Dum Egg Biryani

I have no clue about the existence of this dish or rather its history. I happened to have it at my South Indian friend's house over a dinner. When I heard the dish Egg Biryani, I thought to myself how will it taste with no addition of meat to it. Will it be as tasteful as Chicken or Mutton Biryani? I won't deny but I was pretty hesitant to even taste it, thinking that it might be too bland for me. On insistence from my friend's mother, I had small portion of the dish. The had a first morsel in my mouth and there it was, my whole perception of this dish changed. This dish Egg Biryani is a sure hit for parties when you have mixed crowd who do not eat meat and prefer Egg instead.

Let's have a look at the method:

4 Boiled Eggs

1 large Onion sliced

1 diced Tomato

2 Bay Leaf

2 Cinnamon Stick

10-12 Peppercorns

10-12 Cloves

2 Green Chilies slit

3 tbsp Curd

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

3 tbsp Red Chili Powder

1 tbsp Coriander Powder

1 tsp Cumin Powder

1 tbsp Garam Masala

2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

3 cups Basmati Rice 

Coriander chopped

Mint Leaves chopped (Optional)

1 cup Fried Onions

Ghee/Butter/Oil

3 tbsp Milk with strands of Saffron

Salt to taste

Method for Garam Masala:

Take 5-6 Peppercorns, 5-6 Cloves, 4 Cardamom, 1 Badi Elaichi, 1 Cinnamon Stick and grind it into a fine powder.

Strain the powder in a dry bowl and keep it aside.

Method to Cook Rice:

In a pot add 8 cups of water and add 3-4 Peppercorns, 4-5 Cloves, 2-3 Cardamom, 1 Bay Leaf, 1 tbsp Ghee, Salt to taste.

Keep the pot on medium flame and let the water come to a boil. 

Meanwhile wash the rice and strain the water and keep it aside for 15 mins.

Once the water comes to a boil, add the washed rice to it and stir it with a spatula.

Let the rice cook 80% and once the rice is cooked, drain the water and let it rest until we work on the gravy.

Add 1 tbsp Ghee on the drained rice. This step helps each grain of rice remain separate from each other, because cooked rice has tendency to stick.

Method for Biryani:

In the same pot, add 2 tbsp of Ghee and wait until the ghee is warm. Keep the flame on medium in order not to burn the ghee.

Add 3-4 Peppercorns, 3-4 Cloves, 1 Bay Leaf and 1 Cinnamon Stick to the Ghee. Once the spices release aroma, add slice onions to it. 

Cook until the onions turn soft and turn golden brown.

Add ginger garlic paste to the mixture and let it cook until the raw smell of the paste goes away

Add diced tomatoes to the mixture and let it cook until they soften. Keep the flame on low. 

Add 2 green chilies slit to the mixture.

Add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tbsp red chili powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, salt to the mixture and give it a good mix. 

After 5 mins of cooking the spices add curd to the mixture and mix it well.

Let the ingredient cook well on medium flame until the oil starts to separate on edges.

If required add 1/2 cup of water to the mixture and give it a good mix.

While the mixture is cooking peel off the boiled eggs and give it small cuts with knife. 

After 10 mins of cooking, add the boiled eggs to the mixture and make sure the gravy covers the eggs evenly.

Add chopped coriander and chopped mint to the mixture and sprinkle the Masala that we grinded, strained and kept aside.

At this point check on Salt too and adjust if required.

Cover the pot and keep it aside with flame off until the gravy cools off.

Remove the gravy in a bowl and keep little bit of it in the pot.

Now we are going to start with layering so we need to have rice, chopped coriander, chopped mint, Saffron milk, fried onions and egg gravy together in order to make layering quick.

Add half a portion of rice to the pot and spread it evenly. Add all 4 boiled eggs on the bed of rice and evenly spread the gravy as well. 

Add coriander, mint, fried onions and saffron milk to it evenly on the bed of rice.

Add another layer of rice and add again coriander, mint fried onions and saffron milk to the layer. Add 1 tbsp of ghee to the layer as well.

Cover the pot with lid and keep the pot on low flame.

Turn off the flame after 10 mins and let it remain covered until serving.

Serve hot with Raita.