Prawn Biryani

This Prawn Biryani Recipe is courtsey our good friend Lavie. When I visited her one evening, she packed some for me and I really enjoyed it! It was awesome! Hence I got the recipe for prawn biryani from her. I have yet to try it out myself but I already know it will be good, so I am sharing it here.

Prawn Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 kg prawns

2 finely chopped onions

2 tomatoes finely chopped

2 tsp  ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/4  tsp turmeric pwder

1/4 tsp black peppercorns powder

1/4 tsp clove powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp cardamon powder

3/4 tsp red chillie powder
1/2 cup tamrind juice
2 cups rice

3 cups of water

2 maggie cubes

salt if required

1 inch cinnamon stick

6 cloves

1 green chilly
Coriander leaves

Fried onions

 

Method:

• Make a paste of ginger garlic, all the powders, tamarind juice and coriander leaves.
• In a vessel heat oil, add whole cinnamon and cardamom.
• When it crackles, add the tomatoes and onions.
• When transparent add the prawns and masala.
• Let it cook for a while, add rice and let it cook for a while.
• Add maggi cubes and water and let it cook on slow fire.
• Add more water if required.
• When rice is cooked, garnish with fried onions and serve with raita.
• You can also cook rice separately and the prawn curry separately.

Utapa Recipe

Uttapa is a South Indian breakfast dish which also goes well as a snack. Easy to make and you can make your own variations to the basic utapa recipe by adding grated veggies of your choice like carrots.

Utapa recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
½ cup urad
½ teaspoon methi seeds
1 onion chopped fine
1 tomato chopped fine
A pinch of salt
A pinch of turmeric powder
Some corriander leaves chopped fine
A little oil for frying.

Method:

• Wash and soak the rice, urad and methi seeds for about 5 hours.
• Drain and grind to a paste using minimum quantity of water.
• Keep overnight for fermentation.
• Add the salt, turmeric powder and veggies to the batter; add a little water if too thick.

Utapa batter with veggies

• Put a little oil on the skillet and spoon out some batter onto it.
• Cover and cook for some time. 
• Flip over and let cook on the other side.
• Serve plain or with green chutney of white chutney as you prefer.

How to make utapa

Prawn Pulao

Whenever my mother finds some recipes that appeal to her in the newspapers it is time for us to try them out. This prawn pulao recipe is from the Times of India (Goan edition). It's basically the same recipe but we just reduced the quantity of prawns they had mentioned. My sis made it and turned out really good!!

Prawn Pulao

Ingredients:

1½  cup rice

1 cup prawns, cleaned and deveined

2 tbspns ghee

5 bay leaves

2 white cardamoms

2 black cardamoms

6 cloves

1” stick of cinnamon

6 pepper corns

1 onion, sliced

½ tspn turmeric powder

1 tspn lemon juice

2 green chillies chopped fine

3½ tbspns coconut milk

Salt to taste

corriander leaves

1 tbspn grated coconut

Method:

• Soak rice for 20 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
• Heat ghee in thick bottomed pan.
• Add bay leaves, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and pepper corns.
• When it crackles add onion and fry till golden brown.
• Add 3 cups water, lemon, turmeric powder and green chillies.
• Bring to a boil.
• Add rice.
• After a minute, add prawns, coconut milk and salt.
• Stir, cover and cook on low flame for 20 minutes or till done

  

  How to make prawn pulao

  
  

• Remove bay leaves.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut and serve.

  

  Prawn pulao recipe

  
  

Arroz Refogado/Pulao

Arroz refogado better known as pulao is a rice preparation loved by most, especially kids. This is another of the Goan Recipes that we have inherited from the Portuguese influence in Goa.

Arroz Refogado

Ingredients:
250 gms fine basmati rice
1 onion chopped fine
1 tomato chopped fine
1 small box Chicken Maggi containing two cubes 
2" stick cinnamon
4 cloves
4 cardamoms
10-15 pepper corns
salt to taste
2 tbspns oil
550 ml water
salt to taste

Method:

• Wash the rice and set aside.
• Heat the oil and add the spices.
  
• Add the chopped onion and fry till transluscent.
  
• Add the chopped tomato and Maggi cubes and stir for a couple of minutes taking care that it doesn't stick to the bottom.
  
• Add the water and stir and add enough salt while stirring so that the broth is a bit saltier than a soup.
• Cover and bring to the boil.
• Add the washed rice.
• Cover and cook on simmer (the smallest flame) for about 20 mins; avoid opening in between to keep the steam from escaping.
• Should be done after 20 mins.; check and see. Once done, loosely run a big two pronged fork through the rice to separate the grains.
  
•  Garnish the arroz refogado with black and green olives.
• (You may substitute the water and Maggi cubes with chicken broth.)