King Prawn Biryani

AuthorSalmaCategoryDifficultyAdvanced

Mouthwatering King Prawn Biryani. King Prawns cooked in biryani masala packed with aromatic spices then layered with rice and simmered slowly.

Yields8 Servings
Prep Time30 minsCook Time1 hr 45 minsTotal Time2 hrs 15 mins
Frying The Prawns
 3 Packets Raw King Prawns (180g each packet)
  tsp Chilli powder
 ¼ tsp Tumeric powder
 ½ tsp Coriander powder
 ½ tsp Cumin powder
 Salt (a pinch)
 3 tbsp Oil
Masala
 1 ½ tbsp Ghee-clarified butter
 1 tbsp Oil
 1 tsp Ginger paste/grated
 1 tsp Garlic paste/grated
 3 Onions (2 medium & 1 Small)
 ¼ tsp Salt
 1 Packet Biryani Masala/Seasoning
 3 Medium tomatoes
 6 Whole green chillies
 3 tbsp Fresh coriander
Cooking The Rice
 3 cups Basmati Rice
 ¾ tsp Salt
 1 tsp Ghee-clarified butter
 ½ tsp Whole cumin seeds
 5 cups Cold tap water
Frying Onions
 2 Medium onions
 Oil to deep fry
 Metal sieve (optional)
Layering The Rice & Final stage
 1 ½ tbsp Ghee-clarified butter
 2 Food colours (optional)
 3 tbsp Fresh coriander
 Aluminum foil
Frying The Prawns
1

I used 3 packets of these prawns, 180g in weight for each packet.

Wash them fully and drain.

2

Place the clean prawns in a bowl and add:

Chilli powder 1/3 Tsp
Tumeric powder 1/4 Tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 Tsp
Cumin powder 1/2 Tsp
A pinch of salt

3

Mix this in.

4

In a pan add about 3 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the prawns.

5

Fry the prawns mainly on high heat, all the excess water will start coming out too. Lightly fry them and turn them over once one side looks done.

6

This will take about 8 minutes. Once done, turn the heat off and keep them aside.

Making The Masala
7

In a non stick pot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 & 1/2 tablespoon of ghee. Heat this up on high heat.

8

Add in the onions, 1/4 tsp of salt, ginger 1 tsp and garlic 1 tsp.

The biryani masala will already have salt in it and the rice will be cooked with salt too, so avoid adding too much in the onions.

9

Put the gas up and mix it in. Cook on medium heat until the onions are soft, make sure to stir at times.

10

This is the seasoning I used, you can use any biryani mix of your choice.

If the quantity of the spice mix is higher in the packet you're using, you can adjust this. Biryani spice mix is always spicy so it should be always adjusted to your taste.

11

Once the onions are soft, add in the spice mix.

12

Put the gas up and mix this in. Cook this on low heat by stirring often for 8-10 minutes.

If the spices become too dry, then add a little amount of water and mix it in to prevent it from burning.

13

Add in the prawns.

14

Put the gas up and mix it in.

15

Cook in between medium to low heat for about 8-10 minutes only.

Stir at times.

16

Finally add in the chopped tomatoes, I cut each tomato in 6 pieces but you can cut them into any size you prefer.

Add in the chillies too, I kept the chillies whole. You can cut them in halves if you like the dish to be a bit more spicy.

17

Cook this for 5-6 minutes under medium heat.

18

Finally garnish with fresh coriander and mix it in. Cook for a further two minutes under medium heat and turn the heat off.

Cooking The Rice
19

In a bowl get 3 cups of rice using a measuring cup. If you do not have a measuring cup, then use a standard tea mug to measure the rice. Always use the same cup/mug to measure the water when cooking the rice too.

Wash the rice with cold water until the water is clear. Once the water is clear, soak the rice for half an hour only and then drain fully.

To save time, you can soak and prepare the rice while the masala is cooking.

20

In a big pot, add the rice, 5 cups of cold water, cumin seeds 1/2 tsp, salt 3/4 Tsp and Ghee 1 Tsp.

Put the gas up and give this a stir.

21

Bring this to boil and let this cook on high heat.

22

It will start to look like this.

23

Cook the rice until the rice grain can be broken into 2-3 parts. Once done, drain the rice in a colander or if the water has dried up, just keep it in the pot.

Frying The Onions
24

Thinly slice two medium onions.

To make the frying quicker, follow the 2 tips below given to me by one of my lovely followers.

Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes in the microwave. The plate will be hot so carefully take it out the microwave.

With a tissue, dry any excess water that has come out of the onions.

Now in a deep pan add enough oil to deep fry. Once the oil is hot, place the onions in a metal sieve and deep fry the onions.

25

Fry until they are dark golden.

Once done, drain them on a kitchen tissue in a bowl.

Layering The Rice
26

In a big pot, rub a little bit of ghee all over the bottom.

27

Now add half of the rice first.

Add little amounts of ghee drops all over.

Add food colour drops, I used two colours, orange & yellow (optional).

Add some fried onions (I over cooked my onions).

28

Add all the prawn mix.

29

Now for the final layer of rice, add:

Ghee drops

Green whole chillies

Food colour

Fresh coriander

Cover the pot fully with aluminium foil, put the gas on high heat for 2-3 minutes then simmer and let this cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is fully done.

Then add more fried onions.

30

Once the biryani is done, let this rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Before serving, give this a good mix and serve hot with raita or a curry sauce of your choice.

31

Serve hot and enjoy!

Ingredients

Frying The Prawns
 3 Packets Raw King Prawns (180g each packet)
  tsp Chilli powder
 ¼ tsp Tumeric powder
 ½ tsp Coriander powder
 ½ tsp Cumin powder
 Salt (a pinch)
 3 tbsp Oil
Masala
 1 ½ tbsp Ghee-clarified butter
 1 tbsp Oil
 1 tsp Ginger paste/grated
 1 tsp Garlic paste/grated
 3 Onions (2 medium & 1 Small)
 ¼ tsp Salt
 1 Packet Biryani Masala/Seasoning
 3 Medium tomatoes
 6 Whole green chillies
 3 tbsp Fresh coriander
Cooking The Rice
 3 cups Basmati Rice
 ¾ tsp Salt
 1 tsp Ghee-clarified butter
 ½ tsp Whole cumin seeds
 5 cups Cold tap water
Frying Onions
 2 Medium onions
 Oil to deep fry
 Metal sieve (optional)
Layering The Rice & Final stage
 1 ½ tbsp Ghee-clarified butter
 2 Food colours (optional)
 3 tbsp Fresh coriander
 Aluminum foil

Directions

Frying The Prawns
1

I used 3 packets of these prawns, 180g in weight for each packet.

Wash them fully and drain.

2

Place the clean prawns in a bowl and add:

Chilli powder 1/3 Tsp
Tumeric powder 1/4 Tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 Tsp
Cumin powder 1/2 Tsp
A pinch of salt

3

Mix this in.

4

In a pan add about 3 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the prawns.

5

Fry the prawns mainly on high heat, all the excess water will start coming out too. Lightly fry them and turn them over once one side looks done.

6

This will take about 8 minutes. Once done, turn the heat off and keep them aside.

Making The Masala
7

In a non stick pot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 & 1/2 tablespoon of ghee. Heat this up on high heat.

8

Add in the onions, 1/4 tsp of salt, ginger 1 tsp and garlic 1 tsp.

The biryani masala will already have salt in it and the rice will be cooked with salt too, so avoid adding too much in the onions.

9

Put the gas up and mix it in. Cook on medium heat until the onions are soft, make sure to stir at times.

10

This is the seasoning I used, you can use any biryani mix of your choice.

If the quantity of the spice mix is higher in the packet you're using, you can adjust this. Biryani spice mix is always spicy so it should be always adjusted to your taste.

11

Once the onions are soft, add in the spice mix.

12

Put the gas up and mix this in. Cook this on low heat by stirring often for 8-10 minutes.

If the spices become too dry, then add a little amount of water and mix it in to prevent it from burning.

13

Add in the prawns.

14

Put the gas up and mix it in.

15

Cook in between medium to low heat for about 8-10 minutes only.

Stir at times.

16

Finally add in the chopped tomatoes, I cut each tomato in 6 pieces but you can cut them into any size you prefer.

Add in the chillies too, I kept the chillies whole. You can cut them in halves if you like the dish to be a bit more spicy.

17

Cook this for 5-6 minutes under medium heat.

18

Finally garnish with fresh coriander and mix it in. Cook for a further two minutes under medium heat and turn the heat off.

Cooking The Rice
19

In a bowl get 3 cups of rice using a measuring cup. If you do not have a measuring cup, then use a standard tea mug to measure the rice. Always use the same cup/mug to measure the water when cooking the rice too.

Wash the rice with cold water until the water is clear. Once the water is clear, soak the rice for half an hour only and then drain fully.

To save time, you can soak and prepare the rice while the masala is cooking.

20

In a big pot, add the rice, 5 cups of cold water, cumin seeds 1/2 tsp, salt 3/4 Tsp and Ghee 1 Tsp.

Put the gas up and give this a stir.

21

Bring this to boil and let this cook on high heat.

22

It will start to look like this.

23

Cook the rice until the rice grain can be broken into 2-3 parts. Once done, drain the rice in a colander or if the water has dried up, just keep it in the pot.

Frying The Onions
24

Thinly slice two medium onions.

To make the frying quicker, follow the 2 tips below given to me by one of my lovely followers.

Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes in the microwave. The plate will be hot so carefully take it out the microwave.

With a tissue, dry any excess water that has come out of the onions.

Now in a deep pan add enough oil to deep fry. Once the oil is hot, place the onions in a metal sieve and deep fry the onions.

25

Fry until they are dark golden.

Once done, drain them on a kitchen tissue in a bowl.

Layering The Rice
26

In a big pot, rub a little bit of ghee all over the bottom.

27

Now add half of the rice first.

Add little amounts of ghee drops all over.

Add food colour drops, I used two colours, orange & yellow (optional).

Add some fried onions (I over cooked my onions).

28

Add all the prawn mix.

29

Now for the final layer of rice, add:

Ghee drops

Green whole chillies

Food colour

Fresh coriander

Cover the pot fully with aluminium foil, put the gas on high heat for 2-3 minutes then simmer and let this cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is fully done.

Then add more fried onions.

30

Once the biryani is done, let this rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Before serving, give this a good mix and serve hot with raita or a curry sauce of your choice.

31

Serve hot and enjoy!

King Prawn Biryani
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5 Comments

  1. AISHAH 12 June 2020 at 17:55

    Hi. The recipe looks lovely. I just wanted to ask how much of the Shan Fish Biryani Mix do you use? The box is 50g. Do you use all of it or half?

    Reply
    1. Salma 13 June 2020 at 09:07

      Thank you, yes I used the whole packet but you can use adjust the spices to your taste. This particular biryani mix isn’t very spicy.

      Reply
  2. Sharmss 15 June 2020 at 09:34

    I just came across your page on Instagram, I love your website! The first thing I did was read your bio to know more about the page! I love it! Masha’Allah. I hope this website and your Instagram grows! As a young 23 year old woman, it will be inspire and help me a lot! Your children should be very proud of you! Thank you so much, may Allah bless you and your whole family! X

    Reply
  3. Shahin Ahmed 23 March 2021 at 10:51

    I will definitely give this a try!! I’m totally rubbish at Biryani’s but I’m sure I will learn through your easy Step By Step Guide and get Better at it. Thank You Salma 🤗💝

    Reply
    1. Salma 2 April 2021 at 07:42

      Thank you and you’re welcome.

      Reply

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