On a biriyani spree J

The mutton biriyani was such a hit that I was motivated to try the same with prawns. There was a time I wouldn't go for a biriyani dish, but once I started liking the various flavors associated with it, been known to consume a whole pack ;) I feel there is something about biriyanis that make you go back for it time and again. And I also had a yummy memory to chase. There used to be a restaurant, Coastal Junction in Bangalore – they served delicious prawns biriyani. It is one of the initial restaurants I had visited with my husband during our courtship period and we had liked that prawns biryani. And that memory lasted for obvious reasons.

So I wanted to try out prawns biriyani this time. A lot of ingredients used in the mutton biriyani recipe is used here too.

Here goes:

Recipe – this one serves 4 adults.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Prawns – 1 kg
Onion – 2 (medium sized, sliced), 1.5 – pureed (medium sized)
Green Chilli – 2
Garlic – 8-9 (pound it in a mortar n pestle)                                                                     
Ginger – a piece the size of 1/3rd of your index finger (pound it in a mortar n pestle)         
Tomato – 2
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Peppercorns – about a tsp.
Nutmeg powder – a pinch
Star Anise – 1 star
Clove – 10
Cinnamon – 6 pieces (each half of your thumb)
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Cardamom – 6
Coriander leaves – few sprigs
Mint leaves – few sprigs
Lemon juice – of 1 lemon
Curd – 1 tbsp
Oil – about 4-5 tsp
Water – 3.5 cups

Preparation

Wash the rice and soak it in water – water should be twice the amount of rice.

Clean and de-vein the prawns.

Tip: Keep the head of the prawns for making the stock later.

Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, pepper powder, nutmeg powder, curd to the cleaned prawns and marinate well.

Roasting the spice powder

In a thick bottom and deep pan, dry roast the star anise, 3 cinnamon pieces, 6 cloves, 4 cardamom and all of the fennel seeds. Grind it into a fine powder in a mixer, keep it aside.

Unlike the mutton biryani, there is no separate gravy that you can make for the prawns biryani. Prawns cooks really fast, as you know.

Preparing the stock

Add the prawns heads to 3.5 cups of boiling water. Add garlic, peppercorns, salt. You can pressure cook to get all the nutrition and taste blended well into the stock. If not, cook for about 15 min.

Biryani

Heat oil. Add the rest of the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Once it is well sizzled, add the sliced onion and some salt. Saute for a min and add the pureed onion.

Once the onion turns golden, add the pound garlic and ginger. As soon as the raw smell vanishes, add the green chilli. Saute well.

Add the roasted spice powder at this point, mix and sauté for a minute. Add the tomatoes and mix well till it becomes a little mushy and starts releasing oil.

Add prawns, the soaked rice and stock to this masala. Mix well. 

Tip: If you need a side gravy, you can use some of the water from this mix and bring it to a boil. 

Cook for 2 whistles.

Add the coriander leaves and mint leaves.

Garnishing note: A trial that lit up some great memories J