As you take a mouthful, you would experience each and every flavour added to it but in harmony. This is signature to all recipes that Preethi Varkey Karimbanal has shared with me!

The sisters duo , Preethi Chechi & Shalu Chechi, have always been my mentors in the kitchen. So if I can put anything edible on the table, all credits go to them!

I do understand that this recipe is a little long and could be intimidating but the details do make a big difference. So please read it carefully before you start your preparation. It’s really worth it!

Ingredients

• Cardamom,cloves,cinnamon -2 each
• Basmati Rice(washed,soaked and drained) -2 cups
• Prawn (cleaned& deveined)-1-cup
• Turmeric – a pinch
• Onion(chopped) – 2  medium sized ones
• Green chilly – 4-6
• Ground ginger -1 tsp
• Ground garlic -1 tsp
• Tomatoes – 3 no’s
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Fennel seeds (perunjeerakam)- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves – a bunch
• Lime juice of 1/2 lime
• Ghee-oil mix – 1/2 cup
• Boiling water- 4 cups
• Salt – approx 1.25 tbsp

A few preparatory steps

Wash and soak the rice. Set it aside

Grind fresh ginger and garlic

Grind coconut, green chillies and fennel seeds in a dry grinder. You may add a little water for ease of grinding.

Chop the onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves

Extract of half a lime is almost 2 tsp

Be careful when adding turmeric powder as a wee bit more can totally change the visual appeal of the dish.

Add 1 tbsp of salt with rice. Later add the rest after adding the water depending on your taste, if required.

Method

1. Heat the ghee and oil mix in a deep covered sauté dish/kadai.
2. Add the spices and sauté till fragrant.
3. Sauté the onions, ground ginger & garlic and a pinch of turmeric.
4. Sauté the green chillies and coconut mix.
5. Sauté the coriander bunch and then the tomatoes.
6. Once tomatoes are completely mixed, add the prawns and sauté till it changes colour or dries up.
7. Now sauté the drained rice for a couple of minutes . Add salt to taste.
8. Add the boiling water to the rice and then the lemon juice. 
9. Now check the salt and add more if required. The ideal level of salt should be a little  more than our normal taste level.
10. Cook on high flame till you start seeing holes appear in the rice and the water is almost absorbed.
11. Now reduce the flame and cover the pan.
12. Let it cook on low flame for exactly 5minutes.
13. Now remove the pan from the flame and let it remain covered for another 15 minutes.
14. After this, open the pan and mix the pulao from deep down.
15. The pulao would look over cooked and sticky. But soon it’ll get back to its perfect consistency.
16. You could serve it with a vegetable raita, pickle & pappadam or just plain yoghurt!

For recipe download, please click the link below.

Prawn Pulao Recipe