Another one-pot meal that you can feed an entire village, this egg pulao is so good! Fried boiled eggs in beautifully fragrant and seperated long grains of rice makes a grand meal in itself. All you need with this is some raita and salad, and you can gorge on an amazing weekend meal with your friends or family.
The beauty of this egg pulao lies in its simplicity. But there are some techniques to be followed to get the perfectly boiled eggs and the perfectly fluffy rice, each one seperate from the other. Don’t get hassled! It’s not as hard as you might think it is. I am here to help!
Making the perfectly fluffy rice
-
Soaking
For this pulao, find yourself the best quality long grained basmati rice. Wash the rice thoroughly with water till its clear. Next, soak it for exactly 30 minutes in room temperature water. After that, strain the water and keep the rice as dry as possible. I used a sieve to release the water and keep it undisturbed. Do not soak for more than 30 minutes as the rice will become too wet and will cook very fast, and end up sticking to each other. Soaking for longer duration might also break the rice. Soaking is an essential pre-requisite to get the perfectly fluffy rice that you see in this egg pulao.
-
Correct water quantities
Next is the perfect amount of water for the rice to cook. I have added the exact measurements for this recipe, but the usual and easy rule to follow is – For every cup of rice that you use, use half cup more water than that. For example, if you use 1 cup of rice, use 1.5 cups of water. If you use 2 cups of rice, use 2.5 cups of water. And the water should always be hot if you’re making the rice in a pot. Otherwise, the temperature difference might ruin the rice. This rule applies only if you soak the rice for 30 minutes before cooking it.
-
Low flame and rest
Lastly, perfectly fluffy rice is always cooked in low flame. If you’re making rice in a pot, make sure you cover and cook it in the lowest flame possible. And once its done, do not serve immediately. Turn off the gas and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes. This will give the perfect edge to the rice and make it bloom to its best ability.
Ingredients in this egg pulao
This egg pulao has regular Indian pantry ingredients. This recipe does not use any tomatoes. The texture comes from lots of onions, which is patiently cooked with spices and aromatics, along with thick coconut milk. You can also replace the coconut milk with curd, but coconut milk adds extra flavour to the final egg pulao.
For best results, make sure you use fresh masalas. This egg pulao uses cumin powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder, coriander powder and garam masala. I prepare all my masalas at home. Just get the seeds, roast them, grind them and store in air tight containers. The taste and flavour of recipes from fresh ingredients can never match those that are bought with store bought masalas.
In aromatics, there is fresh ginger-garlic paste. I always prepare it fresh. If you can make your own paste, it will add extra flavour to the egg pulao.
Note down the recipe. I promise it won’t disappoint!
| Prep Time | 40 minutes |
| Cook Time | 40 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 7 eggs
- Salt to taste
- 3 grams turmeric powder
- 3 grams red chilli powder
- 30 ml mustard oil
- 380 grams basmati rice
- 800 ml water to soak the rice
- 30 ml mustard oil
- 60 ml ghee
- 2 dried red chillies
- 2 bay leaves
- Mace
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamoms
- 5 cloves
- 15 cashews roughly crushed
- 12-15 raisins soaked in water for 30 minutes
- 280 grams thinly sliced onions
- 8 grams sugar
- 20 grams ginger-garlic paste
- Salt to taste
- 10 grams cumin powder
- 8 grams black pepper powder
- 8 grams coriander powder
- 8 grams turmeric powder
- 100 ml hot water for the onions
- 100 ml thick coconut milk
- 450 ml hot water
- 4 grams garam masala
- Fresh coriander finely chopped
- 4 slit green chillies
Ingredients
Eggs
Rice
Pulao
|
|
- Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Boil the eggs in salted water for 8 minutes. Once they cool down, marinate with salt, turmeric powder and Kashmiri red chili powder.
- Boil the eggs in salted water for 8 minutes. Once they cool down, marinate with salt, turmeric powder and Kashmiri red chili powder.
- Heat mustard oil in a pan. Once it's hot, Fry the marinated eggs till they are slightly crispy and golden brown from all sides.
- Heat mustard oil and ghee in a pot or wide skillet. Temper with bay leaves, dried red chilies, bay leaves, mace, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves. Stir for a second.
- Add the cashews and raisins and stir for a few seconds.
- Add the sliced onions and stir till they turn golden brown and transluscent.
- Add some sugar to help the onions caramelise faster.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw aroma disappears.
- Season with salt, turmeric, cumin, black pepper and coriander powder. Mix well.
- Add 100 ml hot water to prevent the masala from sticking. Mix well.
- Add the coconut milk and mix well.
- Cover and cook on low flame till the onions melt and form a beautiful caramelisation.
- Add the soaked rice and gently mix with the onion and masalas.
- Add 450 ml hot water. Cover and let it cook for 15 minutes on the lowest flame possible.
- Take the lid off and check the rice. Turn the gas off and let it rest covered for another ten minutes.
- Serve hot with raita and salad.
