‘Deemer Daalna’ A.K.A. ‘Eggs and Potato Masala’

I must confess I grew up a non-vegetarian who loved non-veg so much that I would not eat a single meal without non-veg :-). However, 9 years back I gave up non-veg and at that time I thought I would go back to eating it, but as time passed I just could not bring myself to go back to eating meat. Eggs on the other hand were still a part of my diet and as the love for meat disappeared the love for eggs increased. As I am part Bengali, I have been enjoying this dish since I was a kid which has been made at all celebrations / parties / at home for my darling Appa who is also a vegetarian. I think the reason behind this dish being made for my dad was maybe because we Bongs believe that one has to have some kind of meat dish (especially at a celebration/party) and if one doesn’t eat meat then one has to have the next best thing, eggs ;-)). I have had variations of this dish and have loved them always. ‘Deemer Daalna’ A.K.A. ‘Eggs and Potato Masala’ is such a crowd pleaser that I haven’t yet met a family member or friend who doesn’t love it and so I hope you all will love this dish too 🙂

Deemer Daalna

Ingredients

3 Tbsp – Oil

1 cup roughly chopped – Onions

1 inch roughly chopped – Ginger

2 nos – Whole black cardamom

1 inch stick – Cinnamon

2 nos – Bay leaves (dried)

1 ½ cups blanched and pureed – Tomatoes

1 tsp – Turmeric powder

1 tsp – Red chilli powder

1 tsp – Coriander powder

Salt to taste

¾ tsp – Cumin powder

6 nos boiled – Eggs

1 ½ cups 1 inch cube – Potatoes

1 cup – Water

1 tsp – Garam masala

Method:

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and once hot add the onions
2. Fry till onions are light brown in color and then add the ginger and then cook for 2 mins
3. Cool this mixture and then put it into a blend and make into a smooth paste (try to avoid adding water)
4. Heat oil and then add bay leaves, cardamom, and cinnamon stick. After a minute add the onion and ginger paste. Mix well and cook till it turns dark brown and the raw onion smell disappears (approx 10-15 mins)
5. Add the tomato puree and salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, dry roasted cumin powder and mix well and cook (semi covered) for 10 mins , ensuring there is no raw smell and masala is a dry masala
6. In a separate pan heat oil and then add the potato pieces and cook to get a brown color on all sides. Take out the potatoes and add the boiled eggs to the pan and brown/fry slightly and keep aside
7. Add the potatoes and mix with masala and cover and cook for 5-7 mins
8. Add water and boil 2 times and then add the eggs
9. Cover and cook for 5 mins, check to make sure the potatoes are soft and gravy is thick
10. Add the garam masala powder and stir it in
11. Serve with white rice / jeera pulao / naans / rotis

TIPS:

1. Make sure to pierce the boiled and fried eggs with a fork / make small slits with a knife. This helps the masala gravy to go into the egg and give it more flavor
2. To make this dish in a hurry you can choose to skip making the onion and ginger masala and go with finely chopped onions and ginger as the base instead
3. If the tomatoes are very tangy / khatta then you can add a tsp of sugar to balance out the tartness