Dimer Devil, also Egg Croquette is a very popular Indian street food, particularly famous in the eastern states of India. Here, hard-boiled eggs are cut in halves, the yolk is mixed with a spicy mix and then stuffed back into the egg whites. The egg halves are then joined and coated with a keema or potato cover and batter fry.
This dimer devil is a Bengali style evening snack, often served with a bowl of puffed rice, sliced onion, green chillies and a cup of tea.
Dimer Devil: History & Nostalgia
There is an ongoing battle of confusion about the nomenclature of this dish and its origin. But a popular consensus seems to agree with some of the theories.
Apparently, Dimer Devil has its origin in the colonial kitchens where the Deviled Eggs took a cover of spiced minced meat flap around them and then egg washed and crumb coated before deep fry. Interestingly, the Deviled Eggs is also believed to have some of its roots in India. Word is that the term ‘deviled’ was used since the yolk was spiced up with Indian spices and was sometimes too hot for the otherwise bland European palate!
Another theory suggests that Scotch Eggs are somewhat a distant cousin to the native Dimer Devil, who in turn is related to the Nargisi Kofta of Persian origin Mughal food.
Confusing, right? Well, who cares where it all began as long as it keeps making appearances to our humble plates.
Kolkata & its love for Eggs
Bengali food is full of egg recipes. In fact, I have over a dozen in my recipe journal, as well as on my blog. Starting with breakfasts to dinner, Bengalis can have eggs in any form.
While the omelette and sunny side-up are quite popular on the breakfast table, lunch or dinner menu often comprises of traditional egg curries like Dim Kosha or Dim Shorshe (Eggs in Mustard Garvy). Both, by the way, are excellent side-dishes to go with rice or Indian flatbread.
By the time evening sets in, streets are abuzz with youngsters, looking out in search for delicious street food. For such evening snacks, Moglai Porota (Indian flatbread stuffed with eggs and minced meat), Dim Pauruti (Savoury Egg Toast) or this Dimer Devil are quite popular.
How to make Dimer Devil – Ingredient list
- Eggs – hard boiled
- Onion – finely chopped
- Ginger & Garlic – finely chopped, grated would be even better
- Potatoes – boiled and mashed
- Salt
- Spices – Turmeric powder & Red Chili Powder
- Slice of a Brown Bread – for making the potato wrap for the eggs
- Breadcrumbs – I have made my own breadcrumbs here. The detailed recipe below. You can use store-bought as well
- Egg – for egg wash
- Oil to fry
Step-by-step instructions for this Dimer Devil recipe in original Bengali style
This Dimer Devil recipe is slightly different than what you get usually at the street food joints. There each croquette consists half of a boiled egg and the rest half filled with a spicy mashed potato or minced meat filling.
But this is how originally Dimer Devil was supposed to be, where each croquette consists of an entire egg. My main (maternal grandmother was somewhat known in the family for making some insanely delicious Dimer Devils.
Step-by-step instructions for Dimer Devil recipe
- Prepare the filling for Dimer Devil by frying finely chopped onion, ginger and garlic in Mustard Oil. Add some salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder to this.
- When you get it fried like this, it is ready to be cooled.
- Scoop out the yolks from the halved eggs and mix them with the prepared filling.
- It should be smooth and look like this
- & 6. Fill the filling back in the eggs and join them back again to make them whole.
- Prepare the wrap for the eggs with mashed potatoes, slice of bread and rest of the yolk mix. Take a handful of it and cover the egg with it. Try to get the shape of the egg like shown here. However, that’s not a rule. Its usually done just for the aesthetic purposes.
- Prepare homemade breadcrumbs, if you don’t have ready-to-use ones in your pantry. Detailed recipe for homemade breadcrumbs given below.
- & 10. Give the prepared croquettes (chops) an egg wash and then roll it in the breadcrumbs. Repeat this step 3 times preferably. Doing it twice is a must.
- Prepare the croquettes (chops) like this. At this stage, you can freeze them for later use.
- Deep fry them in refined sunflower oil till they turn brown and crisp. Serve these hot with Kasundi (Bengali Mustard Sauce) and sliced onions & cucumber
Storing the Egg Croquettes or Dimer Devil for later use – Freezing instructions
- You can refrigerate these egg croquettes for 2-3 days. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place these egg croquettes side by side. Cover the tray with cling wrap to avoid drying
- You can also freeze them for a month easily. Line an air-tight container with parchment paper and place the croquettes. If you need to stack the croquettes then place a sheet of parchment paper between them
- Fry these croquettes when you take them out of your refrigerator or freezer. No need to thaw
Homemade Breadcrumbs recipe
Making breadcrumbs at home is probably the simplest thing to do. Simply take a couple slices of bread and tear them roughly.
Spread them over a baking sheet and bake them at 180c for 8-10 minutes or until they turn brown.
Once they are done, take them out and grind them coarsely in your food processor. I used my Nutribullet to grind it.
You may season this with salt and pepper, and also flavour them with grated Parmesan, garlic powder, onion powder or dried herbs.
Looking for more Street food recipes? Check these out.
- Indian Chicken Skewers
- Egg Chicken Kathi Roll
- Bengali Moglai Porota – Mughlai Parantha
- Chole Bhaturey
- Pav Bhaji
- Dahi Vada
Have you tried this recipe? I would love to hear about it.
Tag me on Instagram @speakingaloud_hashdiaries or Facebook @hashdiaries and I will share it further.
Dimer Devil, also Egg Croquette is a very popular Indian street food, particularly famous in the eastern states of India. Here, hard-boiled eggs are cut in halves, the yolk is mixed with a spicy mix and then stuffed back into the egg whites. The egg halves are then joined and coated with a keema or potato cover and battered fry.
This dimer devil is a Bengali style evening snack, often served with a bowl of puffed rice, sliced onion, green chillies and a cup of tea.
- 2 Eggs – hard boiled
- 1 Onion medium – finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Ginger & Garlic – finely chopped grated would be even better
- 2 Potatoes medium – boiled and mashed
- Salt to Taste
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 Slice of a Brown Bread – for making the potato wrap for the eggs
- ¼ cup Breadcrumbs I have made my own breadcrumbs here. The detailed recipe below. You can use store-bought as well
- 1 Egg – for egg wash
- Oil to fry
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Prepare the filling for Dimer Devil by frying finely chopped onion, ginger and garlic in Mustard Oil over a low heat. Add some salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder to this.
Once it turns brown in colour, take it off the heat and allow to cool
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Slice the eggs lengthwise and scoop out the yolks in a bowl. Mix the fried filling into this and mix it well
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Stuff it back into the egg whites. Join the halves of eggs and keep them aside
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Take the remaining filling and add boiled & mashed potato and a slice of bread into it. Season with salt. Mix it well to make it smooth. It should be enough to coat 2 eggs here.
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Divide the mashed potato mix into two equal parts. Take one half and coat one egg with it. (Check for detailed images in the blogpost)
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Repeat with the second egg
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Whisk an egg in a bowl.
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Take some breadcrumbs on another plate and prepare it for coating the croquettes. You can flavour the breadcrumbs here with Parmesan, garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, etc.
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Take the wrapped egg, and dip it in the egg wash. Now, roll it on the breadcrumbs to coat it completely. Repeat this step atleast twice
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Repeat this with the other egg as well.
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Heat oil in a deep frying pan and then deep fry these croquettes till they turn brown.
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Serve hot.
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