Hyderabadi Egg Biryani

Hyderabadi Egg Biryani is a popular non-vegetarian Indian dish, famous in Hyderabad as one-dish meal. The dish is made with basmati rice and boiled eggs with a delish blend of spices. It has amazing flavors.

Ingredients:

• Oil – 1tbsp
• Bay leaf – ½
• Cinnamon – 1 thin piece
• Cloves – 3
• Cardamom pods -2
• Tomato - 1, small, chopped
• Yogurt – 2 tbsp
• Basmati Rice – 3 cups
• Biryani Masala – 1 tbsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

For garnish:

• Saffron – ½ tsp dissolved in ½ cup warm milk
• Ghee – 2 tbsp
• Mint – 2 tbsp finely chopped (to garnish)

For the Egg masala:

• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
• Besan flour- 2 tbsp
• Salt – 2 tsp
• Boiled eggs - 4
• Onions – 2 small onions, ½ cup, sliced thinly
• Cashewnuts – 6
• Oil – to fry (3 - 4 tbsp)

For rice masala:

• Cashew nuts – 6
• Khus khus (white poppy seeds) – ½ tbsp.
• Cumin seeds/ jeera – ½ tbsp
• Fennel seeds – ½ tbsp.
• Coconut – 2 tbsp
• Garlic – 4 pods
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Green chilli – 4
• Mint – ½ cup, chopped finely
• Coriander leaves – ½ cup, chopped finely.

Method:

• Wash and soak rice for at least 30 -40 minutes.
• Heat a pan with oil, add the sliced onions and cook in medium heat till turn golden brown. Add cashews in the end and fry too. Stir in the middle so that it does not stick to the bottom. Set aside.
• Mix all the ingredients under “Egg masala” with little water and add the Eggs. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of butter. Now add the marinated eggs and coat till the eggs gets golden brown.
• Grind the garlic, ginger, mint, coriander, cashews, coconut (optional), poppy seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, chillis with two tbsp. of water into a smooth paste.
• Now take a big pan, add oil or ghee in medium heat, add the spices (cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves), and then add the tomatoes and grinded paste and sauté them till the tomatoes are not raw and little mushy.
• Now add the yogurt, chilli powder, biryani powder and mix well. I always move the skillet away from the heat when adding yogurt which prevents it from curdling.
• Now after returning the skillet back to the stove, add the rice and salt and water. (Quantity of water to be added is for one cup of rice, it is 1.5 cups of water). Mix well and close the lid tight and keep it in medium heat for 10 minutes.
• Now add the marinated eggs, fried onions and chopped mint for garnish and keep it in low for 5 minutes.
• Drizzle the saffron and milk over the rice and Switch off, and keep it closed for another 5 minutes. They will help the eggs get the masala flavors from rice and vice versa.

Notes: You can skip coconut while grinding and add coconut instead of water while boiling.