Curried devils (deviled eggs)

I recently read a book called "The Secret Supper Club" by Dana Bate, which was about this woman who worked as a research assistant, but whose dream was to become a cook - or chef, I suppose (which is really just a posh word for "cook"). It was a good if light read, just what I'd wanted at that point. 


I'm not really going to do a book review, but I had to mention the book because there were a few recipes at the end, of things that she'd made for her secret supper club guests, and the first of them was a recipe for deviled eggs. The rest of the recipes I was not interested in because they were rather too elaborately non-vegetarian. But this one seemed doable, so I did. 

I made a couple of minor changes, but mostly this recipe is as the book had it. The filling turned out to be much more lemon-sharp than I'd anticipated, and I think it's because I used perhaps a tablespoon's worth of lemon juice rather than the 1/2 tsp called for. It wasn't really a huge mistake for us, in any case, because Pete and I both love the sourness.

Recipe for: Curried devils (deviled eggs)

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp medium or mild curry powder (or use 1/4 tsp garam masala)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
1/4 tsp smoked hot paprika/cayenne pepper
Kosher salt & freshly milled black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp sweet paprika for garnish

Method:
1. Place the eggs carefully in a large saucepan and fill with cold water to come up to 1" above the eggs.
2. Bring to a bubbling boil, then turn the heat off, cover the pan and leave for exactly 14 minutes.
3. Then drain off the water and fill the pan again with very cold water, to stop the eggs cooking any further. Set aside for 10 minutes, then peel the eggs and slice them in half vertically.
4. Remove the yolks to a small bowl. Mash them smooth with a fork, then add the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, curry powder/garam masala, lemon juice, chives and hot paprika and mix thoroughly. Taste the mixture, adding a bit more of whatever you feel is lacking. Add salt (careful with this as the mayonnaise will already have salt) and pepper to taste and mix one final time.
5. Spoon the egg yolk mixture into a sealable sandwich bag or Ziploc bag (or use a disposable pastry bag) piling the filling as far as possible into one corner. Snip off the corner of the bag with scissors, then pipe the mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with a little sweet paprika to garnish, and serve at room temperature or cold.
Note: If you have any mixture left over (and going by my experience, you will), use it in a sandwich, or as a spread on toast. You can store the unused mixture in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a day.