Hyderabadi Egg Masala is an egg recipe of Hyderabadi cuisine. This recipe is more commonly served in breakfast with roti.


Hyderabadi food has many delicious dishes like Mirchi ka Salan, dum biryani, khubani ka meetha, Karachi biscuits, salted biscuits, Hyderabadi mutton paya, and many more. But sadly, people are just stuck with biryani and are not ready to look past it. And missing out on this recipe is almost criminal, especially to Hyderabadi dishes.

Hyderabadi Egg Masala, also known as Khageena, Khagina, or anda magaz masala, is a staple breakfast dish of Hyderabad. The eggs are cooked with onions and tomatoes. This dish has the basic everyday spices and ingredients. Hence it is a fuss-free recipe and extremely easy to make. It goes great with bread, paratha, roti, naan, toasted bread, and even rice if the dish has enough gravy.

This dish resembles two egg dishes- Shakshuka and Berber Omelet/ Berber Tagine Omelet. Berber Omelet is from Morocco, while Shakshuka is from a region in Africa. Both these dishes are very similar to this egg masala. But there are exceptions to a few ingredients in each recipe. Also, the cooking process is different.

The Base of Hyderabadi Egg Masala

The red colour of the dish is an indication enough to guess that it includes red chilli powder and tomatoes. Onions and tomatoes together make the base of the dish. That is also how most egg dishes are sold by street hawkers even though we find dishes in Hyderabadi cuisine inclined towards the green base.

The onions are not to be cooked entirely but retain some juice while cooking. It will provide some crunch to them when you have a bite. Tomatoes can be chopped, cut, or diced. However, it will be better to chop them as fine as possible without making them appear blended. This will let the tomatoes better.

Speaking of tomatoes, we can add them in puree form as and they will add gravy to the dish. You can replace the tomato puree with tomato paste in a shakshuka recipe and give more thickness to the dish. But don’t use both because then the tomatoes will overpower the recipe, which will turn into a shakshuka.

Add water to adjust the consistency and emulsify the ingredients properly. So it will only be added in a required amount and not more than that. Or else, the dish will be too watery than needed. Also, it is better to use chopped ginger & garlic, and ginger should be more in proportion.

Variation To Egg Masala

Most of the time, you will find the version we have made here. That is more common. But there is also another version of this dish that you are not likely to encounter as commonly.

Another version is scrambled eggs, where the process is the same but with just one exception, the eggs are not cracked over the base in the pan. But we are first to break those eggs in a bowl and whisk them. Then, we pour the eggs into the pan and stir them. You will get Hyderabadi-style scrambled eggs.

This version will taste as good as the one we made. Tomatoes here will need to be cooked until they turn mushy. It will be a compulsion here. This version is ideal for breakfast with both paratha and bread.

Tadka For Khageena

We don’t add tadka, and neither is this always done in the recipe. But it is a highly recommended thing to do. The tadka will enhance the taste of the dish twenty folds.

We will need mustard seeds, oil, and dry red chillies—heat oil in a tempering pan or a small pan to prepare this. Pop mustard seeds in the oil and also add dry red chillies. Temper these ingredients until the red chillies completely change in colour. Once that is done, then pour this over the dish.

TR’s Extra Shots

  • Spiciness – This dish is generally really spicy. You can adjust the spiciness as per your taste.
  • Green Chilies –  We are adding them at a later stage. But you can add them with ginger-garlic paste or onions. Also, the measure can vary, or one can eliminate it even.
  • Ginger-Garlic Paste – Some people add this after onions, but it is better to add this first. Doing so will eliminate the rawness.
  • Mint – We are already adding coriander leaves. But do add some mint, even a bit for freshness and flavour.
  • Black Pepper – A little bit of crushed black pepper will also make it more flavorful. However, that is entirely optional.

Some more egg recipes: