Simple Egg Biryani

These days it’s so tough to decide which day of the week it is and hence we miscalculated and were left with only ‘eggs’ in our kitchen pantry. And I was in no mood to have another and paratha or giant scramble or something of those sorts. Hence, a spicy, fragrant and fingerpicking egg biryani was a perfect solution !!!

Now as many of you might have noticed, all my biryani recipes are inspired more by Mughlai Cuisine, hence my Egg Biryani is no different and has abundance of Mughlai Flavors like cardamom, rose water, saffron, etc.

Ingredients

For Cooking the Rice:

• 2 Cups Basmati Rice
• 5 Cups Water – to make the rice
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 4 Cloves
• 2 Dry Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)

Other Biryani Ingredients:

• 4 Medium Red Onion – thinly sliced
• 4 Tbsp Oil – to fry onion
• 2 Tbsp Flour – for crisping biryani
• 1 Tbsp Ginger Paste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Paste
• 2 Tbsp Chopped Almonds – optional
• 1 Cup Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 10 Fresh Mint Leaves
• 4 Tbsp Olive Oil – to make masala
• 4 Tbsp Ghee
• 1 Tsp Rose Water – optional
• Few Strands of Saffron – optional
• 3 Tbsp Milk – to soak the saffron – optional

Whole Spices:

• 1 Cinnamon Stick – broken into 2-3 pieces
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 3 Black Cardamom
• 6 Green Cardamom
• 4 Cloves
• Pinch of Nutmeg

Powdered Spices:

• 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper Powder
• 1 Tbsp Coriander Powder
• 1 Tbsp Cumin Powder
• 2 Tbsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric – optional
• 1 Tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder – optional
• Salt – as per taste

Step by Steps

For Rice:

• Heat 5 cups water In a large pot.
• Once the water starts to boil, add rice, salt, bay leaf, and cloves.
• Stir everything snd let this simmer on low-medium heat for 17 minutes.
• Check rice after 17 minutes, it should have cooked 90% hence turn off the heat.
• Strain the rice of water and keep aside.

For Eggs:

• Place 6 eggs In a large bowl and sprinkle red chili powder, turmeric, and salt.
• Coat the eggs with the above spices and keep aside.
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a large non-stick pressure cooker (I’m using 7-liter pressure cooker).
• Add the eggs and saute for 2 minutes on low flames.
• Once the eggs start to blister and brown on each side, turn off the heat.
• Remove the eggs and keep aside.

For Fry Frying Onions:

• Place 6 eggs In a large bowl and sprinkle red chili powder, turmeric, and salt.
• Coat the eggs with the above spices and keep aside.
• In the same pressure cooker, add 3 tbsp oil and 4 tbsp of chopped onion mixture.
• Saute on low-medium flame till onion turns brownish pink and crisp up.
• Remove from the cooker and keep on paper towel/plate.
• Similarly, fry all the onions and keep aside.

Making the Egg Biryani Recipe:

• In the same pressure cooker, heat 3 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp ghee.
• Add all the crushed whole spices and saute for a minute.
• Add ginger + garlic paste, all powdered spices and saute on medium heat till they turn golden in color (about 2 minutes).
• Now add fried onions and saute.
• Add yogurt, water, and cover cook for another 2 minutes.
• Now add fried eggs and let everything simmer for 2 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
• Remove eggs separately in a bowl and remove the cooked masala in a separate bowl. (Leave the pressure cooker as is for further use).


Layer the Egg Biryani in Pressure Cooker:

• In the same pressure cooker, place 2 ladles of cooked rice, sprinkle 2tbsp of cooked masala, add 2 tbsp of fried onions, chopped cilantro+mint, 1 or 2 fried eggs and sprinkle color if using. (picture below)
• Layer 2 ladles of rice and follow the process above.
• Repeat the process till you reach the top of the dish.
• Now add remaining fried eggs, fried onion, masala and cilantro+mint, 2 tbsp ghee (all remaining ingredients).
• OPTIONAL: add rose water and saffron soaked in milk.
• Cover the pressure cooker and let cook for 2 minutes on medium flames.
• Turn off the heat and wait for 5 minutes.
• Fluff the biryani using a big fork (scoop and mix the rice and egg layers).
• The biryani is ready to serve now.


Serve Fresh with choice of pickle/curry/pappadam or yogurt dip.
You can even serve this with a simple cucumber-tomato salad.

Tips

Basmati Rice - you may use any other rice too.

Medium Red Onion - you can use white or yellow onion too.

Ghee - for sauteeing masala and drizzling on top.

Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - you may use any red chili powder

Rose Water - optional but gives a sweet-cool fragrance to the biryani.