Prawns Biryani

There are different kinds of biryanis that I make. And thankfully S loves all of them. This Prawns Biryani is my mom's recipe. I dont remember eating it much as a kid. But my mom is a great magician, one day she just came up with this delicious dish and has been my favorite since. She had made it the first time my husband and in-laws had visited us after the engagement. Not as heavy as mutton or chicken biryani, very easy to make and served with just a tomato-onion raita or fried fish, this is one of my best recipes:) To tell you the truth I think my husband likes it better than my prawns curry. If done at a stretch, then this biryani can be done in under 1 hour. My duckie isnt a big fan of biryanis yet, but I am hoping that he grows up to like this biryani. I usually have prawns in my freezer, so whenever I am in a crunch as to what to cook and all I have is rice, onions, masalas and the occasional potato, guess whats right on the top of my list??

Recipe:
For the Rice:
4 cups of uncooked basmati rice
5 peppercorns
5 cloves
4 cardmoms
1" cinnamon stick
4-5 bay leaves
4 tsps clarified butter (oil will do but the flavor differs)
8 cups of hot water
salt to taste

For the Prawns:
1 lb cleaned, deveined prawns
2 large onions, diced
handful of cilantro for garnishing
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 TBS green masala( handful cilantro 2-3 green chillies. 2" ginger and 1 cup peeled garlic cloves pureed together. If you dont have this masala, use ginger garlic paste.)
salt to taste
oil for cooking
2-3 bay leaves

For Garnishing:
2 onions
1 large potato
2 hard boiled eggs

Preparation:

Garnishing: Slice the onions thinly. Microwave them for 5-6 mins till they turn soft, this way they fry quickly. Save your time, energy and gas. (thanks, MIL for the tip) Heat a large pot and add enough oil to it for frying. Once hot add the onions to it and fry till golden brown and crunchy. Take care they donot burn. Transfer to a plate and season with salt. Slice the potato french-fries style and fry till golden brown and crisp. Peel and slice the eggs. Keep this aside for garnishing.
Wash the rice in water and set aside. Marinate the prawns with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, green masala. Set aside for 15 mins. Heat oil in a pan. When hot add bay leaves and then onion. Cook till light brown and soft. Add the prawns and cook well. Add garam masala and turn off the flame.
Heat a large pot and add clrified butter to it. Add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn, cardmoms in quick succession taking care that it doesnot burn. Then add rice. Saute the rice till light pink. Do this on medium flame. Then turn on high flame and add 8 cups of water to it. Let it come to a rolling boil. Add salt to the water. Let the water boil for few seconds, then turn the flame on medium low and cover the pot. Once the water disappers, turn the flame on low and cook for few mins. Turn off the flame and remove from the stove when the rice is completely cooked. The rice shouldn't remain aldente. It takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, its really easy. Keep the rice pot covered.
Layering: This is the most important part of biryani. Take the same pot in which you have cooked rice. Empty the pot, put the rice in other bowl. Apply a think layer of clarified butter or oil at the bottoom. collect all the bayleaves used for cooking prawns and rice and arrange them in a circle at teh bottom. Divide the rice into 3 portions. Divide the prawns into 2 portions. Divide the onions into 2 portions. Layer one portion of rice at the bottom, then a layer of prawns. Then layer again with rice and then one portion of fried onions. Layer the onions with layer of prawns and then the last layer of rice. Layer the top most layer of rice with onions and french fries. Arrange the egg slices in a circle on the very top. Drizzle little warm clrified butter on the top. Cover the pot and let it cook on medium-low flame till it steams. Turn off the flame once it steams, let the stem settle for 10 mins and then serve hot with raita.
I know this might be a lengthy process for some, but it is definetly worth it. The delicious aroma of cooked basmati rice, masalas and prawns always get me salivating. My stomach starts growling as I cook and layer it. I love this biryani, and I am sure so will you:)
Dipti