PRAWN BIRYANI

Prawns  are a very delicious and easy to cook sea food. They are rich in proteins and omega 3 fatty acids which are very good for the body. This is a very simple recipe of biryani which is flavourful and delicious. Here Rice and Khurma are cooked separately and I have used a pressure cooker to create dum for the biryani.

Serves: 4
Ingredients

For the marinade
500 gms prawns cleaned and washed
½ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup curd

For the Biryani kurma
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion sliced
1 bay leaf
4 cardamoms
2 cinnamon
4 cloves
1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
1 ½ tbsp garlic paste
1 ½ tbsp ginger paste
4 green chillies
3 tomatoes pureed
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ lemons
½ cup curd
Coriander and mint leaves
3 cups water

For the rice
2 ½ cups long grain Basmati rice
1 tbsp salt

Method

Take prawns, curd, red chilli powder, and salt in a bowl and mix well. Make sure that it coats the prawns completely. Once done, set aside for ½ an hour.

Now heat oil in a pressure cooker and add bay leaf, cardamoms, cinnamons, cloves and the ¾th the quantity of sliced onions and sauté till the onions turn golden. Then add garlic paste, ginger paste and mix well. Next add red chilli powder, tomato puree and salt. Cook for a minute. Then add curd, coriander and mint leaves and the prawn mixture. Mix well. Finally add 3 cups of water and close the lid. Cook for 10 minutes or 3 whistles. Then open the lid and add the lemon juice and bring the gravy to a boil. The kurma is now ready.

While the kurma is cooking in the pressure cooker, take a large pan and fill water such that it fills 3/4th volume of the pan. Add salt and bring to a boil. When water starts boiling, add rice and cook till the rice is half cooked. (Be careful while adding rice to the water, as the water is very hot by now). Use a strainer to remove the water and set aside the rice in a large bowl. When the kurma is ready, add the rice to the kurma. (Do not mix) Top it with the remaining onions and green chillies. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook for 5 minutes. (This is an easier method to create dum for the biryani). Open the lid and mix well. Serve hot.