This easy-to-follow dum egg biryani recipe features fragrant, fluffy long-grain basmati rice layered with a spiced egg masala gravy, golden fried crispy onions, a sprinkle of homemade biryani masala, and freshly chopped green herbs-all slow-cooked in a sealed pot to perfection. Whether paired with a cooling raita or enjoyed on its own, it turns even an ordinary day into a celebration. Perfect for lunch, dinner, or festive gatherings!
While egg pulao is our go-to on busy weeknights, this traditional, restaurant style layered anda biryani is more of a weekend indulgence. Don't get me wrong, I love quick and easy egg recipes but on days when I make this biryani, I choose to slow down and give it the attention it deserves.
Imagine lifting the lid off a pot of freshly made egg biryani. The unmistakable biryani aroma hits you first, warm and heady with warm & delicate spices and nuttiness of ghee. It's the kind of fragrance that instantly makes your stomach growl.
This recipe was shared with me by a dear friend. Her version was absolutely perfect. It was flavorful, comforting, and unforgettable. All I did was take her beautiful, intuitive way of cooking and carefully measure everything out in cups and teaspoons while trying my best to capture the magic of what we ate in her home.
My Recipe Testing Notes
- Similar to egg pulao, I use tomatoes in the egg masala, which is a deviation from the meat biryani I usually make. The reason for this is simple. Eggs are a relatively bland ingredient & we layer them with boiled rice. You really need solid flavors in the masala to keep the biryani from tasting flat. To achieve that, we're going to be a bit heavy-handed with the spices to give extra depth to the gravy.
- Get those hard-boiled eggs into the hot oil right from the beginning. Don't wait until the end. This step gives them a light golden coating and also allows them to soak up some of that spiced oil early on.
- During my trials, I also figured that adding them early also helps the eggs really become part of the gravy, rather than just sitting on top like an afterthought. The flavor gets into all those little nicks and cracks in the egg whites and makes each bite that much better.
- I do use yogurt because that is a non negotiable for me in any biryani base.It took a few trials to make sure that the egg masala doesn't get too tangy from both tomatoes and yogurt but I am happy with the results.
- We're not fans of too much heat in our biryani. Both of us grew up with Delhi-style or awadh-style biryani, which are more about being fragrant rather than fiery and spicy. I use my mild and aromatic homemade biryani masala, but if you prefer, you can always use any store-bought brand that suits your taste.
Ingredients
- Fried Onions- You could use homemade birista or store bought. South asian deep fried onions are usually just made with 2 ingredients (oil & onions).
- Yogurt - Should not be sour else your biryani will become tangy.
- Ginger - I like to add julinned ginger in my egg biryani. Replace it with ginger paste if you arent fan of biting into ginger, we dont mind it.
- Shah Jeera - North indian biryani recipes, due to influence of mughlai cuisine use royal cumin or shah jeera. It has a mild aromatic taste compared to woody taste of regular cumin. Instead of replacing with cumin seeds, I sugged adding ground cumin to the masala.
- Food color is optional. You may skip it.
Tips
- Always use aged long-grain basmati rice (non affiliate link) when making egg biryani, or any biryani, for that matter. The separate grains, the fluffy texture, and the buttery taste of aged rice are truly unmatched and makes all the difference in the final dish.
- Never use unsoaked rice. Soaked rice cooks to a tender, buttery texture and most, importantly, cooks evenly.
- If you have to have saffron in your biryanis, soak a few saffron threads in warm milk for 10 minutes. Drizzle on the top layer of rice while assembling.
How To Make Egg Biryani
Prep Work
It's not a complicated recipe to make, but with traditional dum biryani, it helps to plan your steps a little so everything comes together smoothly. It usually takes me about 1 to 1.5 hours, start to finish.
Here's my approach to making biryani without getting overwhelmed. I am including step by step pictures. Begin by soaking the basmati rice. Then, I set the eggs to boil (cue : my tips for perfect hard boiled eggs).
Heat oil for crispy deep fried onions. While the oil heats up, I slice the onions so they're ready to go in.Once the onions are fried and set aside, I start working on the egg masala.
Make The Egg Masala & Boil The Rice
The heart of this dish is the rich and flavorful egg masala which has quite a few similar ingredients to my punjabi egg curry but the taste is bit more intense. Hard-boiled eggs are simmered in a thick gravy made with fried onions, tomatoes, whole spices, and tangy yogurt. You can also add 1-2 potatoes(halved) if you prefer. Don't hold back on the spices because the bolder the masala, the more delicious the biryani.
Note - If you'd rather not use fried onions in the egg masala for any reason, simply brown fresh sliced onions in oil and then add the eggs. It won't have the same sweetness or depth as fried onions, but it still works well and keeps the dish flavorful.
About halfway through making the masala, I start boiling the soaked basmati rice. This timing is key as it ensures both the rice and the masala are hot and ready to layer at the same time. You never want to layer them cold.
Layer & Dum Cook The Biryani
To layer egg biryani, always use a heavy, wide pot with a lid. A wide base helps the rice stay fluffy and light. With deeper pots, there's a higher chance the rice gets packed in and the grains break when you scoop it out.
Start by spreading a layer of rice at the bottom, followed by a light sprinkle of biryani masala. Then add the egg masala, some chopped fresh mint and cilantro, ginger juliennes, fried onions, and green chilies. Repeat the layers if you like, or simply add all the rice over the egg masala in one go-both ways work. Just make sure the top layer is always rice.
Tip - Sprinkling biryani masala over the boiled rice is a little trick I picked up after making countless biryanis. It instantly flavors the rice, especially as it mixes with the ghee we drizzle over the top layer. Ghee + masala really brings everything together.
Once layered, the biryani goes on dum to cook low and slow, either in the oven or on the stovetop over indirect heat. This workflow keeps everything moving efficiently without downtime. Hop on to recipe card for super detailed instructions on how to cook this luscious egg biryani.
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with dum egg biryani:
Authentic Dum Egg Biryani Recipe(Anda Biryani)
Ingredients
For Making Egg Masala Gravy
- 4 tablespoon oil
- ¾ cup fried onion see recipe instructions on how much and at which stage to add fresh onions
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon ginger julienne
- 2-3 green chillies (sharp), slit but kept whole
- ½ cup hot water or as needed
Whole Spices for Egg Masala
- 1 large bay leaf
- 4 green cardamom
- 1 teaspoon shahi jeera caraway seeds
- 3 cloves
- ¼ piece star anise
- 1-2 twig mace
Ground Spices for Egg Masala
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
- 1.5 teaspoon red chili powder I use extra hot, please adjust quantity to taste
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1.5 tablespoon biryani masala powder use any brand you prefer
- ½ cup tomato sauce tomato puree
- ½ cup plain yogurt whisked, make sure yogurt is not sour or watery
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
To Boil Rice
- 6-8 cup water
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 inch cinnamom stick
- 4 green cardamom
- 400 g basmati rice I use extra long grain basmati rice
Biryani Assembly
- 2-3 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped, or as needed
- 2 tablespoon fresh mint chopped, or as needed
- 2 teaspoon biryani masala powder divided
- ½ cup fried onions divided, or as needed
- 2-3 green chillies
- 2-3 tablespoon ghee melted, or as needed
- food color
- 1-2 teaspoon kewra water
Instructions
Boil the Eggs & Soak Basmati Rice
- Rinse basmati rice 3-4 times or until water runs clear. Soak in excess water for 20-30 minutes. Depending on the quality of your rice, you may soak longer.
- Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
- Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer for 10-11 minutes. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes.
- Switch off the stove. Remove eggs using a sieve and place into the ice water bath for 3-5 minutes. This makes it easier to peel.
- Peel the eggs, and set aside. Optional: Prick the eggs lightly with a fork.
Make the Egg Masala
- In a wide, heavy-bottomed cooking pot, on medium flame, heat up the oil.
- Add all the whole spices- bay leaf, shah jeera, green cardamoms, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and mace. Let them sizzle for a few seconds.Note - If you are using 1.5 cup fresh sliced onions, add them at this stage and sauté on medium heat until golden brown. This can take 10-12 minutes - stir frequently for even browning.
- Lower the heat and place the eggs in the cooking pot. Sprinkle salt and saute the eggs in oil for 1-2 minutes until a very light golden coating or spots appear. There's no need to make the egg skins super cripsy.
- Then add the garlic paste, ginger julinnes and green chilli. Stir around and cook for 1-2 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
- Add the fried onions and sprinkle all the ground spices. Add ⅓ cup to ½ cup hot water and cook (bhuno) for 1-3 minutes till the raw smell of ground spices is gone. Once you see oil seperating on the sides of the pot,
- Once you see oil seperating on the sides, add the tomato sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes until the oil starts separating. Tomato sauce cooks down pretty quickly. Taste and adjust the salt in the
- Lower the heat and add whisked yogurt. Immediately start stirring and continue for 2 minutes until the yogurt is warmed through and forms part of the masala. This prevents yogurt from curdling.
- Cook everything on low flame for 3-4 minutes more until thick and well-blended. Add hot water if needed to adjust the consistency. Taste and adjust the salt. We don't want a runny gravy else your biryani will be soggy but we dont want super dense or thick masala either. Sprinkle chopped cilantro.
Cook the Rice
- In a large pot, add 6-8 cups of water. Add all the whole spices, lemon juice and oil. Bring to a rolling boil.
- Drain the soaked rice. Add soaked rice to the boiling water. One of the ways to check if rice is fully done is that the rice starts and boil until the rice is 90% cooked - firm but cooked when bitten.
- Drain immediately and spread the rice on a large plate to prevent overcooking.
Layer The Biryani
- In a heavy-bottomed biryani pot or Dutch oven, spread a layer of par cooked basmati rice (about half). Sprinkle a teaspoon of biryani masala powder over the rice.
- Spoon all of the egg masala with the eggs over the rice evenly.Add ginger julienne, chopped mit and cilantro and hanful of birista along with green chillies(optional)
- Top with the remaining rice. Again sprinkle biryani masala, fried onions, plus some more fresh herbs. Drizzle with melted ghee and kewra water. Dot the rice layer with drops of food color.
Dum Cook
- Cover the pot tightly with a lid. You can seal the edges with dough if your lid isn't heavy or tight-fitting.
- Place a tawa/griddle under the pot to avoid direct heat and create gentle dum.Place the biryani pot on very low heat for 20-25 minutes.Alternatively you may dum cook in a low oven(200F) for 30 minutes.
- Switch off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes before opening.
- Gently fluff the biryani with a flat spatula, making sure you don't break the eggs. Serve hot with cucumber or boondi raita, onion salad, and papad.
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