Prawn Biryani Pulao or Pilaf Rice Made Easy
Jhinga Biryani, A Quick Recipe
Mamta Gupta
Biryani is traditionally quite a rich dish, a full meal in itself. It has quite a complicated procedure, if you want o make it the traditional way. In this recipe, I have made it with very simply and easily, without much fuss. Biryani originates from the kitchens of Nawabs and Mogul Emperors. It is often served with a chilli dish called Mirchi Ka Salan.
Serves 2
Edited December 2022
Ingredients
For boiling the rice
200 (100 gm per person) or 2 rice cups Basmati rice
A few fresh mint leaves (If you don't have any, use dry ones)
1 tsp. ghee/clarified butter
3-4 green cardamoms, cracked open a little
A pan of water (about 2 litres-surplus will be drained off))
1 tsp. salt
For marinating the prawns
10-15 or more large, raw (uncooked) prawns, peeled with tails left on
2 tsp. of any good seafood biryani mix of choice*
1-2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
Juice and rind of 1/2 a lemon
A handful of frozen mixed vegetable like peas, carrots, corn etc.
For putting the Biryani together
2 average sized onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp. oil/ghee
6-7 strands of saffron, soaked in a couple of tsp. warm water
1 tbsp. ghee or clarified butter
*if don’t have it, any good quality seafood/fish curry mix will be fine too. Or add appropriate amount of spices of your choice; like chilli & coriander powder, garam masala, cumin powder.
Instructions
Measure and prepare everything in advance, this will make the recipe easier to follow.
Wash rice in running tap water and soak in cold water for 10 minutes.
Marinate the prawns with spice mix, crushed/grated garlic and lemon juice in a bowl. Mix well and keep aside.
Bring the water for the rice to boil, along with cardamoms, mint leaves and ghee. Add rice and boil briskly until 2/3rd cooked. When a couple of grains of rice are squashed between forefinger and thumb, you can feel 2-3 tiny grains.
Drain in a colander, run cold water over it to stop it from cooking further. Keep aside.
Fry the 2 sliced onions in 2 tbsp. of oil/ghee, until quite brown. Lift out the onions with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
Cooking prawns: place 1/3rd of the previously fried onions in a hot pan. Add marinated prawns and fry for 3-5 minutes, just until they turn orange. Do not overcook prawns, or they will get tough. Keep aside.
Putting the Biryani together:
Take a suitable sized, oven proof bowl and smear its base and sides with a little ghee.
Place 1/2 of the rice at its base.
Sprinkle half of the soaked saffron and a little of its water on top of the rice.
Sprinkle 1/2of the fried onions over the rice.
Spread cooked prawn mix over it evenly.
Spread the second 1/2 of the rice evenly over it.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 of the soaked saffron and the water on top of the rice.
Sprinkle remaining 1/2 of the fried onions on top.
Cover with an aluminium foil and then a tight fitting lid. You can keep it in the fridge this way, until an hour before you are ready to eat.
Heat oven to oven at 200 C or 10C Fan oven. Place rice in the oven and cook for for 20 minutes, or until rice is steaming hot. You can cook it in a microwave oven for 5-6 minutes, but do not use aluminium foil if you do this. Traditionally, the lid was sealed with dough. It was then cooked on a low charcoal fire, with a few dying coals on the top of the lid (Dum).
You can serve it directly from the oven still in the ovenproof dish that you have cooked it for the final stage. Alternatively, you can take it out on a rice platter. If you plan to serve it in a platter, save some of the fried onions from before and sprinkle them on top now as a garnish.
Serve hot with serve with pickles of choice, yoghurt, grilled Papars/popadoms and Raita of choice. Pickles of choice. Mirchi ka saalan can also also served with this dish.
