Wash, rinse the rice 2-3 times and let it soak in water for 1 hour
Drain the rice after 1 hour and set aside
Place a saucepan over medium heat, add rice and 6 cups of water
Let water come to a boil, after 5-6 minutes of cooking, add 2 tsp salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Rice should be soft but not overcooked. Drain and set aside
Soak mint and coriander leaves in water
Pour oil and 2.5 tsp into a large wok over medium heat
When hot, add cardamoms and cinnamon
Add bay leaves and stir
Add onions and sauté till translucent, about 1 minute
Add green chillies, garlic, ginger
Add chilli powder and turmeric powder
Add the tomato purée, diced tomatoes and salt to taste
Continue to cook till the tomatoes are soft
Squeeze out the water from the mint and coriander leaves
Add the leaves to the masala
Once the oil separates, add prawns and coat with the masala
Add 1.5 cups of water, mix well, reduce the heat and cook, covered
Remove from heat after about 10 minutes
Combine the lime juice, sugar, yogurt and coconut milk and stir into the prawn mixture
Divide the drained rice and prawn curry into 3 parts
Layer 1 part of the curry mixture into a pan, spreading it across the bottom of the pan. Then layer 1 part of rice on top of the curry. Repeat this 2 more times, to build 3 layers of each
Spoon 1 tbsp ghee into the Biryani.
Cover the pot tightly, return to very low heat for 5 minutes.
1 large egg white, whisked with 2 tbsp cold water (optional)
Sesame seeds (optional)
Method –
Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients to make a soft smooth dough
Cover the dough and let it rise, until it has nearly doubled for 1 to 2 hours
Gently deflate the dough and divide into 8 pieces or it can be made slightly smaller too
Shape each piece into a ball
Flatten each dough ball until it is 3” across
Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
Cover and let rise until noticeably puffy, about an hour.
Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 180°C
Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter
Bake the buns for 15-18 minutes, until golden or for smaller buns, bake for 12-15 minutes
Remove from oven and brush with remaining melted butter
Note – For seeded buns, brush with the optional egg white and cold water mixture, instead of the melted butter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake. Brush the buns with melted butter after baking.