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Cook the Book: Curried Egg Salad with Caramelized Onion

Posted by Caroline Russock, June 11, 2009 at 1:30 PM

In the introduction to this recipe for Curried Egg Salad with Caramelized Onion, Monica Bhide, author of Modern Spice, explains that although egg salad has no Indian roots, many of her Indian-American friends have adopted it into their repertoire of recipes. Eggs play a big part in Indian cooking, so the Indian penchant for traditionally American egg salad makes perfect sense.

I know that egg salad is not everyone's cup for tea. Personally, it's taken me years for me to get over my Peewee Herman-related egg salad phobias. Now I love it, and this egg salad is a perfect warm-weather lunch. Serve it over spinach or greens, on a few slices of toast, or wrapped in naan with bit of chutney.

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Curried Egg Salad with Caramelized Onion

- serves 4 to 6 -

Adapted from Modern Spice by Monica Bhide.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
1/4 medium red onion, finely diced
1/2 medium red or orange organic bell pepper, seeded and finely diced (see Note)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
1 small green serrano chile, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons hot Madras curry powder
1 tablespoon prepared mustard powder
2 cups spinach leaves, loosely packed

Procedure

1. Caramelize the onions: Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and fry for about 5 minutes until it becomes transparent. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt, the sugar, and the pepper and saute for another minute. As soon as it changes color, remove from the heat and set aside until the rest of the salad is ready.

2. In a large bowl, mash the boiled eggs with a fork or finely chop them. Add the diced onion and bell pepper and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, cilantro, chile, curry powder, and salt to taste. Mix well. Add the mustard and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and mix.

4. Divide the spinach leaves onto four serving plates. Heap the egg salad evenly onto each plate. Top with the caramelized onions and serve.

Note: Monica Bhide was told by Wolfgang Puck, "Peppers are one of those vegetables most often found to be heavy in pesticides and other chemical residues. So, I strongly recommend you purchase them from your organic greengrocer or on a visit to your farmers' market."

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Tags: Cook the Book, curry, egg salad, eggs, Modern Spice, Monica Bhide