Friday, March 12, 2010

My very own recipe: Egg Biryani

I hate being clueless about what to cook so each night before I tuck in, I plan the next days' meal.

Last night I pondered hard and long but I couldn't come up with anything. I knew I needed to use up the 2 cartons of 15 eggs each before they expire.

I was over zealeous and had asked Alvin to stock up on my baking supplies so that I can bake whenever I want. Unfortunately the guilt caught up with me and I decided to stay clear of the fatty, sugary stuff which isn't just empty calories but also something that's gonna haunt me after my delivery.

I woke up this morning and started off with chopping the basic ingredients that are required by almost every Indian dish- onions, tomatoes, chillies and some Ginger & garlic paste. Corriander & mint leaves for garnishing

Lazy me is always thinking of cutting down on work these days- a one pot meal is what I need... Eggs, rice all in the same dish. Biryani! That's it I'll make egg biryani I decided.

When one thinks of Biryani, the things that immediately come to mind are- rich, mughalai, orangy tints, nuts& raisins, basmati and aromatic!






So to begin off with Aroma, I heated a little oil in a heavy bottomed pan, added cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Once the aroma filled the air, I added all the chopped veges and stirred ocassionally. I also added in some of my garnishings and some raisins. I didn't want to use water as the base for my gravy cuz it'll be too bland. I did think of milk but then it's too watery so I went ahead and added half a cup of yoghurt.

To spice things up, I added some garam masala, chilli powder and a little turmeric powder and salt. while this simmered, I took another pot, added water, cumin seeds and a little oil and put it to boil. I washed and drained the basmati rice and added it to the boiling water allowing it to cook till it was 3/4 done.

I then drained the rice and kept it aside.I oiled one of my Pyrex glass dishes, lined a layer of rice, added the sliced hard boiled eggs, topped it with a little gravy and repeated the process till all the gravy and rice was used up.

I covered they dish with aluminium foil and put it to bake in a preheated oven at 200 degs for 10 mins.

Remove, garnish and serve hot!
I didn't expect much from it... So long it was edible would have been good.



Alvin and I really loved the flavours. Very distinct. Not only was it light and fluffy, you could taste every component in it. The sweetness from the raisins, the tinge of sourness from the yoghurt, the fresh Mint and corriander. It was really delicious!

Alvin said and I quote " each time you try to create your own or modify another recipe instead of following it, the results are always much better!" now you know what keeps me experimenting ;) having someone appreciate your efforts and give constructive feedback.

This one was so spontaneous and it came out really yummy. It's going to my one pot meals favourites folder!

Anyway all I used were the Pyrex ware and 2 small pots. All the washing is done and my food is conveniently stored in the pyrexware which will be the only thing I have to wash before bed tonight hee!!!


-- Post From My iPhone