Kerala Style Prawns & Shrimp Biryani -Chemmeen Biryani Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups Basmati rice soaked for 25-35 minutes
• 6 Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds
• 6 Cloves (Laung)
• 1 Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini)
• 1 teaspoon Coriander (Dhania) Leaves finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Mint Leaves (Pudina) finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons Ghee
• 3-4 tablespoons Lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 kg Prawns cleaned and deveined
• 1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1/2 tablespoon Red Chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns ground
• Salt to taste
• 3 Onions finely chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon Ginger paste
• 1/2 tablespoon Garlic paste
• 5 – 6 Green Chillies
• 2 – 3 Tomatoes finely chopped
• 1 Fresh coconut handful, grated
• 1 Coriander (Dhania) Leaves handful
• 1/4 cup Mint Leaves (Pudina) finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Curd (Dahi / Yogurt)
• 6 – 8 Cashew nuts soaked in 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
• Oil vegetable oil
• 1 Salt to taste
• 1 Cashew nuts handful
• 1 Sultana Raisins handful
• 1 Onion finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon Coriander (Dhania) Leaves finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Mint Leaves (Pudina) finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Mint Leaves (Pudina) finely chopped

Steps

1. Start making Kerala Style Prawns & Shrimp Biryani (Chemmeen Biryani Recipe) by mixing prawns with ingredients mentioned under marinating prawns, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Meanwhile you can prepare basmati rice for biryani.
2. Meanwhile, grind grated coconut and coriander leaves into a smooth paste.
3. Also grind soaked cashews and keep aside.
4. Heat oil in a Stir-fry pan and shallow fry marinated prawns and keep aside.
5. In the same pan, heat oil and add onions, 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste and green chillies, sauté till done.
6. Once the onions are soft, add chopped tomatoes and sauté till cooked.
7. Now add curd, ground paste of coconut-coriander and stir well.
8. Once it comes to boil and the raw smell disappears, add shallow fried prawns and cook on low flame and sauté for 5-6 minutes till the prawns are well-coated with masala.
9. Add the cashew paste and garam masala. Combine well and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes till the mixture thickens slightly. Switch off flame and allow the pan to cool.
10. While the prawn is getting marinated, drain all water from soaked basmati rice.
11. Meanwhile, heat ghee/oil in a pressure cooker and splutter cardamom, cloves and cinnamon till aromatic and add rice to fry for 5 minutes or until rice starts cracking.
12. Add the water, lemon juice, salt and leaves. Stir well. Cover the pressure cooker with lid without weight.
13. Cook on a high flame till a strong steam comes through. Turn the flame to a complete sim and cook for 5 minutes.
14. Switch off flame and leave to cook on residual heat of the stove for 30 minutes.
15. Once the rice is ready, fluff the rice with a fork or spread the rice on a tray & keep aside.
16. Heat ghee/oil in a pan and fry the cashews and raisins. Remove them from the pan and fry the onions till golden brown.
17. Drain any excess ghee on a paper towel.
18. Grease a thick bottomed Biryani pot/Stew pot with ghee.
19. Add a layer of the prawns masala as the bottom layer. Next add a layer of rice as the second layer. Repeat layers till the masala and rice is used up completely. The top most layer of the biriyani must be the rice. Drizzle a little ghee between each layer. Sprinkle coriander and mint leaves on top.
20. Cover with lid and cook for 15 to 20 minutes on lowest flame.
21. Once the biriyani is done, spread the garnish all over and cover again and keep closed for at least 15 minutes to cook in residual heat.
22. Preheat Ovenat 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.
23. Grease a baking dish with ghee and add layers and garnishing like mentioned above under stove top method.
24. Cover dish with aluminium foil or wet cloth and bake for 25-30 minutes.
25. Serve Chemmeen Biryani hot with papad andBurani Raita or Lauki Raita.