Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani #FishFridayFoodies

This Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani is a fragrant dish of well-seasoned seafood quickly seared till golden then mixed with long-grained basmati rice. It’s one of our favorite one-pot meals!

We love biryani but I must confess that it’s not a dish I make very often, primarily because, aside from egg biryani, my favorite kind is made with lamb. Lamb biryani means cooking the meat first, long and slow, in which case I’m probably just going to make lamb curry or lamb stew and serve them with white rice.

It’s just occurring to me that maybe I need to try a lamb biryani in my Instant Pot. I still think it would take longer than this relatively quick bay scallop shrimp biryani.

Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani

If you are using frozen shrimp and scallops in this recipe, make sure to thaw and drain well before you begin. Since we want to get a good sear with color on them, I’d even suggest patting them dry with a paper towel before seasoning. I’ve adapted this recipe from the shrimp biryani in At Home with Madhur Jaffrey.

Ingredients
2 cups or 385g long-grained basmati rice
1 lb or 450g bay scallops
1 lb or 450g medium raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1 small bunch fresh cilantro
5-6 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil or other light oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 2/3 cups or 630ml store-bought or homemade shrimp or fish stock
4 cardamom pods
3 inch or 7.5cm stick cinnamon

Optional to serve:
Fried onions – can be purchased at most Asian markets

Method
Discard any hard stems from the cilantro and then mince the tender stems finely. Chop the leaves roughly and set aside a small handful for garnish at the end.

Rinse and strain the rice with cool cold water until the liquid that comes off the rice is clear. When done, drain the rice. I have a special tool for this that I bought when I lived in Brazil, where it got use daily. It’s called, no surprise, a “lava arroz” which means, wash rice.

You can use a colander or strainer, if the holes are small enough. Finally soak the rinsed rice in more cool water for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the scallops and shrimp with the minced fine cilantro stems, garlic, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a generous few grinds of black pepper. Toss well. Set bowl aside for 5 minutes.

Heat large non-stick skillet over a high heat. Add a small drizzle of the oil and then about a quarter of the shrimp and scallops and sear them quickly. You are looking for a little brown color so avoid stirring for the first minute or so. Check for color with a pair of tongs.

Just starting to brown! 

Cook another minute and tip them into a bowl. Continue with the rest of the shrimp and scallops until all are seared and in the bowl. Add in the lemon juice and the bigger pile of chopped cilantro.

Mix well.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to your skillet. (You will see that I changed pans here. This is because I don’t have a tight-fitting lid for my non-stick skillet. If you do, you can continue in the same pan. I did deglaze my original pan with a little of the stock so I wouldn’t lose the brown bits left behind there.)

Give the cardamom pods a slight bash with your pestle or the flat side of a knife. You just want to crack them open a little. Add the cinnamon to the pan along with the cardamom pods. Fry over a medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Pour the stock into the pan and turn the heat up. Assuming you’ve used the same pan, use a wooden spoon to dislodge any brown bits on the pan.

When the liquid comes to a boil, add the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Stir well, and then cover the pan tightly, reduce the heat to your lowest simmer, and cook for 25 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave the pan to rest covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid of the pan. You can discard the cinnamon stick and the cardamom or leave them in. Up to you.

Distribute the scallops and shrimp over the top of the rice and scrape in any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Cover and set aside for another minute or two.

Stir the mixture gently.  Sprinkle with the reserved cilantro leaves and some crunchy fried onions.

Enjoy!

Check out the other lovely biryanis my fellow Fish Friday Foodies are sharing today. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe and our group leader Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani by Food Lust People Love
• Instant Pot Shrimp Biryani by Making Miracles
• Prawn Biryani + Homemade Naan by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Seafood Biryani by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp Biryani by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tandoori Prawn Biryani For One by Sneha's Recipe

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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