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Sugar and spice

Taste some Hyderabadi flavours this week

BLEND OF TASTES Prawn pulao and carrot murraba PHOTOS: T. SINGARAVELOU

This prawn pulao was taught to me by my Hyderabadi friend. It is cooked preferably for an evening meal. Easy to prepare, the pulao can be kept for a day in the fridge. In fact, it tastes better if cooked the previous day. A combination of Basmati rice, prawns, and spices, the pulao goes really well with carrot murraba.

Prawn pulao

Serve 6

Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

Basmati rice - 1 kg
Prawns - one and a half kg
Onions - 4, cut fine
Green chillies - 6, slit
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - 1 piece
Bay leaf - half
Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp
Mint leaves - 1 tbsp
Curd - 3 cups
Saffron strands
(kunguma poo) - 4
Milk - quarter cup to soak
saffron strands

Cashew nuts - 50 gm
Raisins - 50 gm
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp*
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp*
Poppy seeds
(cassa cassa) - 1 tbsp*
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Eggs - 4, hardboiled
Salt
Water - 1litre
*grind together into a fine powder

Method

Soak Basmati rice in water with some salt for 30 minutes. In a deep frying pan, heat ghee, add cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and cardamom and fry for three minutes. Add onions, green chillies and fry till golden. Add cumin, coriander and poppy seeds powder. Fry on a low flame till ghee separates. Add prawns, cook for five minutes. Keep aside. In a separate vessel, bring curd to a boil, add coriander and mint leaves. Add rice, cover pan. Once rice is cooked, arrange rice, prawns, cashew nuts and raisins in layers in another vessel. Add in a corner of the vessel saffron strands and milk. Cook for five more minutes and serve very hot with carrot murraba. Decorate with hardboiled eggs.

Carrot murraba

Serve 6

Time 45 minutes

The carrot murraba is again a Mughlai dish from Hyderabad. Fast to cook, it tastes better if prepared well in advance. It can be preserved for many days in the fridge.

Ingredients

Carrots - half kg, peeled and scrapped

Saffron strands
(kunguma poo) - 6
Milk - 4 tbsp to soak
saffron strands
Sugar - 400 gm
Cardamoms - 5 powdered
Cashew nuts - 50 gm
Raisins - 50 gm
Ghee - 3 tbsp

Method

In a frying pan heat ghee and fry cashew nuts and raisins, keep aside. Pressure cook carrot with sugar (two whistles). Let the pressure drop. Add cardamom, cashew nuts, raisins and saffron strands. Cook till the murraba is thick. Cool and serve with prawn pulao.

KETHARI SRIVANJIAM

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