Soya Prawn Pilaf
Today seems to be a better day than yesterday. So I was in the mood to cook, thus my Soya Prawn Pilaf. You know you have those days when everything than can go wrong will go wrong, that was the kind of day I had.
When I give my little wisdom on life it doesn’t mean I am a perfect human being, it just means I learn a lot more as I am getting older and becoming a little wiser.
Soya Prawn Pilaf
My Recipes
My life is filled with kind people, I cannot deny that. I have friends that are loyal to me and me to them. We have stuck with each other through thick and thin.
I have followers that are also kind and I receive messages of support all the time, for which I am so grateful. In saying that unfortunately we do have some mean, angry people in this world.
There are people that deliberately try to bash others and hurt them. What do people achieve by this. I’ve had women messaging me to say how disgusting my recipes are and they’ve had to throw ingredients away and I’ve wasted their money.
It was a few in one week so it’s a bit too much ugliness to deal with at one go. Nobody in this world is perfect and if my recipes doesn’t work there could be a number of reasons.
I am not saying my recipes are perfect but if something goes wrong there is a nice way to communicate it. I am always happy to help.
Always be Kind
I am human and I do this for the love of it so if you choose to stay on my blog the least you can do is be kind. I am sorry there are bloggers out there that see their blog as a business but I see it as my passion.
It means the world to me, giving something back to the world is all I ever wanted to do. Thank you to all my grateful followers that appreciate my recipes and my posts and always communicate with respect, whether it’s good or bad.
I guess I am looking for a perfect world which I won’t be finding anytime soon…haha! Wish we could all be a little sensitive to others and be kind, kindness doesn’t cost a thing and yet people struggle to practice it.
I live in hope so maybe one day it will turn into a magical, kind world. Until then I will continue cooking my sometimes “not so perfect” dishes to keep me sane…Lol!
How do I cook the Soya Prawn Pilaf
Like any other pilaf this Soya Prawn Pilaf is cooked with spices, soya prawns and rice. I don’t cook loads of soya, just the odd thing every once in a while. I prefer to cook fresh vegetable as my kids are not fans of soya.
For this Pilaf I fried some onion to scatter on top. I also added potatoes, which I prefer to fry before adding to my Pilaf. Then it’s the sauce for the curry and I fried my prawns just a little before adding it to the sauce.
The Pilaf is then popped into the oven for an hour and it’s done. You can always skip the oven and continue cooking it on the stovetop if you prefer. However, you have to cook it on a low heat and constantly keep an eye on it to prevent scorching.
What Rice do I use
Basmati Rice is my preferred choice for Pilafs and Biryanis,however you can use normal long grain rice. My favorite brand of Basmati rice is definitely Maharani. It is long grains and the rice never gets mushy like some brands of rice.
Cooking Pilaf is a process
It would be a lie if I said this dish wasn’t a little bit of a process to cook. It does require a few steps but I promise any Biryani or Pilaf is worth the effort.
More Indian Rice dishes to try:
Soya Prawn Pilaf
Ingredients
Frying the Prawns
- 2 tbsp vegetable or light olive oil
- 400 gram soya prawns
- 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
- 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
Rice
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 5 cardamom/elachie pods
- 2 pieces cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 star aniseed
- salt
- egg yellow food colouring
Curry
- 2 tbsp vegetable or light olive oil
- 2 large onion
- 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground fennel/soomph
- 1 tbsp masala
- 2 green chillies
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- handful chopped mint
- few sprigs fresh thyme
- 50 gram butter
- 1&1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup oil to fry onion and potatoes
- 2 potatoes cut into wedges
- salt
- coriander for garnishing
Instructions
- Add the star aniseed, cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves and cardamom to the rice. Season with salt. Cook rice until half-cooked as per package instructions. Once cooked drain the excess water. Drizzle some egg yellow food colouring in the centre and set aside
- Add the half cup oil to a pan. Fry one onion until golden brown and crisp and drain on a paper towel.
- The potatoes can be steamed in the microwave for 7 minutes, with a quarter cup of water or boiled until slightly tender. Season with salt. Fry in the same oil as the onion.
- Add 2 tablespoon oil in a pan, add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the chilli powder and mix well. Add the soya prawns and coat it well in the chilli powder. Fry on a low heat for 2 minutes.
- In a large pot heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and saute until golden brown. Add the ginger/garlic paste and cook for a minute
- Add the spices, cumin, coriander, fennel, garam masala, turmeric and masala. Fry for a minute. Add a few drops of water to prevent burning
- Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chillies. Add quarter cup of water. Season with salt and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until tomatoes are cooked. If it gets too dry add a little more water.
- Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and soya prawns and mix well.
- Mix in the rice. Sprinkle the fried onion on top. Place blobs of butter on top of the rice. Drizzle a cup of water over the rice.
- Cook in the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 1 hour or until the water dries up and the rice is cooked. Garnish with coriander
Notes
- If you don't have masala you can use chilli powder for the curry
- The cooking time for the potatoes in the microwave may vary depending on your microwave. You can cook it just until slightly tender
- You can fry the onion for the Pilaf, half at a time or increase the amount of oil and fry it all at once
Turned out delicious. I added some jeera seeds before frying the onions which worked well and added more depth of flavour. Thank you, this will definitely be my go to recipe
That’s great to hear. Glad you enjoyed it:-)
I made your pilaf at a centre that marks exam papers they loved it.
I am new to your recipes and I must say that they are super easy to follow and everything comes out amazing. I really enjoyed making this recipe. And I didn’t need to stress about running to the store for ingredients. So easy so delicious.