Dim-Panpor'er Dalna - Egg papad/poppadom curry

As I was writing this post, suddenly my eyes got glued on the date of the day , well why would any one will be interested in knowing a date unless we are talking about the date, I mean the “real date”, but is it just a mere co-incident that today is 11/12/13, wow! now that’s something, is really a stunner. And people are taking things pretty seriously about this date or day what ever, some even are planning to get married or doing the auspicious shopping etc.Well, to that I just thought “ek recipe post to Banta hai”, so here I am with “dim-panpor'er dalna” meaning – egg papad/poppadom curry (if puritans will allow me to translate accordingly), but seriously curry is a generic term and there are many variations.

I don’t know where “dalna” as in Bengali curry stands out, but yes this has gravy and spices all blended well with hard-boiled egg and fried poppadom.We do make “panpor'er jhaal” where we will fry the papad/panpor /poppadum and then make spicy gravy with onion-ginger-garlic and cubed potatoes. And yes, Bengalis can’t cook any curry like things without potatoes in it or may be it’s just us.
Anyhow, I have talked about the mint plant which was planted in jiffy here . That plant is showing splendid signs of life as its all green now, although I can't say that about those two garlic pods.

 I really don’t know what made me crazy about these aromatic mint leaves, but I have been using them regularly in gravies,biryanis or whipping up quickly mint yogurt dip/mint raita etc. I have used them in this curry also and then I added coconut milk to the mundane dim’er dalna...now to be honest, I have never ever made Bengali egg curry with coconut milk till that day.I had clicked these pictures somewhere near in July probably and as I was de-cluttering the picture folder couple of days back, I figured it out it never made up to the published list of recipe post….And it has been saved in there for these past months..Nothing new about me, you all know that well.
I have used coconut milk in fish and chicken recipes but not with eggs, and if I tell this to my Mother or MIL they would dismiss it completely saying “tumake r ranna korte hobe na” and yes they are puritans and traditional to the core. Now, with those challenges ahead, I did make this and no, I dare not serve them, this dim’er dalna. I am afraid they will be scolding me, even if I tell them see Rick Stein also makes Bengali egg curry with coconut milk. They would say who is Rick Stein, a Hollywood actor, and to that I really don’t have any answer. But call this Bengali egg curry or not, I leave it to you,  but certainly this is another variation from traditional Bengali egg curry and yes it has been made many times by this Bengali lady since then.
For the time being if you are like me, easy going and believes in tweaking on recipes, then please go ahead and make this, I have loved this egg curry with all those soft edible bits of  panpor/poppadums and that minty flavor and of course the gravy with the sweetness of coconut milk. Now to the recipe procedure

Dim Panpor'er Dalna- Egg Curry with Papad/Poppadom
Recipe requirements (serves 4-5)
Free-range egg- 4-5 hard boiled
5-6 poppadoms/ready-made papad fried or micro waved for low oil version
2 medium size onions finely chopped
3 fat cloves of garlic grated
½ inch fresh ginger grated
2 medium size potatoes cut into large cubes
Half a can of any brand of coconut milk or about a cup of coconut milk
4-5 mint leaves
Seasonings
½ tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of red pepper powder
2 tsp of home-made spice blend powder- which is just dry grounded coriander seeds+cumin seeds+cinnamon stick+cloves+cardamom where last three is added just for fragrance and coriander +cumin seeds are more in proportions.
Alternately you may use 1 tsp of coriander powder
½ tsp of cumin powder
¼ tsp of garam masala powder
2-3 tej patta/ bay leaves
1 tsp of cumin seeds
2-3 dry red chilly/pepper
4-5 tbs of cooking oil (any oil of your choice)
Method
Put eggs with enough water in a boiling pot and let them boil. We need hard-boiled egg for this curry. De-shell them once they are hard-boiled. If you wish you may rub some turmeric powder at this time over them, otherwise leave it, it’s not necessary.
Now chop onions, ginger and garlic accordingly. You may even grate ginger and garlic as this imparts lovely flavor to any gravy as they release fresh juices when grated.
Heat up a fry pan/wok/kadai, add some oil you may fry the hard boiled egg evenly and the poppadoms as well. But as I said, we are making a low-oil version so, I have slightly popped them in microwave for 1 mint and then crispy poppadums are ready. Traditionally these are deep-fried to make Bengali panporer dalna- poppadum curry.
Now temper it with cumin seeds, dry red chilly and tej patta.Add in onions, ginger and garlic and  pinch of sugar and pinch of salt and keep on frying for about 6-10 mints or till they turn nice brown.
Now add in cubed potatoes and fry another 3-4 mints. Add in all the dry ingredients- turmeric powder, red pepper powder and home-made spice blend and adjust salt. Splash some water so that the spices don’t burn out. Keep on stir/fry for 3-4 mints. Add in chopped mint leaves. Coat spices well over potato cubes.
Add in a cup of coconut milk and 2 cups of water. Let it come to one strong boil.
Now add in hard-boiled egg and fried poppadoms or microwaved poppadoms/papad.
Let it simmer for about 10-15 mints or till the potatoes are soft. Tip- Poppaadums soak a lot of gravy and may sometimes go soggy, and in that case, you may add in papad at the last stage of preparing this gravy when the potatoes are already cooked well. And if you like soggy poppadums then add accordingly.
Now at the end add in garam masala and a tsp of ghee.
Serve and enjoy with warm cooked rice. You may prepare this with paneer and shrimp as well for variations.

Note
If you like crispy fried coating of eggs in your Egg curry , then fry them before you add them to the gravy.
Ready-made papad/Poppadums itself have many variations – there is crushed black pepper-corn poppadums or jeera/cumin seeds poppadums and many others.The above recipe was made with cumin seeds flavoured papad/poppadums.
You may replace egg with paneer or even with shrimp/chingri for other variations or may skip eggs altogether for making simple papad curry.

This is a mild curry and if you like more hotness, then add in split green chilies to increase spiciness.

Edited on 5/01/14 

Dim panporer dalna the way my mother does and most of the times made in our home also.

Recipe requirements
4 free range eggs
5-6 papad/poppadums (any flavor)
2 medium size potatoes
2 medium size onion
3-4 fat garlic
1/2 inch ginger
Seasonings and flavoring
¾ tsp of turmeric powder
½ tsp of red pepper powder
2 tsp of home made spice powder
½ tsp of garam masala
1 tsp of salt.
Pinch of sugar
3-4 tbs of cooking oil/mustard oil
2 bay leaves or tej patta
3/4 tsp of cumin seeds
1 dry red pepper
Method
Boil eggs properly, hard boiled eggs is what we will be using in this dalna/ curry.
Now prepare the masala
Heat up a saucepan, add oil, temper it with cumin seeds, bay leaves and dry red pepper.
Add in finely chopped garlic and ginger. Keep on stir/fry for 3-4 mints.
Now add in finely chopped onions.
In a separate fry pan, fry the papad/poppadums.Now fry the potato cubes to evenly brown them.
Meanwhile keep an eye on the other one, where onions +ginger+ garlic are being fried.
Add in fried potatoes now.Add in all the dry seasonings- red pepper, turmeric powder and home-made spice powder. I always stock up home- made spice powder- which is a mixture of coriander+cumin+cinnamon in a ratio of 2:1:1 all dry grinded. Sometimes I do also add green cardamom to it.
Coat well the spices over potatoes+ fried onion, gimger and garlic.And keep on stir/fry at medium flame. Add in about 2 large cups of water. Let it come to one strong boil.
Add in fried papad and boiled eggs. If you wish you can fry the boiled eggs to have the crunchy texture, but generally I don’t do that.
Let it simmer for about 7-10 mints at medium flame. Please check if the gravy requires some water then add in warm water and also if the potatoes are cooked through. Once done,add in garam masala at the end, switch off the flame and let it rest there.

Serve and enjoy with warm cooked rice. I have not added tomatoes and generally don’t add them but if you like that, then please include them.

Happy Cooking