Gayathri Pai's Food Bytes: Pineapple Prawns Coconut Pulav.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Pineapple Prawns Coconut Pulav.

"Spicy Pineapple Prawns Coconut Pulav And Clams Dry Curry (Kubbe Sukke) along with Pineapple Juice And Pineapple Raita ... Sounds strange ... Cooking of prawns in pineapple juice along with coconut and spices ... Just try this old recipe of mine which is loved very much by my friends ... Tastes Yumz ...

Pineapple prawns coconut pulav was done just on a whimsical. I had a large pineapple sitting on table in my home. So many items were already prepared before using pineapple, making the same dishes over and over again is never appealing to me. I always like to venture out into new fields. Be it in cooking, reading or otherwise. Somewhere I had read about pineapple pulav and always was a bit skeptical about making it as it was a sweeter version, which is not relished much in my house.

After cracking my brains a lot, I thought why not make a fish pulav out of it. Well the most appropriate fish for pulav is always prawns. So went to the nearby market and bought some prawns. The rest of the ingredients were readily available at home. After thinking a lot, I finally came up with my very own version of pineapple prawn coconut pulav and the rest I should say is history. Now I am eager to prepare it again to really sit and relish without any anxiety whatsoever, as the first time, I was worried sick as to the outcome of the dish. I was only relieved after my husband gave me the thumbs up sign and ate it without a murmur.

For the pulav : Wash and soak 2 cups of basmati / jeera rice in plenty of water for 30 minutes. Remove, wash again and let drain on a colander for some time.

Shell some green peas from its pods and keep them ready aside. You should have about one cup of green peas. Cook them in little bit of water till half done and keep it ready. You can microwave for 2 minutes too.

Remove the skin, devein and wash 200 gms of prawns and keep them ready aside.

Keep ready 200 ml of coconut milk. You can either use readily available one’s from store or you can prepare the same. I have used Dabur Homemade Coconut Milk …. Ready made one's available in Tetra pack.

Peel of the spiky outer skin of a small sized pineapple, clear off the eyes on the inner side of the flesh and cut them into triangular pieces after removing the center core part. Keep the core part aside you can use it while preparing the juice. You should have about 2 cups of pineapple pieces. Microwave these pineapple pieces for 2-3 minutes and keep aside. Alternatively you can cook them on a pan with little bit of water for 5-7 minutes. Add the remaining pineapple into a juicer or blender along with the center core part and remove juice out of it. You should get about 200 ml of thick Juice of pineapple.

For the Masala : Peel and chop 1-2 large onion, 10-12 flakes of garlic and 1 inch ginger finely. Put this in a mixie grinder with 1 tblsp of kashmiri red chilly powder (less pungent one’s), 1 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of jeera powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp fennel powder, pinch of haldi and pinch of cardamom. Grind to a smooth paste. You can grind this adding a little bit of the pineapple juice or water. Keep this ready aside.

For Cooking : Now add both the coconut milk and pineapple juice (It should come up to about 5 cups) in a vessel and bring to a boil. Let it simmer aside.

For making of Pulav : Heat 1 cup of ghee / oil in a thick bottomed kadai. When hot, lower the heat and add in 10-12 curry leaves and 2 bay leaves. Add in the ground masala and fry for 5-7 minutes.

Lower the heat and add in the prawns, green peas and pineapple piece. Mix well, cover and cook on slow for 5-7 minutes. The prawns will get cooked by then.

Now add in the rice and the coconut + pineapple mixture, mix well and bring to a boil on high heat. When the rice comes to full boil, lower the heat to minimum, cover and cook till 80% done.

When almost done, once again mix the pulav lightly, so as to not break the rice.

Add about ½ cup of finely chopped coriander leaves on top. Cover and cook till done.

Remove and serve with pinapple raita or any other salad.

This curry does not need any spicy gravy as an accompaniment as the pulav is on spicier side. So a raita or curd is the best combination to go along with it.

** Given below are the links to the other recipes that are in the picture along with this dish, Please do go through the dishes and try out as they are excellent in combination along with the pulav.