Egg Dum Biryani

Egg dum biryani is latest addition to my list of biryanis. I love this simple yet flavoursome one pot meal. The bliss of being housewife is I can cook like a storm on weekdays and can keep the menu simple on weekends. Past weekend I was fighting with terrible headache, giving credits to my late night reading. So I could not cook much on weekend. To compensate, I thought of surprising my loving family by making a fancy meal to relish in dinner tonight.

Lil’M is very fond of boiled eggs and so thought of making egg dum biryani as you know how much I am fond of one pot meals and that too biryanis. Egg Dum Biryani is very easy to make and can be made in no time. Unlike vegetable or meat biryani, the cooking time is very less and when you multitask then you can easily complete this egg dum biryani under an hour. You need minimal preparation to make this egg dum biryani and here is a detailed recipe of making it. Do try it and let me know….

Egg Dum Biryani

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 Eggs, hard boiled
• 4 medium Onions, finely sliced
• 2 Tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 Clove and 1 2 ’inch Cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. Red chili powder
• ½ tbsp. Turmeric powder
• 2 green chilies, slit length wise
• 2 tbsp. thick Curd/Yogurt, whisked
• 1 tbsp. Garam Masala
• 1 tbsp. Ginger-Garlic Paste
• Salt, as per taste
• ¼ cup Ghee
• ¼ cup Oil
• 2 tbsp. Coriander leaves, chopped

FOR RICE LAYER:

• 2 cups Basmati Rice, washed and soaked in water for 30 min.
• 2 Cloves, 2 Cardamoms & 2 1’inch piece of Cinnamon
• ½ tbsp. Ginger-Garlic paste
• Salt

LAYERING:

• 1 tbsp. Mint leaves
• 2 tbsp. Lemon juice
• ½ tbsp. Garam Masala
• 2 tbsp. fried Onions
• Pinch Saffron mixed in 2 tbsp. lukewarm milk

PREPARATION:

In a skillet, heat ghee and oil along with clove and cinnamon. Fry half of fried onions in it until they turn nice golden. Strain the onions and reserve the ghee-oil in a cup.

FOR EGG MASALA LAYER:

• In the meantime, remove the shell of hard boiled eggs and give them a quick rinse, make a horizontal slit on each egg. Sprinkle a pinch of red chili powder and salt. Set aside.
• In a small kadai, add 1 tbsp. of oil (you can use the same oil which we used for frying onions) and fry hard boiled eggs until the outer layer start to change color and turn light crisp. Drain and set aside.
• Grind and make a smooth paste of other sliced onions along with 1 green chili, sliced tomatoes and half of coriander leaves.
• Add 2 tbsp. of oil (which we used for frying onions) and fry in above ground masala by adding red chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, chopped green chili and salt.
• When the masalas start to leave oil from sides, add whisked curd to it. Stir continuously for 4-5 minutes on medium flame. Add in fried hard boiled eggs and stir gently. Make sure the boiled eggs are nicely coated with masalas. Sprinkle garam masala and turn off the flame. Our egg masala layer is ready. Now let’s start cooking rice.

FOR RICE LAYER: 

• Boil rice in enough water along with cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, salt and ginger-garlic paste. Cook rice until just done.
• Check by pressing a grain in between your forefinger and thumb. If it is soft, then drain off the excess water from the rice using a sieve.

LAYERING: 

• Once you drain off the water then start to layer, by greasing oil (we used for frying onions) to the bottom of a heavy cooking vessel (the one we use to cook rice). Add a layer of rice and spread evenly.
• Top rice layer with egg masala layer and spread evenly. Add half of fried onions, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, pinch of garam masala and 1 tbsp. of saffron milk.
• Spread remaining rice over the egg masala layer and top it with mint leaves, lemon juice, saffron milk , fried onions, pinch of garam masala and remaining oil (that which we used for frying onions). Place the lid and seal the sides with foil and place the cooking vessel on low flame for 15-20 minutes. (I keep nearly ½ kilo weight (my brass pestle and motor) on top of the lid to seal the aroma of biryani.)
• Turn off the flame and let it sit on stove for another 10-15 minutes before you start to serve.

SERVING:

• Remove the lid carefully and gently fluff the rice before serving hot with dahi ki chutney (onion raita) and any side dish for your choice. I served this egg dum biryani with soya chunks capsicum masala (recipe coming up next) and dahi ki chutney.
• Add love to make this recipe taste ‘Yummy’.