Malabar Prawn Shrimp Biryani
Malabar Prawn Shrimp Biryani is a very popular dish from Kozhikode or Malabar with prawn and layered rice based on Malabar Indian cuisine
Servings: 12
Calories: 259kcal
Ingredients
For Rice
- 4 cups Rice Basmati or Kaima
- 4 tsp ghee or Clarified Butter
- 4 tsp oil
- 5-6 cloves
- 3-4 cinnamon (small pieces)
- 2 bay leaves
- 5-6 cardamoms
- ½ onion diced
- 1 tsp salt per taste
- 5 cups Water
For Shrimp/Prawn marination
- 1 packet shrimp fresh or frozen thawed (25-30)
- 2 tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp salt to taste
- 2-3 curry leaves
For Masala
- 3-4 tbsp Oil
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 1 cup Onion sliced
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup tomato
- 5-6 green chilies chopped
- ½ cup mint leaves finely chopped
- ¼ cup coriander leaves
- ¼ cup curd
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp biryani masala or garam masala
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp fennel powder
For Garnish and Layering
- 2 onion cut into long thin stripes
- 10 cashews
- 10 raisins
- 5 tbsp ghee for frying
- 1 sprig mint
- 1 cup coriander leaves chopped
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3-4 saffron few strands
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2-3 tbsp oil
Instructions
Shrimp(Prawn) Marination
- De-vein and clean the prawn with salt and water .
- Marinate it with the ingredients in the "For Shrimp/Prawn marination" section for about 15 to 20 mins
Rice Preparation and garnishes
- Wash the rice, drain and keep aside
- Heat a thick bottomed pan , add the ghee and oil
- Add the thin sliced onions and fry until crisp golden brown
- Add the cashews and raisins ,brown it as well
- The thin fried onions, cashews and raisins will be used for garnishing.
- In the remaining ghee and oil, add the spices under the "For rice" section
- Next add the diced onions and sautée
- After 2 mins add the washed rice
- Fry for about 5 to 7 mins until the rice turns opaque
- Add the salt and water and cook until done in a rice cooker
- Wait for the steam to be released and rice to be cooled.
- Soak the saffron in the milk and keep aside
Shrimp gravy Preparation
- Pour ghee and oil in a large deep bottomed pan and fry the shrimp for about 5 minutes.
- Drain and keep aside.
- Add a little more oil and ghee
- Add ginger garlic paste,green chillies and tomatoes and keep frying till it is mushy.
- Add chopped mint and coriander leaves
- Add dry spices red chilly powder, turmeric, pepper, fennel powder and garam masala ,sautée for another 5 mins
- Add curd and lemon juice and stir continuously
- Add ⅓ of the fried onions kept aside for garnish
- There should be a nice gravy by now
- Add the fried shrimp and mix well
- Add some chopped coriander leaves and squeeze a little lemon.
Layering biryani and garnishing
- Next process is layering of the biryani, transfer the cooked rice into a big bowl and garnish with fried onions,cashews ,raisins,chopped mint and coriander leaves
- Then add a layer of the shrimp gravy and repeat layering with rice, shrimp and again layer with garnish onions , nuts ,raisins, mint and coriander leaves.
- Gently mix and fluff so the gravy is evenly mixed into the rice.
- Squeeze half a lemon if you like (optional)
- .Finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves, and the remaining garnishes.
- Add ghee, saffron soaked milk and sprinkle some garam masala on top of the rice.
- Cover with a tight lid and keep on the lowest heat for about 20 minutes
- Open the lid, fluff up the rice and biryani is now ready to be served.
- Accompaniments that are usually served with this dish are fritters (pappad), yogurt salad .Enjoy :)
Video
Notes
- Start with the rice preparation so that by the time the Shrimp gravy is done, you can start the biryani layering process.
- To get crisp and brown onions, slice them thin and long and add a little salt so it cooks faster.
- Fennel powder is a key spice ingredient in this biryani and so is the garam masala.
- You can use either Basmati rice or JeeragaSamba (Kaima) rice for this dish.
Nutrition
Serving: 100g | Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 855mg | Potassium: 149mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 317IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
