Hyderabadi Egg Biryani with Kheera ka Raita(cucumber spiced in yogurt)

I love rice, in any form. Let it be a plate fried rice, pulao, biryani, kao pad or rasam rice; I love them all! This recipe is inspired from the vah chef-Sanjay Thumma's egg biryani recipe. I have made variations to suit my palate and believe me, it came out real great. I love being an "Eggitarian".

Ingredients:-

For the Rice:-
2 cups of basmati rice soaked in water for half hour.
1 1/2 medium sized red onions, very finely slit
4 green chillies slit
1 tbl spns of fresh ginger-garlic paste
1 medium sized tomato slit finely
1 tbl spns of garam masala
1 tsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of red chilli powder/ black pepper powder
1 tbl spn of lime juice
1 inch of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 cardamom (Seeds crushed)
1 star anise
2 cloves
2 tsp of shahi jeera/caraway seeds
2 javetri/mace
1/4 cup of curds/sour cream
1/4 cup of warm milk with a pinch of saffron -soak for half hour.
1/2 cup of mint leaves finely chopped
1/2 cup of coriander leaves finely chopped
1 stick of unsalted butter

If you would like to give your biryani a tinch of yellow color, you may add a pinch of turmeric powder. But I didn't add it to my rice as the turmeric dampens the whole garam masala flavor.

For Garnishing:-
2 stems of coriander leaves finely chopped (keep some aside for garnished)
10 broken cashews
1/4 of a medium sized onion slit very thin for deep frying
a pinch of saffron color mixed in water and kept aside.

1/2 a cup of oil to shallow fry the onions and eggs

For Eggs:-
4 eggs, hard boiled, shelled and slit into 2 pieces

Batter to coat the eggs:-
1 tlb spn of rice flour
2 tbl spns of besan/gram flour
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 tsp of jeera powder
2-3 coriander leaves finely chopped
salt to taste

Method:-

Make the eggs:-
Mix the ingredients meant for making the batter for eggs with water. The batter should be of pouring consistency.
Coat all the slit eggs evenly and shallow fry them till they become golden brown in low flame.
Remove and keep aside.

Make the rice:-
In a pan, heat the butter and let the moisture escape (let the crackling sound reduce). Keep the flame at medium heat.
Fry the cashews till golden brown and keep aside.
Add the jeera, star anise,cardamom,cinnamon and bay leaf.
Add the onions and fry well till golden brown.
Add the ginger garlic paste, green chillies, red chilli powder, coriander powder and the garam masala. Fry well.
Add the tomato and fry well till they become dry and cooked.
Add the curds/yogurt/sour cream and cook well for 5 minutes.
Drain the rice and add the rice with 3 cups of water along with the milk-saffron mixture.
Cook with lid closed. Bring the mixture to boil and when the water starts to evaporate, keep in sim (low flame) and cook till the rice is soft.
Once done, let it cook for 5 minutes. Do not mix or else the rice will break.

Decorate and Garnish:-
Sprinkle some saffron colored water randomly. Mix gently so that 1/8 of the rice look orange.
Pour the lime juice over the rice and mix gently.
Fry the onions meant for garnishing till they become crisp and light brown.
Garnish with the coriander leaves, onions,fried cashews and eggs.
You may just add a dollop of ghee before serving (optional but recommended).

Raita:-

Ingredients:-
1 cucumber pealed and grated
1 cup of curds/yogurt
1/8 tsp of red chilli powder (kashmiri lal mirch powder)
1/8 tsp of jeera powder
1/8 tsp of chaat masala
2-3 coriander leaves
salt to taste

Method:-
Whisk the curds well.
Add salt and grated cucumber and mix well.
Garnish with chilli powder, jeera powder, chaat powder and coriander leaves.
Mix well before serving.