WHAT IS TELUR BALADO 

Telur Balado is spicy egg curry dish, one of the traditional cuisines that is originated from Padang in West Sumatra in Indonesia. This cooking ,method  is invented to elevate the flavor of plain hard-boiled eggs. This dish is meant to be spicy but when I make it, I substitute the chili with red bell peppers simply only because my family doesn’t take spicy food very well.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO MAKE TELUR BALADO

10 pcs of eggs – boiled & peeled

1/2kg of red chili

1 pc of fresh tomato – washed & chopped

80gr of shallots  – you can use purple onion as a substitute

30gr of garlic – peeled

10gr of ginger  –  peeled and sliced or finely chopped

2 pcs of bay leaves – you can use dry bay leaves if you cannot find fresh ones

1 stalk of lemongrass  – use only the bottom white part, outer layer discarded.

• 3tbs of cooking oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 pinch of sugar – (optional)

• 2tbs of water   – (optional)

THE SPICES PASTE:

• Blend chili, tomato, shallots (or its counterpart), garlic, ginger, until very smooth (baby food consistency), set aside

COOKING METHOD:

• In a cooking wok or a pot heat 1 tbs of oil on a medium high heat.   Fry the hard-boiled eggs.  You don’t need to fry with a lot of oil, the purpose of frying the eggs here is simply to scar the smoothness of the eggs so that the spices can coat the eggs well in the cooking process.  Set the eggs aside
• Heat remaining oil over medium-high heat, add the blended spice paste into the hot oil, add in kaffir lime leaves, stir, salt, and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly to avoid burnt bottom.
• Add the eggs, cook for 5 – 10  minutes or longer to let the flavor of the sauce coat and permeate well into the whole dish.
• Add  water if you prefer a runnier sauce
• Taste the sauce to suit your liking, add sugar if necessary