Serves: 4
1) PREPARE EGG MASALA
Ingredients
6 eggs, boiled, cooled, shelled, cut in half, yolk removed and set aside
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
4 cardamoms
2 dried bay leaves
3 tablespoons ghee
Handful cashew nuts
Handful raisins
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
In a small fry pan over medium heat, heat ghee and saute whole spices for a couple of minutes.
Then add onions and cook onions until they caramelize, this may take about 20 minutes.
Add nuts and saute for a couple of minutes and set aside.
Add curry powder, salt and garam masala, mix and saute for another couple of minutes. Set aside.
Remove this onion masala mix in a bowl and set aside.
Now add one more tablespoon of ghee and saute eggs (only whites) for ab out 5-7 minutes, until slight brown on the exterior. Remove and set aside.
Mix eggs with the onion masala but do not break eggs.
Meanwhile, prepare basmati rice.
Ingredients
1.5 cups white basmati rice
2 teaspoons salt
In a pasta pot on high heat, boil 10 cups water. Bring to a rapid boil. Add rice and salt and cook until rice is 3/4th done, drain water just as you would do with pasta, set aside. Cooking rice in boiling water will take about 10 minutes to get 3/4th done.
Layer Ingredients:
1 cup full fat plain yogurt, whisked
4 teaspoons rose water (from the Indian store)
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk
1 tablespoon paprika powder
Salt
Egg yolks, crumbled
1/2 cup Khoya or milk solids (from the Indian store)
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions:
Over medium low heat in a 5 qt wide pot, spread 1/3rd of the onion mixture. Add 2 tablespoons yogurt and 1/4th of each of the Layer Ingredients from the above mentioned ingredients list.
Then add 1/3rd of the rice along with 1/3rd of the eggs and layer. Repeat the same process and continue layering.
Finally, garnish with cilantro.
NOW COMES THE MOST IMPORTANT PART:
Take 1 small piece of charcoal and heat it on gas stove for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place a small piece of aluminum foil on top of the biryani being cooked.
Using a pair of tongs place it in the biryani pot on the aluminum foil. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of ghee and the moment it starts fuming, cover the pot with the lid.
Let the lid be on the pot until all rice is being cooked over low heat. This will give the required smoky flavor to the biryani.
When the rice is done (in about 30 minutes on low heat), discard charcoal piece and aluminum foil.
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