavours of the base. Finally, the last addition of liquid is whole milk or cream, but coconut milk or cream works just as good.  The coconut milk will add a certain sweetness, if this is what you like in a curry sauce.  A little water to keep the sauce from being too stiff.  Let it simmer, covered, until gloriously thickened and aromatic.

After cooking the sauce, you will remove the bay leaves, and transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor.  Whiz till smooth.  If you need to add a smidge more water to help it along, that’s fine.

At this point it is ready to use.  Use what you need, and refrigerate the rest for other meals throughout the week.  Or place into sealed containers and freeze. It will be good in the freezer for a few months.  Now you have all the work done.

Egg, Potato and Cauliflower Curry

So we have our master sauce made. We can use it straight away, or thawed if we put some of the batch in the freezer for future meals. It will warm up while the next components of this meal are being prepared.

Potatoes and Cauliflower: First, cut the potatoes into large bite sized pieces.  Add them to a pot of salted water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and let  them simmer till almost fully tender.  A knife should be able to go in without a lot of resistance, but they shouldn’t be starting to fall apart.  

Toss the drained potatoes and cauliflower florets with olive oil on a baking sheet.  Sprinkled them with salt and pepper, and some of the spice blend used in the curry sauce.  (if you made your curry sauce in advance and don’t have any of the homemade spice blend, feel free to use a traditional yellow curry spice blend)  These will roast in the oven till golden brown and tender.

Eggs: These can be made while the vegetables are roasting in the oven. Using my steaming method, prepare the amount of eggs you want to use for this dish.  For sure one per person is good.  Feel free to add a few extra if desired.  Just let a small amount of water come to a boil, and then add the eggs and cover with a tight lid.  You will let them steam for at least 10 minutes for medium boiled, or 12 minutes if you want hard boiled eggs.  Immediately transfer them to an ice water bath to stop any further cooking.  Once cooled a bit, they can be peeled.   Slice them only just before adding them to the curry sauce.

As usual, I can’t help but smile at the golden yolks of Conestoga Free Run Omega 3 Eggs.  The marigold extract that the hens are fed enhance those yolks, plus give us lutein, which is great for eye health!  Check out their link for all the amazing nutrients and benefits from one precious egg.

Assemble

Warm the curry sauce in a large skillet or wide pot.  Add in the roasted potatoes and cauliflower.  Simmer on medium low till everything is warmed through.  Add the eggs.  This can now be served as is with warmed or grilled naan bread.  Or serve over basmati rice for a great weekday meal.  Fresh chopped cilantro is the perfect garnish.

Final Thoughts

Make the sauce in advance and freeze.  Adjust the heat or flavour as per your family’s desire.  If you like it less sweet or more savoury, maybe avoid using coconut milk.  Use other vegetables, or even chickpeas etc.  Add chopped lacinato kale to simmer with the potatoes and cauliflower.  Add baby spinach at the very end to soften and wilt.

This recipe is easily halved or doubled.  Use only as much sauce as you want. Some like a lot of sauce, others only want just enough to cook the veggies in.  Up to you!  Use the sauce as a veggie dipping sauce for the kids to snack on. Or even use it as the base for a soup, thinning it out with stock, and adding red lentils, etc.

If you make this Egg, Potato and Cauliflower Curry, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.

For other great curry or vegetarian meals, check out Butter Chicken Cauliflower with Yogurt Flatbread,  Thai Green Chicken Curry,  Roasted Spiced Cauliflower and Chickpeas over Jeera Rice,  Roasted Cauliflower, Pancetta and Sage Pasta,  Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake

Print

Egg, Potato and Cauliflower Curry

A simple but flavour packed weekday meal is moments away if you have eggs, veggies, and a master curry sauce. Served over rice, this will satisfy both your tastebuds, and your grocery budget!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Pakistani

Keyword basmati rice, cauliflower, curry sauce, eggs, fingerling potatoes

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Eggs

• 4 Conestoga Free Run Omega 3 Eggs or more if desired
• 2 cups cooked basmati rice or more if desired
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

Curry Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2

  large bay leaves


• 10 garlic cloves
• 1 inch piece of ginger, chopped
• 1/2 green chilli pepper, chopped, feel free to use a jalapeño pepper if this is all you can find.
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, roots and leaves, chopped
• 8 peppercorns
• 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 1/4 tsp

  ground turmeric


• 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder, or hot paprika or cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp

  cloves


• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp

  sea salt flakes


• 1 cup full milk or coconut milk, or 250 ml or so
• 2/3 cup water, 150 ml or so

Potatoes and Cauliflower

• 6-8 fingerling potatoes sliced in half (quartered if larger)
• 1/2 medium cauliflower cut into florets
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Eggs

1. Add 3/4 inch of water to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
2. Immediately add the eggs gently into the water, close the lid.
3. Steam eggs for 10 minutes for medium soft yolks, or 12 minutes for hard-boiled yolks. Immediately transfer the eggs to an ice bath to stop further cooking.

4. Once they have cooled slightly, peel and set aside. Can be prepared while the potatoes and cauliflower are roasting.

Curry Sauce

1. Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed cooking pot on medium heat. Add the bay leaves, garlic, ginger, chilli and onion. Sauté for 3-4 minutes on medium heat, tossing constantly until onion starts to turn golden. Reduce heat to low-medium and continue cooking for another 6-10 minutes, now stirring occasionally until onion is soft and gently caramelized.
2. Add the chopped coriander root and leaves, and peppercorns into the pot.

3. Combine the cumin, garam masala, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a small bowl. Set aside 1 1/2 teaspoons for the potatoes and cauliflower. Add the remaining spice blend into the pot with the onions, coriander and peppercorns.

4. Sauté for a minute until aromatic.
5. Add the tomatoes plus juices, and salt. Increase heat to medium and mix well. Continue cooking for 5-6 minutes until tomatoes have blended in well and are cooked through.

6. Add the milk and water. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. The curry should be a rich and thickened.

7. Remove from heat. Taste for seasoning, adjust as desired. Remove the bay leaves. Cool to room temperature and then blend to a smooth sauce in a blender till smooth. Store in the fridge for 4-5 days or freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 2 months.

Potatoes and Cauliflower

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.

2. Place the potatoes into a pot and just cover with well salted water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer till just tender, about 8-10 minutes, where a knife can pierce to the middle with no resistance. Drain.

3. Place the cauliflower florets and the potatoes onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Sprinkle the remaining spice blend, as well as 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper evenly over the vegetables. Toss to coat evenly.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the golden brown and the cauliflower is just tender.

Assemble

1. Bring two cups of the Curry Sauce along with 1 cup of stock, water or milk to a rolling simmer over medium heat.

2. Add the potatoes and cauliflower to warm through.

Serve

1. Slice the eggs in half and set into the curry sauce with the vegetables.
2. Serve over basmati rice.
3. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro or parsley.

Recipe Notes

Feel free to add a handful or two of baby spinach to the sauce towards the end of simmering the veggies. You can also use chopped lacinato kale but massage it first, and then add it at the beginning of warming through the potatoes and cauliflower.