Skip to main content

Hyderabadi Shrimp (prawns) Biriyani...step by step


Today, I am sharing the famous Hyderabad shrimp/prawns biriyani. I love biriyani so much that I am always developing them to perfection.

Last Christmas we went to Hyderabad and I was lucky to get some real Hyderabadi recipes, this shrimp biriyani is from a friend who is also a great cook; he also shared the famous Hyderabadi chicken biriyani ; ofcourse that is another post.

Talking of Hyd biriyani; "shah jeera" is the special ingredient which gives out an authentic nawabi touch to Hyderabadi biriyani. "Shah jeera", is added in the water for cooking the rice along with the other spices. I have always believed and used jeera and saunf in biriyanis, but this awesome cook introduced me to this new spice and the flavors are just mind blowing.


Lets start cooking this awesome nawabi special......right from the land of nawabs, Hyderabad.


Notes: I am also showing how to make this as a dum biriyani.
Kashmiri red chilly has less heat, but if you are using ordinary chilly powder reduce by half.

Author: Nisa Homey
Serves: 4-6.
Ingredients:
Prawns/Shrimp: 300 gms, deviened and cleaned.

For the gravy:
Onions: 2 medium, sliced.
Tomatoes: 2
Ginger: 1 inch piece.
Garlic: 1 pod.
Green chillies: 2.
Coriander leaves: 2 sprigs and more for garnishing.
Kashmiri Chilly powder: 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Pepper powder: 1/2 tsp.
Curd: 2 tbsp.
Salt as needed.
Oil/ghee as needed.

Lime: Juice of half a lime.
Basmati Rice: 2 cups.

Whole spices:
Shah jeera: 3/4 tsp.
Cardamon: 6.
Cloves: 8
Cinnamon: 2-3 medium sticks.
Mace: 1/4.
Star anise: 1.
Peppercorns: 1/2 tsp.
Bay leaves: 2.

Marination:
Kashmiri Chilly Powder: 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Pepper powder: 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste.

Method:
Marinate the prawns with Kashmiri chilly powder, pepper, turmeric, and salt. Keep aside

Clean and wash 2 cups of basmati rice, and put it in a strainer. Keep aside. (picture from another post)


In a heavy bottomed pan or vessel (it should hold 2 cups of cooked rice). Heat 3 tbsp of ghee or refined oil or half and half. Add in the marinated prawns and lightly fry it on low flame, about 4 min. Sprinkle little salt over it.



When it is done, remove the prawns on to a plate.


In the same pan, the oil is now shrimp flavored, add in the spices:1 cinnamon, 4 cloves, 3 cardamon, a strand of mace, 1/4 tsp of shah jeera, 1 bay leaf. Sometimes you might need another tbsp of oil or so.


Add in the sliced onions, let it saute till lightly browned.


While the onions are browning, grind ginger, garlic, 2 green chilles, and coriander leaves coarsely. Add it to the lightly browned onion. Mix well on low flame till the raw flavor vanishes.


Add in 1 tsp Kashmiri chilly powder, 1/2 tsp pepper powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric.

Mix well.



Add in the 2 chopped tomatoes. Mix and let it fry for sometime on low flame till the moisture in the tomatoes comes out.


Then add 2 tbsp of yogurt/curd.


Mix well and let it simmer for a few min.



Add back in the fried prawns and let it simmer away for a few minutes, so that the masala incorporates into it. Then switch off the fire, while we prepare the rice.


In a big vessal or "kalam" bring water to boil. Add the spices ie 1/2 tsp shah jeera, 4 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamons, a small strand of mace, 1 bay leaf, and half star anise. Add salt. When the water comes to a boil add the strained rice. When the rice is 3/4 cooked, strain the rice and keep aside.

The rice is ready, squeeze lime into it and mix well and keep aside.


If you have switched off the fire, its time to switch it on,  put it on low flame and then spread the prawns masala on the pan. Then put the masala scented, flavorful rice on top of it .


You can drizzle a bit of ghee in between for added flavor. Fill up with the rest of the rice and sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves.


Cover the pan, you can seal the sides with dough or aluminium foil, since the rice is only 3/4 cooked, we are going to let the rice cooked in the pan along with the masala; which is called dum. Lastly mix saffron (if you have go ahead and use it other wise, turmeric is just fine) and a fat pinch turmeric powder in 2 tbsp of milk and sprinkle over the rice.


To cover the lid tightly, I just filled water in the vessel with which I cooked the rice and placed it on top of the lid. Let it simmer on low flame for 15 min.


Open after 15 min ....(I have not mentioned this in the ingredients list) sprinkle saffron on 2 tbsp milk and, allow it to dissolve and just sprinkle on top of the rice OR if you do not have saffron at the moment.....just use good quality homemade turmeric powder...about 1/4 tsp into 2-3 tbsp of warm milk...mix and sprinkle on top....this is what I did.


I have just done a two layer; if you plan to do with 4 cups of rice you can make it into 4 layer dum biriyani.


Serve hot.


Enjoy a Nawabi meal :)

Some more biriyani recipes:
Fish Biriyani.
Mushroom Biriyani.
Pressure Cooker Chicken Biriyani.

Comments

  1. Awesome briyani looks so delicious n flavorful.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yum! I like all different kinds of biriyani. This looks mouthwatering, Nisa.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks great Nisa, never tried any dum biryani with tomatoes. will try next time.thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Swasthi! do try and enjoy this Nawabi cusine.

      Delete
  4. nice flavorful biryani, don't stop visiting me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kitchen Queen!!...I wont stop visiting u :)

      Delete
  5. I like the recipe and love your presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great recipe Nisa:))) So much flavor yum. I love rice dishes! Defiantly will give it a try:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow your clicks make my mouth water :) so yummy and sure you all had a yummy treat today

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank u Priya!!....we all enjoyed the biriyani so much that I had to share it on my blog for you guys :)

      Delete
  8. Already drooling over here by just looking at the shrimp biriyani.
    Deepa

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mouthwatering here... All time favorite...
    http://recipe-excavator.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow u got lot of patience the end product looks worth the effort...will surely want to give a try..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Photos kandaal thanne vaayil kappalodikkam

    ReplyDelete
  12. Photos really good. Vaayil kappalodikkam

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looks delicious....Going to try this for Easter....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful biryani recipe :) Nisa :) Happy New year to you n your family :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nisa, made this & it was simply superb.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so glad you enjoyed it Merry! Thanks for trying my recipe!

      Delete
  16. Hello! I tried the prawns biryani and it turned out fantastic! I just made one addition. Before adding the whole spices to the water to cook the rice, I tossed it in a tbs of ghee for a few seconds and put the whole thing, ghee and all, into the water. I feel it enhanced the flavor a little. It reminded me of the nai chor my uncle used to make back in Calicut! Thank you for the detailed recipe. Will surely try more from your site.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nitha, what a fantastic feedback and suggestion...next time I will keep this in mind ...thanks a ton for stopping by :)

      Delete
  17. Hi Nisa, it is so yummy and mouthwatering. Will surely try it. Thanks aloooooot for sharing this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I tried this biryani and it turned out super duper delicious. Thanks Nisa for this fantastic recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The receipie was very yummy i just tried it to do sooo thanks for sharing thanks a lot. Nisa

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi I tried this and OMG, it tastes awesome.... I fell in luv with the spiced rice while it was boiling... Can't wait to make it again....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks a lot for visiting my space. Your comments, suggestions, criticism and all opinions are very much appreciated. Thank you for stopping by and have a nice day.

Popular posts from this blog

Caramel Pudding Recipe - Caramel Custard Recipe

Caramel pudding recipe;  a delicious traditional dessert with creamy caramel over silky custard. Caramel custard is my favorite pudding. All through my childhood, amma makes caramel pudding as a Sunday special.....achachen (my dad) love only this pudding...... 42 years of serving caramel pudding to him has made amma, a sort of an authority on caramel pudding recipe! Ah yes, like always this is amma's recipe. It is her signature, no-fail recipe. of caramel custard. Okay lets talk about this pudding!!  I used 4 eggs because amma said so  eggs are the show stopper here :)......it is needed to make the pudding silky-satin, and stand tall....and yes it will not crumble.....now you may wonder....won't this be eggy!!smelly!! I promise it won't....there wouldn't be too much eggy flavor! caramel flavor can do wonders!! Believe me!! I am using my steamer or appachembu as it is known locally to cook the pudding. While the pudding is steaming, it is import

Turmeric Tea Mix Recipe For Weight Loss - Homemade/DIY (Golden) Turmeric Tea Mix

turmeric tea mix - diy turmeric mix to make turmeric tea or golden milk. turmeric tea for weight loss, for a flat belly, stomach bloating, and for overall health. this homemade mix is an excellent fat burner and also will boost immunity. have this on empty stomach in the morning for best results. the active ingredient in turmeric known as curcumin has powerful anti inflammatory effects and is a strong anti oxidant. curcumin is not easily absorbed by the body and that is the reason inspite of us Indians having lots of turmeric in our diet, do not get its full benefits. black pepper is the one natural ingredient that helps the curcumin to be absorbed into the body by around 2000%, wow! So, do not skip black pepper when taking turmeric. All the ingredients I used in this homemade turmeric tea mix are locally acquired and organic. curcumin/turmeric is fat soluble so it is also a good option to have a warm cup after a heavy meal. studies shows that turmeric can prevent cancer, h

Pidiyum Kozhiyum Recipe - How To Make Kerala Style Kozhi Pidi - Kerala Recipes

Pidiyum kozhiyum or kottayam style pidi is a traditional knanaya cuisine ; these rice dumpling have a thick gravy like sauce, unlike the dry versions of Malabar kakka roti or kozhi pidi. Knanaya style pidi is served with varutharacha kozhi curry. Traditionally, pidi is associated with baby shower ie when the daughter-in-law is sent to her parents house for delivery, it is customary for the mother-in-law to make kozhi pidi and we knanaya people still follow these traditions. My main aim is to preserve this recipe; so that the future generations can enjoy this wholesome dish. Pidi is rice dumplings which is simmered in water along with shallots, garlic, curry leaves, and coriander seeds; but I have used coriander powder instead to make the whole process easy. Amma mentioned that if using coriander seeds then; the water used to mix the rice flour should be sieved and that using fresh roasted coriander powder saves time. I have made a video recipe and I hope this you help