‘Shrimp Pulav‘ is my go to recipe for any busy or lazy day 😉. It is a real one pot wonder, requires staple ingredients from Indian pantry and really minimal preparation time. I always like to store packet of shrimps in my freezer section, so just thaw them and use for recipe. A delicious, family favourite meal will be ready under 45 minutes. This Shrimp Pulav is delicious on its own but you can serve hot with any side dish like salad/ raita & papad or chutney/pickle.

So, let’s jump to the recipe of pulav. I have used frozen shrimps in this recipe but it works even better when prepared with raw shrimps or king prawns. If you like to use raw shrimps/prawns, then stir it into the pan once onion masala is ready. Stir until it absorbs all goodness of this masala. And then follow rest of the recipe.

Ingredients:

150 gms frozen shrimps

1 cup basmati rice

1 larger red onion

2 green chillies

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

2 green cardamom

1 black cardamom

5-6 cloves

1 star anise

1 inch cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

Salt as per taste

Water for cooking

Fresh coriander for garnishing

Method:

Rinse basmati rice under cold water. You can you use any variety of rice for this recipe but somehow basmati works best for any rice dish. Then soak this rice for maximum 30 minutes.

I like to use shrimps at room temperature for this recipe. So I thaw these shrimps and apply little turmeric and red chilli powder to it. These shrimps are already cooked, so they’ll hardly absorb flavours from any spice. Still I like to apply some turmeric and chilli powder; just to add some colours.

But incase raw shrimps are used, then definitely apply powdered spices like turmeric, kashmiri chilli and red chilli. And keep aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, start preparing onion masala for the recipe.

Heat a pan or kadhai on high heat and add oil into it.

Once oil is hot, turn heat to medium and add cumin seeds. Cumin will starts spluttering, immediately tip -in whole spices ie, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, & star anise.

Stir them for few seconds and they’ll immediately starts releasing their aroma.

Next, add sliced red onions and mix everything together.

Onions starts changing the colour, then add ginger-garlic paste along with turmeric, kashmiri chilli, red chilli and coriander powder.

Mix everything together and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Tip in slit green chillies in to the pan. Our onion masala for one pot pulav is almost ready.

Make a layer of this cooked masala and add soaked rice on top of it. (Do not mix everything at this point, just keep it in layers).

Add double amount of hot water over the top. For 1 cup of rice, I have used 2 cups of hot water.

Cover with lid and let it cook on low heat.

Once water evaporates and rice is almost 95% cooked, add garam masala over the top. Also add cooked shrimps and season with salt.

Now gently, fold everything until shrimps and rice are coated with masala.

If required, add little water and sprinkle chopped coriander over the top.

Cover it again and simmer for another 5-6 minutes, then turn off the heat.

Once heat is turned off, do not open the lid immediately. Allow the pan to stand with lid on for another 7-10 minutes. This helps to keep rice granules intact without breaking.

Now our Shrimp Pulav is ready, gently fold it.

If you like then sprinkle some more fresh coriander over the top and serve hot.

I hope you would love to try this recipe. If you like one-pot recipes then do checkout my other recipes here.

As always, incase of any feedback or suggestions, I am all ears 🙂

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