If there is one rice dish that I would choose over all others, it would be biryani. The succulent meat, the flavorful spicy rice with cool raita makes it such a delight to eat. And even when I was going low carb, I was not prepared to miss out on this favourite of mine. There were some obvious choices I had to make sure that I could have my biryani and eat it too. Brown rice was the obvious choice for rice and there were choices on lean chicken and prawns that I have experimented with. Both give wonderful results. My kids like the chicken version whereas I prefer the prawns version because with some left over cooked brown rice, I can turn any weeknight dinner into a very special one with just a few minutes effort.

The trick to making it a healthy dish is to use a much higher than usual ratio of meat/seafood to rice. This ensures that the protein is filling and satisfying and lesser quantities of rice are consumed. Brown rice is anyways much more filling than the usual white rice and lower GI so the meal gives sustained energy for much longer. There is not loss of flavor in this dish as the whole spices and masalas add plenty of flavour.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup prawns (peeled)

1/2 cup red onions (thinly sliced)

1/2 cup fresh tomatoes (chopped)

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp grated garlic

1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended)

Whole Spices mix (3-4 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 2 green cardamom, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 mace flower, 4-5 black peppercorns)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Salt & red chilli powder to taste

2 tsp biryani masala

1 tsp olive oil

2 tsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

Method:

1. Put olive oil in a non stick pan over medium low heat. Add the whole spices mix and cook for about 30 seconds till they become fragrant.

2. Add the ginger and garlic and let it soften for a minute.

3. Add the sliced onions and cook them for 3-5 minutes till the onions are cooked.

4. Then add the tomatoes to it till the tomatoes have cooked and are soft (another 2-3 minutes). Add the salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and cook for another minute. Turn off the fire and let the mixture cool for sometime.

5. In the meantime, add some salt, red chili powder and 1tsp biryani masala to the prawns. Leave them for 3-5 minutes till the onions mixture cools down.

6. Once the onions have cooled, add the yogurt to it and mix well. Add the prawns to this mixture and top with green coriander leaves. Combine well.

7. In a wide bottomed non stick pan, add half of the cooked rice on the bottom and spread it out evenly. Then add the prawns mixture and spread evenly on top. Cover with the rest of the rice and pat it down well. Sprinkle some more coriander leaves.

8. Cover the pan and place over very low heat for 15-20 minutes till the prawns are cooked. Mix everything together and serve hot with gravy/plain yogurt/raita of your choice.