Our prawn biryani recipe (call it jhinga dum biryani or shrimp biryani if you prefer) is a flavourful preparation that combines fragrant rice and fresh prawns with a piquant masala to make delicious mouthfuls. Our prawn biryani restaurant style is cooked on dum which gives it a unique flavour, and is truly a treat for all seafood lovers.
Prawn biryani is a dish made with layered rice and curried prawns spiced up with aromatic spices and cooked using the dum technique for a unique flavour. The ‘Dum’ or ‘Dum Pukht’ style of cooking this easy prawn biryani recipe calls for a heavy bottomed vessel with a lid. Some of the cooking is done on open flame and for the final cooking, the prawn biryani is layered in the vessel and given the ‘dum’. This is done by covering the vessel with a lid and sealing it with dough after which this easy prawn biryani is slowly cooked on low heat (with heat being applied from the bottom as well as from the top if possible) so that the flavours and aroma of the rice and prawn curry intermingle and deepen in the pot.
Though conventional non-vegetarian biryani commonly calls for mutton or chicken, prawn biryani is equally delicious (if not more delicious) and quite flavourful. Our best prawn biryani recipe comes with an added bonus of not needing the extra time for marination as prawns do not need to be marinated for this recipe. On the other hand, when cooking mutton or a chicken biryani, marination is a must.
Prawns are delicate and tend to harden with prolonged cooking time. We usually like our prawns soft, but for this prawn biryani recipe we prefer that they have a nice bite to them. Here, we recommend cooking the prawns for 10 minutes to give them a thoroughly enjoyable consistency. However, If you like your prawns melt-in-the-mouth soft, you should add water, cook, and thicken the masala gravy before adding them. After adding the prawns cook them for just 4-5 minutes in the masala , and then layer with rice and put the prawn biryani on dum.
A lot of time and effort goes into making of this dish and it is best rewarded when you use the finest ingredients to make it. We recommend you use long grain basmati rice for the prawn biryani. Pre-soaking the rice for a minimum of 15-20 minutes will make the rice grains bloom fully, and that is the hallmark of a good biryani. We use medium-sized prawns but small prawns work well too. Fresh prawns are better suited to the dish but frozen ones work as well provided you thaw them well and drain the water completely. You could even use tiger prawns if you wish.
Using coconut milk in the gravy masala for the prawns is a must if you want to make the best prawn biryani. The flavours of the coconut go well with that of seafood, and coconut even enhances the flavour of seafood. Our prawn biryani recipe uses yogurt in addition to coconut milk as it adds a hint of tang to the biryani but that can be omitted, if you prefer, by increasing the quantity of coconut milk.
Serve the prawn biryani hot by cutting through the layers. You may wonder what goes best with biryani? You can serve it on its own or along with some pomegranate raita, mirch ka salan, kachumbar, or a simple garden salad on the side. If you wish you could garnish the jhinga biryani with mint leaves and slices of lime. You can enjoy the biryani for lunch or dinner and make it a part of your festive menus.
If you are a seafood lover and you haven’t tried seafood biryani until now, give your palate a big surprise. You can make biryani by substituting prawns with the same quantity of firm white wish, a mix of prawns and fish, clams, or even crab meat.
Or if you prefer a super spicy prawn biryani recipe, then increase the number of green chillies to six and you are set for a great experience.
You will love this flavourful biryani. Delicious Prawn Biryani layered and cooked on dum. Make this at home with an easy step by step tutorial video above and recipe below
Or see all our Rice Recipes right here!