Shrimp or Prawn Biryani

Ingredients:

• Fresh Shrimp OR Prawn ( Medium Sized ) - 15 no
• Basmati Rice/ Jeera Samba Rice - 1 ½ cups
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Bay Leaves -3 nos
• Cloves - 2 nos
• Cinnamon -1 inch
• Cardamom - 2 nos
• Star Anise -1 no
• Onion -1 medium
• Ginger Garlic Paste -1 tsp
• Tomatoes -2 nos
• Green Chilli - 2 nos
• Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
• Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp
• Mint leaves - few
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Cashew - 5 nos
• Salt - to taste
• Water - 3 cups
• Yogurt or curd - 3 tsp
• Coconut milk -1 cup

Method:

• Soak rice for 30 min, wash it thoroughly and drain the water. Clean the shrimp, remove tails, head and devein, wash throughly. Chop Onion, tomato, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Slit open green chili. Grind ginger and garlic paste.
• In a pressure cooker add oil. When hot, add Bay Leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. Add the chopped Onion immediately and 1/4 tsp of salt. When the onion turns brown, add the ginger garlic pate. Fry this till raw smell leaves, approximately 3 min in medium flame. Stir often to avoid the burn. Add the green chili, mint & coriander leaves and fry for 1 min. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till it becomes gravy.
• Add the Shrimp and fry for until it’s cooked in the oil. Water released from the shrimp is good enough to cook it. Add the turmeric, yogurt, coconut milk and water. Add the rice and mix well for 2 min in Medium flame. Check for salt. Add ghee and mix well.
• Close the cooker lid and pressure cook for 2 whistles and reduce the flame to the lowest setting and allow it to stay for 30 min. Garnish with extra coriander leaves and add cashew nuts.