The Perfect Egg Biryani

The Perfect Egg Biryani

Recipe Type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Recipe Courtesy: Ms. Ummi Abdullah

1. Ingredients 

A. To make the omelettes 

1. Eggs 5 

2. Green chillies 2-3 finely chopped 

3. Turmeric powder a pinch 

4. Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

5. Chopped onions 1 small

6. Oil 2 tsp

7. Salt to taste 

B. To make the rice 

1.  Rice 2 cups 

2. Cardamom 3 

3. Cloves 4

4. Cinnamon 2(1" stick)

5. Bay leaves 2

6. Mint leaves 1/2 cup

7. Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

8. Ginger paste 1 tbsp

9. Garlic paste 11/2 tbsp

10. Green chilli paste 1 tbsp

11. Salt to taste

12. Water 3 cups

13. Oil/ghee 1 tbsp

C. To make the biryani masala

1. Cardamom 3

2. Cloves 8

3. Cinnamon 2(1" sticks)

4. Bay leaves 1

5. Shahjeera 1 tsp 

6. Mace blades 6

7. Nutmeg 1/2 tsp

8. Fennel seeds 2 tsp

9. Cumin seeds 1 tsp 

10. Star anise 1

11. Dry red chillies 4(optional)

12. Coriander seeds 3 tbsp(optional)

13. Black stone flower 3(optional)

14. Black peppercorns 3(optional)

D. To make the masala 

1. Onions 21/2 cups thinly sliced

2. Tomatoes 11/4 cup finely chopped

3. Ginger paste 2 tbsp

4. Garlic paste 3 tbsp

5. Green chillies 6 slit 

6. Biryani Masala 2 tsp

7. Mint leaves 1/3 cup

8. Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

9. Juice of 1/2 lemon

10. Omelette pieces 

11. Salt 

12. Oil 2 tbsp 

E. To shallow fry the eggs

1. Boiled, peeled & halved Eggs 4

2. Pepper powder a pinch on all the egg halves

3. Salt a very tiny pinch on all the egg halves 

4. Biryani Masala a very tiny pinch on all the egg halves

2. Method Of Preparation 

1. Preparation Of Omelettes

A. Break the eggs into a bowl & beat them well. Add all the ingredients mentioned under "1A" except oil & mix everything together nicely.

B. Add oil in a pan & take a small ladleful of the mixture & make a thin omelette(check pic to see how thin the Omelettes are).

C. Repeat the above steps & make thin Omelettes till the mixture gets over.

D. Put these Omelettes on a plate & cut them into bite sized pieces & set it aside

2. Method Of Preparation Of Rice

A. Wash the rice under cold running water, drain it on a paper towel & let it dry.

B. In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil or ghee or both. 

C. Add the cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves & cinnamon. 

D. Now add the onions & sauté till it turns translucent(I have not added onions as I was super lazy to slice them :)) (you may skip it as well).

E. Add the ginger garlic green chilli paste & sauté till the raw smell goes away.

F. Add the mint & coriander leaves & sauté for a few seconds until the leaves shrink in size.

G. Now add the rice & stir on a low heat for 2 minutes. 

H. Add water & cover & cook till done.

  

3. To make the biryani masala

A. Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under "1C" & let it cool & then grind them to a fine powder.

B. Ingredients #11, 12, 13 & 14 are completely optional in this dish. The original recipe doesn't have them. If you want your biryani to have a darker shade, then you can add them or you can skip them. I have made biryani adding those ingredients as well as omitting them too. Both of them tasted good but the one with those ingredients will had a darker shade than the one without them. 

4. To make the egg masala

A. Add oil in a pan & add the onions. Sauté till it turns translucent. 

B. Now add the ginger garlic & green chilli paste & sauté till the raw smell goes away.

C. Add the coriander & mint leaves & cook for a minute.

D. Add the chopped tomatoes & salt & cook till it gets mushy.

E. Add the bite sized omelette pieces & mix with the base.

F.  Add the biryani masala & mix everything together & cook for a minute on a medium flame. 

G. Squeeze lemon juice & turn off the flame. 

5. To shallow fry the eggs

A. Sprinkle biryani masala, salt & black pepper powder on the egg halves. 

B. Add a tsp of oil in a pan. When the oil gets hot, add the egg halves into the pan with the yolk side facing up first. Then flip & fry on the other side.

C. Shallow fry the eggs for 30 seconds on each side & remove from the pan. 

6. Layering & Final Cooking & Serving

A. Grease 2 tbsp of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Add half the quantity of egg masala into it & then over it, spread half the quantity of rice & sprinkle 2 pinches of biryani masala. Then add the rest of the biryani masala, rice & again sprinkle biryani masala & add 2 tbsp of ghee on it & cover it with a very tight fitting lid. If you do not have a tight fitting lid, then place a heavy pan filled with water on the lid of the biryani pot.

B. Turn on the gas stove on high flame & place a cast iron skillet/tawa on it. When the skillet gets hot, turn on the flame to the lowest & place the biryani pot on it & let it cook for 15-20 minutes & then turn off the flame. Do not open the lid now.

C. Open the lid only after 20 minutes. 

D. As soon as you open the lid, mix the biryani well & place the fried eggs on the biryani.

E. Serve hot with raita, pappad & pickle. 

Notes

1. If you don't have the time to make biryani masala, then just use store-bought masala.

2. You can replace biryani masala with garam masala & the biryani tastes equally good.

3. You can adjust the quantity of all the ingredients as per your taste. If you want less masala, then you can reduce the quantity of tomatoes & onions. You can increase or decrease the quantity of biryani masala. Increase it, if you want a darker shade, decrease the quantity if you want a lighter shade.