Egg Biryani

A big good bye to the brutal winter and a warm welcome to the serene spring. We had a long weekend and planned for lunch outside one day. All of us were thrilled to go out. We had a light breakfast to keep our tummies ready for the lunch ahead. All set to go and there my husband's business mobile started screeching. Looking at my husband's facial expressions I was sure there would be some changes in our plans. There was some critical problem at work and he was engrossed in it. Our hopes gone down the drain in just a few minutes.

The kids became gloomy and to be honest, so did I. It was short lived for me because i had to cook something quick to compensate. With the available ingredients, Egg Biryani flashed my mind.


Ingredients to cook rice
Basmati Rice-2 cups
Ginger/Garlic paste-1tsp
Garam masala powder-1/2tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4tsp
Whole garam masala (cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamon & bay leaves)-2 each
Lime juice-2tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil
Ghee-1tbsp

To cook egg gravy
Hard boiled egss-6
Ginger(chopped)-1tbsp
Garlic(chopped)-1tbsp
Green chillies(slit length wise)-2
Onions(chopped)-3
Tomatoes-3
Corriander powder-3tsp
Chilli powder-1 1/2tsp
Garam masala powder-1/2tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4tsp
Coriander & mint leaves(chopped)-2tbsp
Yoghurt-1tbsp
Salt as per taste
Oil

Methods
Eggs
Make a paste of yoghurt, 1/2tsp chilli powder and salt and rub it over the slit eggs and keep it aside for 10 minutes and shallow fry them. (slit the eggs vertically without cutting them to pieces.)



Gravy
Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry for 5 minutes. Add chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute well. Now add all the masalas and saute for 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for sometime until the oil separates. Add some water and when the gravy begins to boil add the fried eggs and cook it for sometime. Garnish it with coriander and mint leaves.

Rice
Wash the rice clean and soak it for 30 minutes. Take a heavy bottom vessel, add 1tbsp ghee and 2tbsp oil, add the whole garam masalas when the oil is hot and when they splutter add 1tsp ginger/garlic paste and saute for sometime. Add the rice, fry for sometime until the rice glistens. Add 4 cups of water, salt, 1/2tsp garam masala powder, 1/4tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp lime juice and cook the rice.

Dum
Smear the heavy bottom vessel with some ghee. First add a layer of the rice and on top of it a layer of the egg curry. Sprinkle a bit of garam masala powder & 1tsp lime juice, chopped coriander & mint leaves. Layer it with rice again. Repeat the layer once again.




The secret lies here. Make sure that you press the rice well so that the flavour of the curry mixes well with the rice. Close the vessel with a tight lid or with an aluminium foil and keep it over a large pan(dosa pan) and cook on slow flame for about 30 minutes. You may add water in the pan so that it does not get over heated. This procedure is to dum the biryani.

All of us relished the delicacy and there were no complains from my family.

Note: You may garnish the final product with fried onions, cashews and kismis which I avoided to make my kids happy. :-)
You may use biryani masala instead of garam masala.
You may also adjust the masalas as per individual tastes.