Method
Bring a pot of water to the boil then carefully lower the eggs
in on a slotted spoon and bring back to the boil. For a
medium-sized egg, boil 4½ minutes. Take the eggs from the boiling
water and place in a bowl, then take to the sink and run cold water
over them for 2 minutes to cool down. Leave the eggs in the water
for a few more minutes then peel them. Once peeled, place back in
the bowl of water - this stops them collapsing on themselves if
their yolks are still quite soft.
Meanwhile, finely grate the zest from half of one of the limes
into a bowl. Add the palm sugar and chilli and mash together.
Squeeze the juice from the limes over this mixture, you need 40-50
ml, and mix until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the fish sauce
and ginger and leave for a few minutes.
Heat 6cm of vegetable oil to 180C. I find it best to deep-fry
the eggs in a medium-sized deep pan as the eggs can splatter a
bit. Carefully remove the eggs from their bath and lay on
kitchen paper, then roll them around a little to remove excess
water. Carefully lower them into the oil and move them around a
little to colour them evenly. They're ready when they turn a dark
golden brown. Remove them from the oil, place on fresh kitchen
paper briefly to absorb excess oil, then roll on a plate scattered
with the garam masala.
To serve, place the eggs on 4 individual plates and scatter with
the coriander and spring onion. Drizzle on the lime chilli dressing
and finish with the crispy shallots.
Crispy shallots
To make crispy shallots, simply peel red Thai shallots, or small
regular shallots and rinse in a colander under gently running cold
water for 10 minutes. Pat dry between kitchen paper then deep-fry
in small batches in clean oil at 160C. Drain on kitchen paper and
store in an airtight container.
Garam masala
Mix everything together in a small bowl then place half of it
into an electric spice or coffee grinder. Grind on full speed for
20 seconds then tip into a clean jar. Grind the rest, add to the
first batch and shake well. I keep my mixture in an airtight jar in
the fridge.