Goan prawn pulao (pilaf)
A super delicious, lightly spiced, quick and easy rice recipe with prawns, from Goa made with coconut milk. Rice, prawns and coconut - lunch couldn't be better!
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot with lid
Ingredients
- 250 g king prawns peeled, deveined & washed
- 250 g Basmati rice soaked in water for 30 minutes
- 400 ml coconut milk canned
- 100 ml water
- ½ cup tomato diced
- ½ cup carrots finely chopped
- ½ cup French beans finely chopped
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- 2-3 chilis slit
- ½ cup coriander leaves chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 2-3 cloves
- 2-3 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 small star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp lemon/lime juice
- 3 tbsp ghee
- salt to taste
Garnish (optional)
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh coconut grated
Instructions
- Marinate the prawns in ½ teaspoon salt, lime juice and turmeric powder for 15 minutes
- Heat the cooking pot with the ghee. When it melts, add the whole spices, once they turn fragrant, add in the onions, sautee´until they become soft and light brown. Next add the ginger garlic pastes and chilis, cook for couple minutes and then add the tomato
- Once the tomatoes soften, add the vegetables and spice powders. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes and then throw in the prawns, mix well and cook for 2 minutes*
- Next, add the soaked rice and coriander leaves. Mix well but gently, so as to not break the rice grains
- Now add the coconut milk, water and salt to taste, give it another mix. Be mindful that the prawns also have salt due to the marination. Cook this on high flame until the water and coconut milk from the surface dries up
- Then cover with the cooking pot with a lid an cook on the lowest flame for another 8 minutes. Once done, remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving
- Garnish your delicious Goan prawns pulao with fresh coconut and coriander leaves and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- *Do not cook the prawns completely here, since it is going to further cook with the rice, as well. Over cooked prawns become chewy and distasteful
- You can use prawns of any size for this recipe
- Make sure that, the total amount of water and coconut milk used to cook the pulao is twice of that of the rice
- A cup of mixed, frozen vegetables also works well in this recipe
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon