Prawn Pulao/Pulao Chingri mach diye -- Robibarer Special

Talk of Robibar/Sunday and many a time on such weekend days there is some special non-veg item being cooked. There can be a weekend party, a small gathering of friends or relatives, and a special dish can satiate the taste buds. You need not be a gourmet cook to prepare a special dish. When it is special it sure will have a Special Effect. Some may agree and others may disagree, free to have your own perception. Speaking of Robibar you can also read my simple recipe of Robibarer Porota aar Aloo Tarkarir Jalkhabar – Sunday Breakfast with Paratha and Potato Curry, which I have posted earlier.

It is always nice to be in a conversational mood with my virtual friends. Friends from around the world can be at this spot at the click of a button. The virtual world makes a lot of difference to many people, including me. There are friends who like to connect through their e-mails, friends who love to visit my space, some may visit and enjoy the read quietly, and, others may dislike me. Others may like my Social networking page with my interactive posts on Facebook. Anyway, I call all of them my friends, maybe, we don’t know each other personally nor will ever get a chance of meeting. But that’s the way life is moving in this very wide world.

The Prawn Pulao is this Sunday Special and I’d love to share this recipe cooked in my kitchen. Everyone at home love prawns, even a plate of the prawn fry with some capsicum and onion finishes off within minutes of it being served. I had been thinking of this dish for some time and was waiting for the right size prawns, and then went into cooking it.

Fresh prawns take a lot of time in dressing and cleaning it. But, when at the back of the mind there’s a special dish waiting to be prepared, time goes off in this effort without a HUH! Or a WH(F)OO!

This dainty dish needs a lot of preparation before getting the final touch.

In the making of Prawn Pulao, first work with the prawns.

Separate the heads from the body and carefully devein the prawn as it is being cleaned by removing the outer shell. Wash and clean the prawns and the heads separately.

Deveined  prawns

Next take sufficient water in a pan and put in the heads and let the water boil for 5-7 minutes. Switch off the oven and let it cool for a while. Using a colander, strain and keep the stock aside to be used later. You have the prawn stock ready.

Prawn Stock

Don’t throw away the heads. Remove the shells and the eyes from the head portions and keep it away to be used later in some other cooking.

Prawn heads to be cleaned and used later

As the stock is getting cooked, get the ingredients ready at hand.

Rice: 2 cups, wash, drain the water and keep it aside

Whole spices:

Whole Spices

Green Cardamoms: 8-10

Black Cardamoms: 4

Cinnamon sticks: 2 inch length 4-5

Black pepper seeds: 8-10

Cloves: 8-10

Bay leaves 3-4

Other ingredients

Onions: 5-6 big ones thinly sliced

Cooking oil: 2-3 tbsp. (you can use ghee or some healthy oil).

Haldi powder: ½ tsp.

Salt to taste

Sugar: 1 tsp.

Start cooking:

First fry the onions till they get the dark brown colour. Remove and keep it aside.

Rub some salt to the prawns, fry and keep it aside for later use.

Fried Onions

Fried Prawns

Next pour in about 2-3 tbsp. of cooking oil (I’ve used oil instead of ghee) in the cooking pot and once it hot put in the bay leaves first.

Then add the other whole spices and stir. The aroma spreads not only in the kitchen space but the whole house.

Whole Spices

Add the rice and stir fry for 4-5 minutes. Next add the haldi powder for the colour.

Now comes in the salt and sugar. Stir for a minute or so and add 4 cups of the prawn stock that you had made earlier.

Cover and let it cook. Once the boil comes simmer the flame and let it cook till the water is completely dry.

Then add prawns and cover and let it remain in the closed vessel for some time. All the juices and aroma has mixed together to give out its flavour.

Before serving add the fried onions and enjoy the taste of the Prawn Pulao.

You can serve a side dish of your choice. I like this as a one pot meal, the fried onions with its individual taste, the whole spices have flavoured the Pulao and the crunch and the bite of the prawns – what a taste!!!

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© gouriguha 2013