Prawn Biryani (Kolkata style)

Name: Prawn Biryani
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Westbengal)
Ingredients: Large prawns (golda chingri): 500g, shell-on; Basmati rice: 300g, soaked 30 min; Potato: 200g, peeled and fried whole until golden; Fried onion (birista): 100g; Yogurt: 100g, whisked; Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tbsp; Ghee: 3 tbsp; Whole garam masala: cardamom 5, clove 5, cinnamon 2-inch, mace 1-inch; Kewra water: 1 tsp; Saffron: large pinch, soaked in 3 tbsp warm milk; Turmeric: ½ tsp; Red chilli powder: 1 tsp; Salt: 2 tsp; Oil: 2 tbsp; Do not fully cook prawns in step 3 — they finish cooking in the dum; Kolkata biryani uses potato (not common in other biryanis) — this is non-negotiable; Seal with atta dough for authentic dum cooking; Kewra (screwpine) water is the signature Kolkata biryani fragrance

🍗 Non-veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Hard

Kolkata-style biryani with large prawns, potato and saffron-scented rice layered in the signature Nawabi style with subtle spices.

⏱️30 minPrep

🔥50 minCook

🕒80 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Prawn Biryani

Mix prawns with yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, chilli, ½ the birista, ½ tsp salt.
Rest 30 min.
Boil rice in well-salted water with half the whole garam masala.
Drain at 70% done — rice grains should have a white core.
Set aside.
In oil and ghee, sauté remaining whole spices.
Add marinated prawns; cook 6–8 min until prawns are just cooked.
Do not overcook.
In heavy-bottomed pot: layer half the rice, prawn masala, fried potato, remaining birista, saffron milk.
Add remaining rice on top.
Drizzle kewra water and ghee.
Seal lid tightly (use dough if possible).
Cook on lowest heat 20–25 min until rice is fully cooked and fragrant.
Rest 5 min before opening.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 620 kcal | 32g | 68g | 22g | 3g | Kolkata Biryani descends from the kitchen of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, who brought his royal cooks to Kolkata (then Calcutta) when exiled by the British in 1856. The addition of potato (reportedly to stretch meat during poverty) became its defining signature. Chingri Biryani is a coastal Bengali adaptation of this Nawabi tradition. ---

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