Simple prawn pulao recipe - made on tawa with basic ingredients. It can be served with onion, carrot and cucumber slices.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rice
  • 200 grams prawns ((any variety))
  • 1 onion (medium, sliced thinly)
  • 1 tsp ginger garlic paste (or 2 garlic cloves minced)
  • 1 Handful mint leaves (/ pudina finely chopped)
  • 1 to 2 green chili (slit (skip for kids))
  • ½ to ¾ tsp Garam masala (or biryani masala (adjust to suit your taste))
  • ½ to ¾ tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp Red chili powder
  • 1 pinch turmeric
  • Salt (as needed)
  • 2 to 3 tbsps coconut milk (or 2 tbsp water (coconut milk adds taste and aroma))
  • Oil (as needed)
  • Lemon juice (as desired (optional))
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 3 green cardamoms
  • 4 to 6 cloves
  • 2 inch cinnamon stick
  • ½ tsp Shahi jeera
  • 1 star flower (/ star anise)
  • 1 strand mace

Method

Preparation

  1. Wash and soak rice for about 30 mins.
  2. Cook it in whatever way you like either in the pot, pressure cooker or electric cooker.
  3. Cook rice till al dente. You can also add few drops of oil to the rice pot to keep the rice grainy. Rice should be grainy fully cooked but not mushy.
  4. Devein and clean prawns. Rinse them well. You can also wash them in vinegar to remove the fishy smell. Drain them completely and set aside.
  5. While the rice soaks and cooks, you can marinate prawns with ginger garlic paste, garam masala, coriander powder, red chili powder, salt and turmeric.

making prawn pulao

  1. Heat a pan with oil and saute all the pulao spices until fragrant.
  2. Add onions and saute until golden and cooked well. Transfer the prawns and saute for 2 to 3 mins or until the raw smell from the ginger garlic goes away. Add mint and saute for 2 mins.
  3. Cover and cook on a low heat until the prawns are completely cooked. Add the coconut milk or water and allow to thicken. You must be left with a thick curry like prawn mixture. At this stage if the prawn are swirled it means they are cooked completely. If not sprinkle little water and cook further. Overcooking makes them hard. So be sure not to overcook.
  4. Add cooked and cooled rice along with lemon juice. Mix well and serve prawn pulao hot with fresh onion, cucumber wedges and papad.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.