Celebrating a century with Chettinadu Egg Biryani – Egg Biryani South Indian Style

There are recipes for Biryani and then some!! Each one with their own ‘authentic’ one…passed on from generations….some secret…some not so much…..i wont make any such claims….this one is again the child of convenience…..dressed up a bit and mostly adaptations of the many “secret recipes” I have heard!! K loves what he calls “chettinad biryani / madras biryani / black biryani” depending on his mood….and this is a perfect one dish meal to fit this description……served hot with raitha…..earn yourself a lazy weekend and serve lunch / brunch fit for a party….

there’s no better way to celebrate my 100th post……thank you all for stopping by at Escapades…..for the friends i have made and the joy that blogging brings to me….Cheers!!

Serves 4

Time taken: 20 mins

6 hard boiled eggs, shelled

2 cups of finely sliced onions

4-5 green chillies, slit

1 cup diced ripe tomatoes

4 cloves, 3-4 one inch pieces cinnamon, 2-3 star anise, 2 bay leaves, 4-5 peppercorns, 3 green cardamom

2 T each mint and coriander leaves

1 t red chilli powder

1 heaped T coriander powder

½ t cumin powder

¼ t turmeric

Salt to taste

1 ½ t garam masala powder

1 T ginger garlic paste

1 c thick coconut milk

4 cups long grained rice, washed and drained

3 T oil

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil, add the cloves, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves, peppercorns, green cardamom and fry for a couple of seconds till they give out their aromas. Add the scliced onions and green chillies and fry till the onions are golden brown. Remove about 2 T of the fried onions and reserve for garnish. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell no longer remains. Add the coriander powder, chilli powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder, fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook till they begin to turn soft. add the rice and fry till well coated, mixing cautiously so as to not break the grains. Add 5 of the hard boiled eggs, coconut milk, and 4 cups of water, salt to taste, half the chopped mint and coriander leaves and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook under pressure for one whistle and turn it off. Wait for the pressure to release, open and gently mix the biryani. Serve it in a serving bowl/platter, slice the reserved boiled egg into rounds and garnish along with the reserved fried onion and mint and coriander leaves. Serve hot with raitha.