Dimer Jhol (Bengali Egg Curry)
The everyday Bengali egg curry: boiled eggs and potatoes, first browned in mustard oil, then simmered in a light, cumin-scented gravy meant to be soaked up with rice.
- Region
- West Bengal
- Status
- Traditional; three eggs per person
- Diet label
- Contains eggs
- Time
- Prep 15 min · Cook 30 min
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Everyday lunch
- Tags
- Good source · Dairy-free · Soy-free · Whey-free · Gluten-free*
- Allergens
- Eggs
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 585 kcal
- Protein
- 28 g
- Carbs
- 67 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Headline values are for the full plate.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimer jhol only (3 eggs, potato, gravy) | 370 | 23 g | 20 g | 22 g | 5 g | 4 g | 6 g | 6.0 g |
| Full plate: jhol, 60 g raw rice | 585 | 28 g | 67 g | 22 g | 5 g | 6 g | 6 g | 4.5 g |
Good source (plate); the dish alone is High protein. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled · 150 g potato, halved
- 120 g onion, puréed · 100 g tomato, puréed · 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 15 g mustard oil · 1 bay leaf · 1 tsp cumin seeds · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder · 1 tsp cumin powder · 1 tsp coriander powder · ½ tsp garam masala · 2 g sugar (a pinch, traditional) · 5 g salt · 300 ml hot water
- Plate: 120 g raw rice (60 g each)
Method
- Rub the eggs and potatoes with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Prick the eggs lightly with a fork.
- Heat mustard oil until it just smokes, then lower the heat. Fry eggs 2 minutes until lightly blistered; remove. Fry potatoes 5 minutes until golden; remove.
- In the same oil, add bay leaf and cumin seeds. Add onion purée; cook 6–8 minutes until light brown.
- Add ginger-garlic paste, then tomato purée and the powdered spices. Cook 5 minutes until oil separates.
- Add potatoes, sugar, salt and hot water. Cover and simmer 12 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- Add eggs and simmer 3 minutes. Finish with garam masala. The gravy should stay thin. Serve with rice.
Protein optimisation
- Eggs supply 19 g per serving; potato and rice 5.5 g.
- Boost: add 100 g peas with the potatoes (+3.5 g protein, +45 kcal per serving).
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Dimer dalna — a thicker, richer version with more onion and a spoon of curd.
- Substitution: groundnut oil for mustard oil (milder flavour).
- Storage: 1 day refrigerated.
- Food safety: refrigerate within 2 hours; reheat until bubbling.
- Meal prep: boil eggs up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate unpeeled.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com