Prawn Biryani

I love Indian food. I really, really, really wish I could make it as well as Hera and Vanita at work who make the most delicious Indian food ever. Hera is well known for her Roti and Potato Curry, and Vanita for her incredible Pakora which are always in top demand when we all bring food to work for a shared meal. So aside from these two women, my favourite Indian cook and recipe writer would have to be Madhur Jaffrey. What a lovely and delightful woman she seems to be. In fact, (and here's a shameless name-dropping statement), my amazing Aunt who lives in London and who has produced and directed cooking shows, (and amongst other things), discovered Madhur Jaffrey (actually it was either that and/or made her earlier cooking shows but I'm sure it's both)), has also said she is a truly lovely person. I'm pretty lucky to be able to skite about my incredible Aunt especially as I love cooking myself!


Anyway after all that digression this recipe is from Madhur's latest book called 'Curry Easy'. If you only ever want one Indian cooking book this would be it. Easy to follow, easy to understand and almost criminal in it's simplicity of both ingredients and method. I know it looks pretty simple, (and it is!), but this really is very full of delicious flavour and was very easy to whip up for Dons and I when the boys weren't here one night. In fact Dosn loved it and has already put in her request for a repeat of the meal.


Prawn Biryani ('Curry Easy' Madhur Jaffrey)


450ml basmati rice
450g prawns, peeled and deveined
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
salt
3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
4 tsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander
4 cardamom pods
600ml chicken stock


Put the rice into a bowl, cover with cold water and stir gently. Pour out the dirty water. Do this 4-5 times then cover with fresh water and leave to soak for 1/2 hour. Drain and leave in a sieve to drain further.


Sprinkle the garlic, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, black pepper and 1/3 tsp salt over the prawns rubbing them in. Cover and set aside.


Pour the oil into a pan over a medium to high heat. When hot put the prawns in and stir until only just cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and put them into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and fresh coriander. Stir and taste for the balance of seasonings.


Put the cardamom and stock into the same pan and bring to the boil scraping any bits off the bottom. Add the drained rice, 1/2 tsp salt if the stock is salted and 1 tsp if it isn't and bring to the boil. Cover tightly, reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 25 minutes.


Put the prawns and their juices over the top of the rice, cover quickly and keep cooking for another minute. Turn off the heat, stir gently and keep covered until needed.