Photograph by Keirnan Monaghan Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero Prop Styling by Theo Vamvounakis
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
Jack’s Golden Egg Curry
Mains from Issue 6 – Fall / Winter 2015 – Magic
The treasure at the end of any beanstalk.
Gather Journal
Jack’s Golden Egg Curry
Mother doesn’t always know best—after all, if Jack had listened to mom, he wouldn’t have swapped their cow for five magic beans. And she, in a rage, wouldn’t have tossed them out the window causing a beanstalk to sprout overnight. And Jack wouldn’t have climbed it to swindle a fee-fi-fo-fum’ing ogre out of his cache of gold and a hen that lays golden eggs. And we wouldn’t have been compelled to transform the tale into a Burmese-style quick curry with green beans and hard-boiled eggs turned gold by turmeric.
serves 2 to 4
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 4 peeled, hard-boiled eggs
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp finely chopped, seeded jalapeño
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 (¼-inch thick) ginger, smashed
- ¾ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¾ cup water
- ½ lb green beans, halved
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
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1
Heat oil and turmeric in a heavy skillet. Test with a droplet of water; if water sizzles, add 2 eggs. Shallow-fry eggs, rolling them around in the oil until golden and blistered. Try tipping the skillet a little to deepen the oil so the points of the eggs get golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Fry remaining 2 eggs.
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2
Discard all but 2 Tbsp oil. Add onion, jalapeño, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in spices and cook, stirring, 1 minute longer. Add water, beans, and ½ tsp salt then simmer, covered, until beans are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. If beans need a bit longer, add a bit more water. Stir in tomatoes and simmer, uncovered, until tomatoes are broken down and saucy, 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with golden eggs.
