When you crave for a restaurant style shrimp biryani (shrimp masala and rice) and you just want to have to right in front of you and eat away. Here is the perfect recipe with all those flavors. Just a few simple steps and you can whiz this super yummy and easy shrimp biryani for your friends and family to enjoy. A great way to cook up a one pot dish for lunch or dinner.

Biryani being a very popular and of course delicious dish around the Indian subcontinent can be made using different types of meat. I think a shrimp biryani is definitely a extra special one which can be made very easily as shrimp takes less time to cook and you can also find frozen shrimp which has been deveined and peeled in most supermarkets. Of course you can use fresh shrimp if that is available and it will give you better flavors too. 

I love a shrimp biryani, the flavors are so robust. All the Indian spices bring out so much of the shrimp flavor and when it’s all cooked up with the rice then it’s definitely something to feast on.

My kids love it too and once in a while I love to cook them this special dish with a side of fresh salad or even just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. It’s a easy lunch or dinner and the perfect one dish meal.

Here are few things you will need to make this dish

A heavy bottom pot with a lid. 

Fresh or frozen shrimp, deveined and peeled.

For the curry base, a few whole spices to give it that authentic biryani flavor, these include bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, whole peppercorns, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick. If you don’t  have all of these you can still make it using whatever whole spices you have. Like I didn’t have cinnamon stick and I prefer to use the big black cardamom rather than the small green cardamom. 

Onions and tomatoes for the base of the curry. So a large onion peeled and thinly sliced and 1 large tomato chopped. Also ginger garlic paste. You can use fresh or store bought paste will also do.

Ground Indian spices, turmeric, chili, coriander, garam masala powder, ground nutmeg and mace. These spices will give the biryani that beautiful color as well as that great biryani taste.

Some freshly chopped mint, cilantro and a few green chilies.

Making the biryani 

The first thing I like to do when I am making a biryani is to measure up the rice, rinse the rice with water a few times and let the rice soak while I start cooking. Rinsing the rice with water well help to remove surface starch from the grains. Soaking the rice in water will help the grains to absorb the water and will speed up the cooking process. For biryani I prefer to use long grain basmati rice, it has a flavor of its own and works great with biryani. After 10-15 minutes of soaking the rice you can start to cook the rice whether you want to put it on a rice cooker or use the stove top method. Here you can check out my white rice recipe

Next it is time to get the shrimp ready. Usually I like to use the raw frozen shrimp you can get at the supermarkets which are already cleaned. I just like to defrost them by soaking them in a bowl of water and then rinsing them off. 

Marinate the shrimp with a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Let that sit aside while you start cooking.

In a heavy bottom pot add 1/4 cup of oil and 1 tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter). This is optional if you like the flavor of ghee you can add it, if not you can just use the 1/4 cup of oil.

Add in all the whole spices, let that sizzle for 30 seconds then you can add in the thinly sliced onion. Cook the onion on medium flame until golden brown. 

Add in the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute. Add in the chopped tomato and cook until the tomato softens, 2-3 minutes.

Then in go the spices, turmeric, chili, coriander, garam masala, nutmeg and mace. Cook the spices for a minute and add in 2-3 tablespoons of water just so the spices don’t burn. 

In a small bowl stir the yogurt to get rid of lumps, so it is nice and smooth. Add this into the pot, mix in well, cook for a minute and then add in the marinated shrimp and salt.

Mix everything in well and cook on medium flame for 2-3 minutes. 

Add in the freshly chopped mint, cilantro green chilies and some fried onions (you can find this in most grocery stores sold in packs).

Lastly add in the cooked rice on top of the shrimp masala, do not mix just let that sit on top. Sprinkle on some fried onions and some saffron water (mix a few strands of saffron with 2-3 tablespoons of water). Cover the pot with foil and put the lid on top. Turn the flame all the way to low and cook for 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes, take off the lid and foil. Stir the rice and shrimp masala so the rice folds in with the shrimp masala and you are ready to serve.

Enjoy hot with fresh salad.