Ingredients

1. Prawns - 450 gms

For marinade

2. Chilli powder – 2 tsp
3. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
4. Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
5. Salt - as per taste

For gravy

6. Oil/Ghee – 1/2 to 3/4 cup
7. Onion (big) – 3
8. Tomato (big) – 2
9. Ginger and garlic paste – 2 tbsp
10. Cloves – 6
11. Green cardamom – 5
12. Star anise- 2
13. Black cardamom – 2
14. Cinnamon stick (3 inch) – 1
15. Black cumin seeds – 1 tsp
16. Chilli powder – 3 tsp
17. Green chillies (slit) – 6
18. Curd – 3/4 cup
19. Water – 1/4 cup
20. Mint leaves – 1 1/2 cup
21. Coriander leaves – 1 cup
22. Dill leaves – 1/2 cup or handful
23. Alu bukhara (dried prunes) - 13
24. Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

For rice cooking

25. Rice – 2 cups
26. Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
27. Black cardamom – 1
28. Green cardamom – 4
29. Cinnamon stick (2 inch) – 1
30. Water - as required
31. Salt - as per taste

For layering

32. Biryani colour – a pinch
33. Fried onions – 1/4 cup
34. Ghee – 3 tbsp
35. Mint leaves – 1/2 cup or a handful
36. Coriander leaves – 1/2 cup or a handful
37. Dill leaves – 1/4 cup
38. Lemon juice – 3 to 4 tbsp

Method

Marinate

1. Take a bowl, add prawns, chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt, mix well, refrigerate for 3hrs to midnight.

Making gravy

1. Take a big utensil add 3tbsp oil, when it gets hot add marinated prawns and cook for 2 to 3min on high heat.
2. It starts leaving liquid, cook till it is almost cooked, remove it with its liquid in a separate plate, and keep it aside.
3. In the same vessel, add remaining oil, when hot, add onions, cook till it is soft and brown, it will take 10-12min, can close the lid and cook it.
4. When the onions are cooked well, take 1/4th cup onions and keep it aside for layering.
5. Now add whole spices, ginger and garlic paste, stir it for 2mins.
6. Add tomatoes and cook for 5minutes. In between stir it well. Add the mint, dill leaves (soya leaves) and coriander leaves, stir for a minute.
7. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, alu bhukara, stir well, sauté for 3 to 4min.
8. Add green chillies, water, and curd and mix it, can see that colour changes to light colour.
9. Add all liquid of the prawns but not the prawns, so that the liquid gives good flavour of prawns in the curry (gravy).
10. As soon as curd is added, mix it soon so that it will not cuddle.
11. Close the lid and cook for 15min, stir in between, till the gravy consistency is formed.
12. Simmer for 10min, closing the lid, cook till oil is separated from the gravy.
13. The colour of the gravy changes from light colour to dark reddish colour.
14. It has to be cooked well. If gets dry can add little more water.
15. The gravy should be enough to coat to the rice.
16. In meanwhile you can cook the rice or can cook it in advance also.

Cooking rice

1. Cook the rice with whole spices with required amount of water.
2. While boiling the rice add other ingredients and boil, when it is 3/4th cooked, strain it and keep it aside.
3. Can rinse in cold water if you want and then keep it aside, to avoid sticking of rice.
4. While boiling do not stir it often, the grain can break.
5. When cooked can see that rice grain becomes longer.
6. I always cook the rice when the gravy is simmering, so that I can add directly on the gravy.

Layering

1. When the gravy is ready and cooked well, and almost rice is also ready, can add the prawns at this stage.
2. Add the prawns to the gravy, mix well, and check the salt.
3. As soon as the rice is cooked, can add this directly on the gravy, spread the rice evenly.
4. Now layer it with fried onions evenly at all places.
5. Sprinkle colour, mint, dill leaves and coriander leaves evenly.
6. Pour lemon juice and ghee on the rice evenly.
7. Close the lid tightly and cook it on simmer for 20-25min or till your rice is cooked.
8. Can keep any heavy weight on the lid so that steam does not escape.
9. If your bottom of the utensil is thick the rice will not burn. But if you want to avoid can keep a thick pan or tava below the utensil and can cook the rice on simmer.
10. After that you can switch it off and let it rest for sometime 10 to 15min or can serve immediately.

Mixing the rice and gravy

1. When it is cooked, you need to be careful while mixing, mix it from the down part.
2. Take the Biryani out with a wider spoon, mixing slowly from one side only.
3. Mix it from downwards, from sides, so that gravy and rice is mixed well.
4. Serve it on a plate.
5. As soon as you open the lid you can see that full flavour and aroma comes from the Biryani.
6. This Biryani is medium spicy and tastes good also, goes well with any raitha, Brinjal curry or any curry you want.

Raitha

1. Chop 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 green chilli, salt and required amount of curd. Mix well.

Notes

1. You can reduce the chillies, if you do not eat spicy food or your chillies are very hot.
2. Rice should be ¾ th only cooked, the grain, might have become longer than its usual size, but when pressed in thumb, not cooked fully.
3. While cooking the rice can add few drops of oil or vinegar also, while draining wash it under cold water to keep the rice grain separate.
4. The gravy quantity should be such that, it should be enough for the rice, when you mix it.
5. Can add oil as per your requirement, but the onion has to be roasted in oil or ghee well.
6. Carefully add salt for the gravy and rice also. Divide the salt quantity and put, it will be easy for you.
7. Whenever I grind 300gms ginger and 300gm garlic paste, I have grounded with whole spice. View my ginger and garlic paste recipe.
8. Always whenever Biryani is cooked equal amount of prawns and rice is taken, or 1kg prawns for 500gm rice.
9. In this Biryani you can do layering , then take out some prawns with gravy and keep it aside, first put gravy with prawns, then rice ,then few fried onions, then again gravy with prawns, then all remaining rice and other ingredients for layering and then you can simmer and cook it.
10. When rice is added to the gravy, at that point you can mix rice with gravy, as it is not fully cooked, just partly, it’s your wish.
11. I always add good quantity of mint and coriander leaves, in Biryani it is a must, 1cup means a good handful of mint, you can see in the pictures also.