Prawn Biryani

Read this recipe in Marathi

Servings: 4 to 5 Persons

Ingredients: 
15-20 medium prawns(shrimps)
2 medium potatoes
For Making Rice-
2 cups of basmati rice
4 cups of water
Whole Spices( 3-4 cloves, 2 green cardomon,3-4 peppercorns,1 bay leaf,1" cinamon stick)
For making gravy -
1 ½ cups of finely chopped onion
1 tspn ginger-garlic paste
1 medium tomato chopped
1 ½ tspn red chilly powder
½ tspn turmeric powder
For making Biryani Masala- 1 tspn cumin seeds+ 1” cinnamon stick + ½ tspn black cumin seeds(shah jire)+ 3-4 black peppercorn+ 2 green cardamom+2 pinch of nutmeg powder+ ¼ tspn ground mace+3 cloves+ 1 cassia leaf+1 tspn coriander seeds + ½ tspn kasuri methi+ black cardamom - roast all the spices and make fine powder. (You can use 1 ½ -2 tspn readymade biryani masala)
For deep frying- 1 cup sliced onion, 8-10 cashew nuts,10-12 raisins
Oil
Salt for taste 

Method: 
1. Wash and soak rice at least for 5-10minutes.Heat oil in nonstick cookware. Make tadka of whole spices and then add rice. Stir for 3-4 minutes till rice grains separate. Add hot water exactly double the amount of rice. (here 4 cups). Add salt and close the cookware with tight lid. Let the rice cook completely.
2. Remove the lid and let the rice become completely cool. Fluff rice with a fork to get a fluffy rice with separate grains.
3. Peel potato and cut it into slices. Marinate potato slices with little turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt. Heat oil in a wok and deep fry cashew nuts ,raisins till golden brown.
4. Then deep fry sliced onion brown in colour. Don’t fry onion till it turns dark brown. Use the remaining oil for making gravy.
5. Heat remaining oil in wok. Add ginger garlic paste. Stir for 1 minute and add chopped onion. Stir for 2-3 minutes. Add tomato, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, biryani masala and stir till oil coming out from the mixture. Add prawns and salt. Stir well. Add 1 cup water and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
6. Spread some ghee inside a clean cookware with you hand.
7. Arrange all potato slices at the bottom. Make a thick layer of rice ( approximately 1” thick) on that. On top of that pour some gravy. Put some fried onion and cashew nuts-raisins. Again make a layer of rice. Like this make alternate layers of rice and gravy. Last layer should be of rice. Garnish it with fried onion, cashew nuts and raisins. Garnish with coriander leaves.
8. Cover cookware with lid. On a 'low heat' keep cookware for 15 minutes. Let it Steam cook. Put serving spoon horizontally in biryani and Serve biryani without breaking layers. You can serve any raita or salad with biryani.