Egg Thokku - Muttai Thokku

For someone who loves eggs, I just noticed that I have very few recipes that involve eggs (not including cakes and bakes here). So my mission now is to add some more egg recipes and I am going to begin with this easy and pretty fool-proof egg thokku recipe.

Thokku is a thick and sour curry (it probably derives from the word thokkai which means thick). Thokku is either made from sour vegetables/fruits or tamarind paste (or tomatoes) are added to make it sour. The vegetables are cooked along with spices and without adding any water. You stir-fry the vegetables until the water (from the vegetables) has evaporated. The thokku is lastly layered with a few teaspoons of oil before being sealed. The low water content and the acidity prevents it from being spoilt. And you should always use dry spoon and dry hands when serving or opening thokku. This is an effective way to prepare vegetables and make them last a little longer.

Drumstick curry - Murungai kai curry

At my ancestral home, we had a big murungai tree that would blossom after the monsoon season. I never cared much for ours then - my eyes were always set on the mango trees. It was an old and a most stubborn tree that would only blossom periodically. One day, along with some garden work and for whatever reason, we cut down the twigs and branches of that tree. Even though I had never cared much for it, I was saddened to see the state of that beautiful tree. It was only then that I realized its value. I missed the fragrant white flowers that we would inhale. I missed the shadow that we would take refuge in. And most of all, I missed the sight of these green, thin drumsticks that we would desperately try to fetch by jumping up and down with a long stick.