Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Gently submerge the eggs in the boiling water and cook for six and a half minutes exactly, then drain and put under cold running water for a few minutes to cool. Peel the eggs and put on a plate lined with kitchen paper to dry out.

Toast the desiccated coconut in a medium nonstick saute pan on a medium-low heat for two to three minutes, stirring occasionally, until just turning light brown. Add the peanuts, toast, stirring occasionally, until everything is a deep golden brown, then tip into a bowl.

If you’re not using shop-bought crispy shallots, put the vegetable oil in a small pan, drop in the sliced shallots and fry gently, stirring often, on a medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, until light brown. Use a slotted spoon to lift the shallots on to a second plate lined with kitchen paper and leave to drain; save the oil for later. Once the fried shallots are dry, mix them with the coconut and peanuts.

Now for the curry paste. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz smooth; if need be, add few tablespoons of cold water to help it along.

Put 130ml coconut milk and the cinnamon stick in a medium frying pan on a medium-high heat, then cook for two minutes, until the coconut milk thickens and the oil starts to separate. Add two tablespoons of the curry paste, cook for two minutes more, then stir in the fish sauce and palm sugar and fry for another three minutes.

Tip in the rest of the coconut milk, then simmer on a medium heat for about eight minutes, until the sauce has reduced by half and thickened sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon. Take off the heat, stir in the lime juice and put somewhere warm while you get on with the eggs.

Put the shallot oil pan back on a medium-high heat and, when it’s hot and shimmering and almost beginning to smoke, gently lower in the peeled eggs – be careful, because they will spit. Fry for three to four minutes, turning the eggs regularly so they cook evenly – the egg whites will blister, wrinkle and turn golden brown – then scoop out on to another plate lined with kitchen paper.

Put the fried boiled eggs in a wide, shallow serving bowl, spoon over two-thirds of the curry sauce, sprinkle on half the coconut crunch and serve at once with the rest of the crunch and rice alongside.