EASY EGG BIRYANI

There is one category of people around you..... though rare.... who have no fruitful contribution to the society as such.... they do not do anything the entire day but seems busy... without being busy.... take it from me... I fall in that category! What was  I / we doing the last four days? We had some friends at our place on the first day of CNY, we enjoyed to the fullest past midnight, thereafter I got tired and took some rest the entire Saturday morning. An ideal Saturday evening during CNY would have been to go out with the family for a mezze platter and kunefe accompanied by some Turkish tea as planned a week earlier but cancelled over a fight... why? The man at this home had holiday until today but he flew back again to the capital city of the neighbouring country yesterday evening... I am not a saint and could not keep my cool and had to fight... "Who is your interest there that you have to spent half of the week in that place?".... This was what I started with followed by a lot of drama.... with no one bothering at all. I turned to the son.... mumma wishes to go out with you on a lunch date tomorrow... hoping it may give the father a first degree burn at least.... but as I say, I stay with weird stuffs in the family.... the son has to say no to everything his mother wants him to do.... he supposedly finds it chivalric.

 Mumma travels back in time and misses those days when she took her soft, little toy for swimming / art / badminton classes..... this mother never thought of dumping her toy at home and go out and merry.... My neighbours back in Kolkata will agree 100 % to what I say... Weekday evenings S was with her son at home or at different clubs .... weekend evenings S was with her son @ 22, Camac Street until City Center 2 became our neighbour. Then I stepped into this island.... the father of the son felt I am abnormally attached to the son.... my attention needs to be diverted! The attention did not divert, mumma got more sad and craved for a girl child who might have been a friend to her by now and would not have given a deaf ear to whatever I say! Not all men are like mine... they do care for their lady I believe. Till my little brother got married, the entire Kolkata used to say... there you see a "didi's pet / mumma's boy".... Yes, I controlled my brother's life, he knows it well why I did so. The senior at this home is not jealous because my little brother is his dear too, only that my man thinks his son should not do mumma-mumma to that extent. In the process, I got lonelier as I just cannot party around with flocks of people ..... I love watching people doing it.... I love watching kids sing, dance, play and achieve... be it a boy or a girl! 

I will always fight and disagree with the senior over the son.... He thinks if the son does not love playing... he need not be forced.... if he loves sitting in front of the computer the entire day, let him be! I believe interests are to be grown in kids..... then we both agreed to disagree few decades back.... I do not mind cooking an EASY EGG BIRYANI for the husband on a Friday night. My brother and son may start searching for some meat pieces on the plate... haha. The brother gets to eat meat biryani too often .... courtesy the mother and her homemade biryani spice mixture. The son prefers an egg biryani than a "rui macher jhol bhaat".... 2nd of May is his boards examination starting and he wasted an entire evening watching a movie on Hitler yesterday... he will not get to eat meat for the next 2-3 days. With two Hitlers in the family, why he needs to watch a movie on him?.... His mumma does not want another girl to be terrorised in future! 

To top all of the tensions, there is one mother sitting there in Kolkata... She calls the daughter.... the daughter disconnects and calls back.... to hear what?... " T achey naki rey ashey pashey?" Is the son-in-law near you? If I say no, she starts .... "Bubun cheleke niye boro chinta amar.... lekha pora korena thik moto... kicchu shekhash na alada korey... sharadin ki korish? Ami koto dourechi chele niye... swimming club... cricket club..." If the son-in-law is not around, she has to pour in all her tensions concerning the grandson on her diabetic daughter with full knowledge of the fact that her daughter lives with two rebels who are impossible to manage. I have to stop her saying, "I may have 1/4th of your energy, but do you think I would not have run here and there for the son had he or the father listened to me a bit?.... Stop it and tell me what you cooked today... what new seeds you sowed, do not stay in the terrace for long"... who listens? The brother had sent me a lot of pictures of their terrace garden yesterday..... a death in the family did not stop our mother to nurture her passion...

The true biryani lovers may call this EASY EGG BIRYANI a cheat, I do not mind! Even the famous Bengali columnist Ranjan Bandhopadhay once told Biryani means only those done with mutton / lamb / beef.... rest are not. My chicken loving friends may get hurt, they should not.... neither it was told to hurt any religious sentiment.... let us take it light heartedly! We must accept that the fat from the red meat along with the spices gets the taste of what is called biryani... rest are all pulao... Just following the present trend, I also named it EASY EGG BIRYANI. Last week I came across a post of Debjanir Rannaghar where her husband asks her to drink poison before cooking a no garlic, no onion biryani.... Oh my God.... the entire day I could not stop giggling .... really enjoyed! Some blogs I do visit for the history of a dish, some for its nutritive values, some for excellent food photography, some for the skilfully written life stories revolving around the heirloom recipes.... they add pleasure to a lazy life and I learn few things without much of an effort. That is how education should be.... fun to learn! 

Take the example of Mrs. Funny Bones.... did you read her Sunday column yesterday at Times of India? Hahaha.... "maaza aa gaya".... it was such a fun to know what goes at my home also happens at a celebrity's home too.... I like her because she is a mom who drives her daughter and son to and fro from the school and tuition classes and do not spend the entire day in front of the mirror! .... In all probability she is not lying... she is just another mother! For some favourites, I cannot just take names... I respect some areas always and will! My readers... you will see influence of such people on me .... my mother's perhaps the most. The poor lady does like her son-in-law, she knows him for ages... he had been visiting our parental home for over 3 decades now.... just that she is a very self-restraint kind of a person who is not comfortable beyond a point. What did the daughter tell her family decades back? Do not expect the son-in-law to chaat and giggle and call you every other day and ask your whereabouts.... he will be there when you need him.... I did not have peace on our marriage day.... ask me why? On my marriage my quiet husband got sidelined, Smita Banerjee's moron husband got famous... why? My aunts and mother till date says... "Dibyendu amar maa key koto ador korlo... ki hashi-khushi chele".... Our mom is 70.... the grandmother is 90... the former is a mumma's daughter till date! 

The man of this house gets egg dishes regularly.... also a cheat biryani as this EASY EGG BIRYANI.... just because he had been my best friend once... now the closest one if not the best...  this space is not enough to write about him! Just one example.... after marriage, we went for the first time to our grandparent's home.... My grandmother had been famous for force feeding during her rule.... and it was royal. What she forgot was that there was a gap of few decades between her eldest son-in-law and my husband and more when it came to dealing with the elderlies. After a meal with prawn, hilsa, mutton and aar mach / cat fish may be... she was forcing my husband to have a bowl of warm milk boiled to half of the original amount for a thick layer of malai.... at 10:30 pm. My heartbeat multiplied anticipating the consequence.... Ultimately the unwanted situation could not be avoided.... the husband had to revolt and say... "gorur dudh manusher proyojoney lagey na... raatey to khaoai uchit na"... that cow milk is not required by humans and should not be consumed at night.... then he had to smoke in front of my grandfather too. He says he cannot pretend what he is not. 

Anyway, my side of the family does like him.... and the uncles did tell my mother something very precious at our father's funeral watching my man in action.... though the mother and grandmother still raves about one Dibyendu Banerjee who still spends sleepless night together with my man when they meet... oh yes, that makes me jealous! A friend is a friend is a friend... be it a boy or a girl! The man of this house had been a wonderful friend till date and an EASY EGG BIRYANI does happen on week day nights instead of the wife's favourite "dal o panchmeshali tarkari".... He already said, "feed mixed vegetables to your friends and readers and not us". The final stage of this quick egg biryani was made in the microwave... say the "dum" part... it saved some time... I did not use saffron / zafran either. The idea was to prepare a wholesome meal with few ingredients for my chopsticks. The husband loves raita alongside, both will not touch the salad... all for me and our Cristine. The miser me did not throw away the spices I boiled the rice with.... I made a paste of them and used it in the egg curry.

Come let us do an EASY EGG BIRYANI together.....  I did not click the steps, only these! 

I hope you will also be willing to have a look at the following recipes already there on the blog... Just click on the headings :

CABBAGE PULAO

MURG PULAO

MACH PULAO / FISH PULAO

INGREDIENTS : [for the making of rice]

Basmati Rice : 1coffee mug [fragrant, long grained rice]
Cinnamon Stick : 2-3 two inch sticks
Green Cardamom : 4
Cloves : 4-5
Caraway Seed : 1tsp
Mace : 2
Star Anise : 1
Salt : 1tbsp
Water : As Required

INGREDIENTS : [for the egg curry]
Egg : 6-7
Potato : 2 [washed, boiled, peeled and cut each into 4 pieces]
Onion Paste : 2tbsp
A paste made of the cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms, cloves, caraway seeds, mace, star anise that we used to prepare the rice.
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Garlic Paste : 1tbsp
Ginger Paste : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Oil : 2tbsp
Ghee : 2tsp

INGREDIENTS : [FINAL STAGE]
The Cooked Rice
The Cooked Egg Curry
Shredded Khoya : 1small cup[semi-solidified milk] [can skip]
Mint Leaf : 8-10 [chopped]

Coriander Leaf : 2 sprig [chopped]
Kewra or Rose water : 2-4 drops
Ghee : 1 medium sized tea cup [clarified butter]

METHOD :

Let us prepare the rice at first . Take enough water in a heavy bottomed vessel and bring to boil. Add salt as required.

Take a clean piece of cloth, place the cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms, cloves, mace, caraway seeds on it. Tie the cloth and drop in to the boiling water.

Once the water has boiled for 7-8 minutes, add the pre-cooked rice. Let it cook up to 60% done. Drain the water.

Prepare a paste of all the spices that are tied in the cloth. Marinate the boiled potatoes and eggs with salt.

Heat the oil in a wok.... half fry the potatoes, take out.

Add the onion paste and fry for 2 minutes. Add the ginger - garlic paste and fry for another 2 minutes.

Add the red chilli powder, green chilli paste, the spice paste, turmeric powder and salt to the wok. Fold in well and fry for 1 minute. Sprinkle some water if required.

Now add the potatoes, mix well and stir for a minute. Add the eggs and a small cup of water. Cover cook for 5 minutes. Add the ghee, fold in well.

Take a wok. Add 2-3 tbsp of ghee, on top of that place some rice and half of the eggs and potatoes with curry. Add 2tbsp ghee, chopped mint leaves, and some of the grated khoya. Repeat again, the top layer should be the rest of the rice, ghee, shredded khoya, chopped mint & coriander leaves, slitted green chillies and the rose water!

Cover it! Place a pan atop the gas burner & on top of it the wok, cook at low heat for  15-20 minutes!

We had it with salad and mint-yogurt raita!