Egg Biriyani Recipe

Yet another rice recipe! Biriyani is a rice dish that is guaranteed to make a lot of people drool. It is one of the tastiest recipes ever invented if you ask me. Easy as well. Chicken, shrimp, vegetable - all these are the usual types of biriyani. Not to leave out, egg biriyani! This is one of my go-to recipes to get lunch ready on the table in less an hour. Let me share my version, adapted from the recipe of  famous Indian chef, Sanjeev Kapoor.

Total time - 1 hour
Serves 4

Ingredients

7 or 8 eggs
2 1/4 cups Basmati Rice
1 medium onion, cut into long slices
2 medium onions finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
6 or 7 green chillies, chopped
1 tbsp garlic paste (preferably fresh garlic)
1 tbsp ginger paste
About 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ghee
Whole Spices:
1 star anise
4 or 5 cloves
6 cardamom seeds
2 or 3 bay leaves
1 stick cinnamon (alternately about 1 Tsp cinnamon)
Ground spices:
1/2 Tsp turmeric powder
1 Tsp red chilly powder
1/2 Tsp ground garam masala (optional)
1 1/2 Tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste

Steps

• Boil the eggs till they are hard boiled. Cut each into half, length-wise and set them aside.
• Soak the rice for 20 minutes in water and then cook till 90 % done (add some salt and about 1 Tsp ghee). Once cooked, fluff it with a fork so that the rice does not stick together. Set aside
• In a deep pan, add some ghee and caramelize the long cut onions. Set aside on a tissue paper
• In same pan, add the oil and heat on medium low. Saute the whole spices for about a minute
• Add chopped onions to this and caramelize. Then add the green chillies, saute for a minute, and secondly add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry till raw smell is gone
• Add chopped tomatoes and stir. Now add all the ground spices including salt. Cover and simmer cook till oil separates from this masala
• Add the boiled egg pieces, stir gently just till the masala covers the pieces and cover and simmer cook for about a minute
• Finally add the cooked rice, top it with coriander leaves and caramelized onions. Gently stir.
• Cover pan with aluminium foil, then place its lid. This ensures that no steam will come out
• Finally, place the pan on another flat pan (dosa pan) placed on very low heat and dum-cook the biriyani for about 20 to 30 minutes (Dum cooking can also be done your oven, just place the lightly mixed biriyani in an oven-safe dish, cover with aluminium foil and bake in a pre-heated oven (350 degree F) for about 10 minutes.

Serve this hot with some raita. There is nothing better than a spicy biriyani as a tasty lunch option.