Egg Dum Biriyani

What is that one pot dish that pops into your mind when i say these three words-rice,spices and chicken?Is it Biriyani?okay,so what comes now when i say-rice,spices and eggs?not a Biriyani?well,why not?As a matter of fact egg biriyani can be equally delicious and flavorsome like that of a chicken biriyani. Those who avoid chicken or any kind of meat this recipe can be a great substitute.This is not any kind of biriyani it's actually a dum biriyani.Now i can see a wrinkle forming on your forehead with the word "dum".Don't you worry it's not that complicated as it sounds.But one thing that you should note down is that while making this recipe you need to treat it like our own child by that i mean pour all your love and effort into this dish and you'll emerge as a winner.Let's go through the ingredients first.To make things simple i have divided the whole recipe into three parts-cooking the rice,cooking the egg curry and assembling the biriyani.

First part-cooking the rice
Ingredients Serves-2 people

• 1 and 1/2 cups of raw basmati rice(long grain rice)
• 3 pods of green cardamom
• 1 cinamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• At least 6 cups of water

Method

1. Take the rice wash it off properly.Boil it in a deep utensil with water,cardamom pods,bay leaf and cinnamon stick.I have mentioned the word "at-least" while mentioning the quantity of water because you can even add more but not less.As here the main agenda is to partially cook the rice you don't want the rice to soak up all the water and fluff up like it happens while making pulaos.Thus once you see your rice is 80-85% cooked i,e it's still a bit raw switch off the gas and drain the excess water from the rice and keep aside.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Second part-preparing the egg curry
For making the egg curry first the eggs are to be fried in spices.

Ingredients

• 4 hard boiled eggs cut into 2 pieces
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder
• 1/4th tsp of salt
• 1 -2 tbsp of oil

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan.Add in the spices and salt.Mix well.
2. Add in the eggs with the yolk side down in the pan.Cook till it gets light golden and flip over.Cook the other side same way.(The eggs splutter in hot oil.Be careful)(i have kept 2 pieces of eggs for garnishing)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Now it's time to prepare the curry.
Ingredients

• Fried egg pieces
• 1 1/2 medium sized onion sliced
• 1 tbsp of chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp of grated garlic
• 1/4th cup of yogurt
• 1 tbsp of red chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
• 3 green chilies chopped into big pieces
• Pinch of garam masala
• 2 tbsp of ghee or clarified butter
• salt to taste

Method

1. Place ghee in a kadhai.Once hot add in the jeera(cumin seeds).
   
2. Once it releases it's aroma add in the grated ginger and chopped garlic.Cook till the rawness of the garlic and ginger disappears.
   
3. Add in the sliced onions.Cook till it becomes translucent.
   
4. Add in the green chilies and spices.Mix very well.Cook for a while till the spices releases oil.
   
   
   
   
5. Pour in the yogurt.Keep the flame low or take it off the heat while you mix the yogurt.Else there remains a tendency that the yogurt might split.
   
6. Add in the salt and cook till everything gets combined and it forms a rich thick gravy.If you think the gravy is too dry you can add a little bit of water to dilute it.Ones the gravy starts to thicken add in the fried eggs.And stir gently without disturbing the shape of the eggs.At the end add in the garam masala and mix everything together.(i like my gravy a bit dry)
   

It's time to assemble the Biriyani now.

Ingredients

• Cooked rice
• 1 1/2 fried onions(take 1 and 1/2 large onions.Slice thinly and fry till golden brown)
• Egg curry
• Chopped mint and coriander leaves as needed
• Few saffron threads soaked in milk or yellow food color diluted in water
• Ghee or clarified butter as needed
• Salt to taste
• all purpouse flour dough to stick it around the rim of the kadhai.

Method

1.Take a deep kadhai.Add in half of the egg curry(this looks  less but it's enough)

2.On top of that add in half of the rice.Sprinkle chopped mint and coriander leaves.Spread a little salt(taste the curry first.Add in the salt accordingly.)Pour little ghee and sprinkle the saffron milk or diluted food color haphazardly so that half of the rice remains white and half of the rice gets stained with the yellow color.Repeat the process once again.

3.Throw in few drops of water on top for a bit of moisture.

4.Stick in the dough allover the rim of the kadhai.And press the lid on top so that  the steam does not escape.If there is any vent on the lid of the kadhai then place a bit of dough over the vent as well.

5.Place a heavy bottomed pan or tava on low flame.Add in some water.Once little ripples form in the water and it leaves steam add in the kadhai.What we are basically trying to do is create a double boiler so that the kadhai does not come in direct contact with the heat,Usually with dum biriyani people face a common problem is that the rice gets burned quickly.But here there are very less chances of the rice to burn.Make sure that the water on the tava does not dry out.

6.Keep it on dum for 20-25 minutes.(the time varies on certain elements like the intensity of the flame.So at times it might take a bit longer.Trial and errors will make you perfect eventually.)

7.Take it out of the heat.Your egg dum biriyani is ready.Serve it with your favourite raita and Eat it up!:)