Egg Biryani

The love for Biryani will never diminish in my life :) Egg Biryani is another very swad-isht(delicious) to taste and quick to make dish. I have a winner recipe here :) Love for eggs is inbuilt in me and my family. We can have it anytime of the day. Most of the days my breakfast is incomplete without organic eggs. The recipes that can be churned out using eggs is innumerable. I am thankful that no one around me is allergic to eggs.

And who can forget that advertisement on television by National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) egg campaign called ”Sunday ho ya Monday roz Khao ANDE”- When I peel my boiled eggs I tend to happily hum this jingle :)

When I used to work in India a while ago, my office campus had a huge canteen that served one of the best egg biryanis. Fridays used to be my Biryani day...Ummm even thinking about it makes me want to have it now. The quantity of biryani served on the plate was for 3 people. And I used to finish all of it :) alone! Hmmm those carefree days when I didn't know what 'Calorie' was :):)- Blissful eh :)
You can also check out my Chicken Biryani here.

Anyways, coming to reality, I call this a jhatpat egg biryani as there is no process of dum involved. You straightway cook rice with the masala.  let us take a look at this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati rice (any long grain rice)
• 2 big onions sliced
• 4-5 green chillies sliced
• whole garam masala (4 cloves, 4 peppercorns, 2 inch cinnamon stick, 1 cardamom crushed, 1 tsp shah jeera or cumin seeds)
• 3/4th cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 tsp chilly pwd
• 1/2 tsp coriander pwd
• 1/2 tsp jeera pwd
• 2 heaped tbsp biryani masala (Everest or Badshah will do)
• salt as per taste
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 3 cups water
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp ghee (butter)- can add more.

Egg coating and frying:

• 5 eggs boiled
• 3 tbsp gram flour (besan)
• 1/4th tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli pwd
• pinch turmeric
• salt as per taste
• 3 tsp oil to fry

Preparation:

• Wash, rinse and soak the rice for 30 minutes, drain and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a wide mouth (nonstick) pan, add whole garam masala ingredients and saute lightly for a minute, add sliced onion and saute till light- med brown.
• Add cilantro, mint, green chillies saute for a couple of minutes, add ginger garlic paste and saute.
• On low heat add yogurt and mix properly, saute for a minute or so. It becomes like a thick paste. Add all the powders, saute quickly.
• Now add the rice and saute again for a couple of minutes with a light hand, we don't want to break the rice grains.  Add water, salt and bring it to a boil. Now close the lid, sim the gas and let it cook for about 12-15 minutes.
• Make a paste by adding everything together under Egg coating and frying by adding very little water. 
• Heat a pan and add oil, take your peeled boiled eggs, coat the paste on it and slowly slide in the pan, grill it from all sides cooking a minute or so on each side. 
• Now open the lid of your Biryani when it is about 8 minutes into cooking and place these eggs evenly on top of the rice and continue to cook till the rice is done. Drizzle ghee/butter generously over the pulao.
• Garnish with cilantro! Serve hot with raita, salad or some nice spicy thin red gravy.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* At home I serve ghee/butter on the plate individually based on everyone's liking. One can also add a little bit of saffron water on top to get that yellow color on grains along with flavor and aroma of course. The color of Biryani can look different based on how brown the onions are cooked and brand of biryani masala. You can also add fried onions as garnish.

Coated Egg fry adapted from vahrevah.com chef. 

Health Benefits: Eggs are high in protein content. Eggs contain all the essential amino acids in the right ratios, so our bodies are well equipped to make full use of the protein in them. It has choline content which is used to build cell membranes and has a role in producing signalling molecules in the brain, along with various other functions. It has cholesterol, yes, but new studies are coming up showing the content of cholesterol is not bad as it used to be 10 years back. Probably depends on how the hens are fed and taken care of. Choose organic version. In fact, eggs are highly fulfilling and tend to make you eat fewer calories, helping you to lose weight. Eat in proper proportion to enjoy the deliciousness and calorie intake of this biryani in order to avoid a guilt trip :)