Of where I’m leading to, hours of clarifications and a 30 minute Egg Biryani that shut me up.

Forgive me for in this post, I am going to rant. Since I don’t know where to begin, I will try and categorize it. I don’t know how many of you actually go through the descriptions and the couple of paragraphs I put up before I put my recipe, but nevertheless, here it is:

State of Blog:

I never knew that I would get so much recognition when I started this blog. I was elated beyond comparison when I received my first email from a restaurant to come by and review them and I ended up meeting some really amazing people who shared my love for food. Acquaintances became friends, and the bond grew much stronger. I interact with most of them on a daily basis now over Twitter. I love all that, but I have been getting so many more requests for food reviews and such that I have hardly been getting the time to cook. I feel like I am losing the plot. I am learning so many new things in the process but I am also hardly available to execute anything I learn in my own kitchen and I hate that. What is worse, I have been neglecting my health and have been missing my workouts for over a month now. I deleted the blogger cache off PicasaWeb to make some space and now over 30 posts do not have an image which means hunting into backlogs or re-making them from scratch. My mental red alert alarm is beeping and I think I should go find myself back. And soon. 

State of Mind:

I feel lost and confused these days. I have never been the kind of person who is absent minded and forgets stuff often but for the past couple of months I have forgotten so many things and made so many mistakes, be it in the kitchen or otherwise, that I am unhappy with myself, and that is another big reason why I am not feeling like getting into my kitchen either. I may have too much on my plate, and I need to organize my mind. And sooner. 

But sometimes when you don’t have to go out to dine and there is no food cooked at home, you have got to get into the kitchen and make something real quick. And then you eat it. And faith is restored and you know you will get your shit together. That is what this Egg Biryani is. 

The Biryani : Wash the Rice under running water twice. In a pressure cooker, heat up all but 2 tbsp of Oil on medium high and add in the Onions. Let them remain untouched for 3 minutes, then gently stir them but not too often. Fry till crisp and brown. Remove half and drain on paper towel and mix half of the chopped Coriander in it.

Add in the other half of the chopped coriander to the residual Oil and Onion mix in the pan followed by the Cinnamon and Cloves. The Coriander becomes nice and crisp and adds a new dimension of flavor. Add the washed and drained rice and give it all a good stir. 

Cooking the Biryani  (Pressure Cooker/ Normal Pan) : If cooking in a pressure cooker, add in 2 cups of Water and if on a normal pan on the stove top, add 3 1/4 Cups of Water. Stir well. Season with Salt. Cook for 2-3 whistles in the pressure cooker on medium high, or for 25 minutes on low heat tightly covered on a normal pan. Do not lift the lid in between. Once the lid is lifted, presence of little holes on the surface is an indication that the rice is cooked. 

The Eggs : How do you like your Eggs? A perfectly boiled egg is the one whose yolk circumference has not turned grey, is creamy and slightly wobbly. That is how I cooked my Eggs. It isn’t rocket science but if followed correctly, makes a world of difference. 

Fill up water in a pan just enough to almost cover the Eggs. Place Eggs and add a teaspoon of Salt. Let this come to a rolling boil and boil for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off, cover the pan and take it off the stove and let it sit for 5-7 minutes. Voila!

Peel and halve the Eggs and on a medium heat, fry them on both sides lightly with 2 tbsp Oil. Drain on paper towel and reserve.

Putting it together : Once the rice is all cooked, sprinkle with Garam Masala and mix it all up. Place the Eggs on top and garnish with the reserved Fried Onion and Coriander mix. Yum.