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.

Prawn Curry

Ingredients

• 750 gms  small  peeled prawns
• 8 tbsp coconut cream
• 2 tsp tamarind concentrate
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp  coriander seeds
• 5-6 fenugreek seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 dried red chilies
• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large thinly sliced onion
• ½ spoon garlic paste
• ½ spoon ginger paste
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves 
• salt
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

Method

• Mix turmeric powder, ginger paste, garlic paste, salt and lemon juice well and apply to the prawns, keep aside the prawns for 15 to 20 minutes for marinating.
• Grind the coconut cream along with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds to a paste.
  Prepare tamarind concentrate by adding 4 to 5 tbsp of water to it.
• Pour the oil into a large saucepan bring up to a high heat. Add the mustard seeds when they sizzle and crackle stir in the cloves and dried red chilies.
• Then add the chopped onions, gingler-garlic paste and reduce the heat to low and cook until the onion is browned. Add tomato puree and 1/2 cup water and let it simmer for few minutes till the onion becomes soft.
• Add the coconut paste, tamarind concentrate  and cook this  until the mixture bubbles.  Stir in the prawns and simmer for 10 minutes or until the prawns are pink and cooked through.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve the prawn curry with naan or steamed rice.