How to make Egg Dum Biryani | Egg Dum Biryani recipes | Step-by-Step Egg Dum Biryani recipe

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Biryani is a piece of art. There is something about biryani that we can never get enough of it. Egg Dum Biryani too holds a powerful place in the league of biryanis only using eggs in place of chicken or meat preparing it with all the common traditional spices. Egg Dum Biryani is a fragrant mix of spices such as Cinnamon, cardamoms, star anise, peppercorns, cloves, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, chilly powder, and biryani masala along with brown onions (Birista), curd/yogurt, saffron milk, rice, and boiled eggs.

Most people prefer to eat Biryani at restaurant or dhaba as they think cooking biryani is a challenge with so many steps and ingredients. While biryani might look like a tough dish to crack at home, it really isn’t that tough. It’s a love affair, which needs time and patience. In this recipe, I will share each and every detail of making perfect biryani at home with the step by step process and images.

Today, I am going to share with you my husband’s version of the quick and easy Egg Dum Biryani recipe that makes no compromises on taste whatsoever. He is from Lucknow, and he has tasted the world’s famous Mughlai biryani since his childhood. He said if you want a real taste of biryani then you should eat mutton or chicken biryani. But since I am Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian so he prepares Egg Biryani especially for me. I was flummoxed the first time I had Egg Dum Biryani made by my husband. As you take the first two spoon of this dish, the fragrance from the ghee, kewra essence, the richness of the spices coating the egg, the flavors of rice, the gloriousness of it all will hit you and before you know it, you will have finished five-six quick spoonfuls as though in a daze. Whenever I start eating, for the first 5 mins I don’t talk to anyone I forget everything else and simply sink in and start to savor the intricate flavors of the dish.

So here is our simple and easy take on one of the most delicious pressure cooker meals. This dish, which was once created in the royal kitchens, an extraordinary cuisine in the kings’ courts, can now be easily cooked and enjoyed at any your home.

You can serve aromatic Egg Dum Biryani with a bowl of vegetable raita, papad, or salan.

Do try other similar recipes :

Preparation Time: 10mins ∏ Cooking Time: 55mins ∏ Servings: 4-5 person

Level: Intermediate(Medium) ∏ Measurement: 1 Cup ≡ 250 ml ≡ 250gm

Ingredients Checklist:

For Cooking the Rice:

For Gravy:

4 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 bay leaf

1-inch cinnamon stick

3-4 green cardamom pods

2 black cardamom pod

3-4 cloves

3-4 black peppercorns

2 medium-size onion (thin slices)

2 medium-size onion (medium slices for Birista)

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger-garlic (+1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste)

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (medium size)

3/4 cup yogurt (curd)

2-3 tablespoon Kashmiri red chilly powder

1 tablespoon coriander powder

3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

2-3 tablespoon biryani masala

3-4 green chilies (slits)

Salt as per taste

For Marinating Eggs:

6-7 hard-boiled eggs

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

For Assembling:

2 teaspoon ghee

2 teaspoon milk (to soak the saffron)

8-10 strands of saffron (optional)

Few drops of kewra or rose water (optional)

2-3 teaspoon fried Onions(optional)

2 teaspoon mint leaves, roughly chopped

Coriander leaves-fistful (finely chopped)

6-7 cashew (Optional)

How to make Egg Dum Biryani:

Step1: Wash and soak rice in enough water for at least 20-25 mins.

Step2: While the rice is soaking hard boil the eggs. In a medium-size pan add water and 1/2 teaspoon salt, boil eggs for 12-14 mins.

Step3: While the eggs are getting boiled, we will prepare the birista and gravy. For Birista heat a large cooker on medium flame or instant pot, add 3 teaspoon oil and let it heat then add medium sliced onion and fry it for 6-8 mins. Don’t cover the pan at this time, we want to make this onion crispy. Saute until they turn golden brown. Turn off the flame and take out the fried onion and keep them on paper towel. Make sure to spread them on a big plate so that they get air from all sides. This will make them more crispy.

Step4: Soak 8-10 saffron strands 2 teaspoons warm milk. Keep it aside.

Step5: Once the eggs are boiled and cooled enough to handle, peel them. Using the toothpick or fork make few holes on the hard-boiled eggs. Then add turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilly powder, and salt. Coat them evenly with the spices and keep aside.

Step6: Heat the same pan on medium flame, add 1 teaspoon oil to the remaining oil and let it heat. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, and sauté the whole spices for few seconds or until fragrant.

Step7: Add sliced onions along with marinated eggs and sauté for 5-7 minutes on medium flame or until they turn golden in color. Additionally, you may fry the eggs separately. But frying them together with onion will save lot of time and the end result will be same.

Step8: While the eggs and onions are getting sauteed. Heat 5 cups water In a large pot. Once the water starts to boil, add salt, cumin, bay leaf, green and black cardamom, black peppercorn, cloves, 1 teaspoon ghee.

Step9: Once the eggs and onions are sauteed well and turned golden, then add 1 tbsp fresh crushed ginger-garlic along with ginger garlic paste and sauté over medium heat for 2 mins. For biryani, I always add the fresh grated/crushed ginger-garlic along with some store-bought ginger-garlic paste. You may use either or both of them.

Step10: Lower the flame and add turmeric powder, coriander, and chilly powder. (Don’t add salt at this time otherwise, the curd might get separate) Saute everything well.

Step11: Keep the flame low and add curd/yogurt and mix it well. Cook it for 4-5 mins till the oil gets separated. Cover and cook on low-medium flame. Keep stirring in between.

Step12: While the gravy is getting cooked meanwhile, we will cook the rice. Stir water and add soaked rice, let it boil on a medium-high flame for 5 minutes.

Step13: After 5-7 mins, It should have cooked about 80% hence turn off the heat (When we press the rice between fingers it should just be cooked al dente). Strain the water and keep aside.

Step14: Add green chilly, chopped tomatoes, salt as per taste, 2-3 teaspoon biryani masala, mix coating the eggs with the spices and cook for 2 mins till the tomatoes turn mushy.

Step15: Now we will layer the Egg Biryani. Add fried onion (birista), some fresh coriander and mint leaf, few cashews. (sprinkle color if using, its totally optional). Layer cooked rice evenly and follow the process again (add fried onion (birista), some fresh coriander and mint leaf, few cashews). Add 1/2 teaspoon ghee.

Step16: Add 2-3 drops of kewra essence and saffron milk. Cover the pressure cooker and let it sim for 10 minutes on low flame. Turn off the heat and wait for 5 minutes.

Step17: Egg Dum Biryani is ready. Serve it hot with vegetable raita and papad.

How to serve:
Now if you think it’s ready to eat then the answer is NO!! Hold on…Serving biryani needs talent its beauty, its masterpiece which took almost 1+ hr of cooking. So any rush may fade its beauty. Now hold your breath open the pot slowly and smell its fragrance of spices, rose water, desi ghee and saffron.

From one side of a pot start removing rice(carefully don’t break rice grains) and go to the deep and pick 2 eggs first and put in a plate->Now two serving spoon of spiced rice from middle layer right before eggs->Then finally last serving spoon of top layer that is white rice. Sprinkle some crispy onion(store bought) and papad, raita as sides. Enjoy!!

Tips:

Use extra-long grain basmati rice.
Biryani is all about timing, make sure rice is not overcooked, it should be 80% cooked when layering it.
Use firm tomatoes if using in this recipe.
Since we have added salt at different stages so keep checking the salt in between and adjust as per your taste.
For this recipe, I have used homemade deep-fried as well as store-bought fried onions, but you can simply use either or both of them.
I have used the variety of whole spices, However, you may skip if you do not have any.