Shrimp Tacos
Yewande Komolafe
2241 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,241
35 minutes
Pressure Cooker Shrimp Biryani
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 2cups basmati rice
- 2teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1onion, chopped
- 1Serrano chile, minced
- 2tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 1tablespoon minced garlic
- 2teaspoons kosher salt
- 1teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder
- 1teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1teaspoon smoked paprika
- 10fresh curry leaves, torn into pieces
- 1½cups boiling water
- 1½pounds jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 or fewer per pound, see note), peeled and deveined
- 1(15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
- 2teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more wedges for serving
- ½cup chopped fresh cilantro
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
365 calories; 3 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 56 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 28 grams protein; 784 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Place the rice in a bowl and cover with 2 cups water. Let stand for 20 minutes, then drain and rinse.
- Step 2
Heat oil in the pot of an electric pressure cooker with the sauté function set on high, until oil is shimmering. Add onion; cook for about 4 minutes, until softened. Stir in Serrano chile, ginger, garlic, salt, chile powder, turmeric, paprika and curry leaves; cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Step 3
Stir in boiling water; using a wooden spoon, stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Stir in soaked rice, shrimp and tomatoes (with juice).
- Step 4
Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Quick-release the pressure, stir lime juice into the rice, then cover the pressure cooker with a kitchen towel and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Step 5
Give rice a stir, then taste and add more salt, if needed. Transfer to a platter, garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges on the side.
Tip
- Make sure to use jumbo shrimp or larger for this recipe. Look for “16/20” or “U/15” on the package; this indicates how many shrimp there are per pound.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
scottdsimon
Double the water or the tomatoes: My Instant Pot gave me a "Burn" error because there wasn't enough liquid to create a pressure seal.
Irfan
Technically, this dish should be called Pulao (which is basically Pilaf) since the curry and rice are mixed together and cooked. In a Biryani on the other hand, the par boiled rice are LAYERED with the sauce, and cooked on low heat on a stove top or baked in an oven.
Lucy
I halved this delightful recipe and made a few changes, as follows: 1) I didn't have fresh curry leaves, so I used curry powder (approx. 1.5 tsp) 2) I didn't have fresh limes, so I used leaves from my (indoor, potted) lime tree. Delicious! 3) Shrimp is expensive and I am a millennial who can't afford avocado toast, so I only put in 8 (frozen) shrimp for my 1 cup of rice, but then I added a healthy handful of cashews for more oomph. Would be easy to make vegan with tofu & nuts!
Diane
As written, yes. You can cook in a pan with a tight-fitting lid. After Step 3 cover the pan and cook as you normally would for rice. BUT-use the amount of water you'd use for stove-top rice and skip the soaking. The liquid in the tomatoes may make it more saucy. You can add shrimp with 5 min or so to go and let it steam. If using cooked shrimp just heat. Not traditional-I know. Or follow (rice part) https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12966-turkey-biryani it includes soaking rice and baking
Annie
So do I understand that this recipe can only be used with a pressure cooker? I do not own one and don't think at my age of 83 I want to go through the expense of buying one. Can the NYTimes cooking sight please give an alternate way, other than instapot or pressure cooker to put this together?
Bob
Curry leaves are totally different than curry powder and neither can be substituted for the other. Curry leaves are hard to found outside big cities with Indian groceries so I substitute a bit of lime juice and some chopped lime zest. Not the same as real curry leaves, but they give another flavor layer.
S
Curry leaves as used in Indian cooking are Murraya Koenigii. Don't buy 'curry plant' (helichrysum) which has no connection to Indian cooking. Curry leaves are sometimes called Meetha Neem (sweet neem) in Indian grocery stores. Don't confuse it with regular Neem (Azadirachta Indica) which is intensely bitter, medicinal, and used in medicines, toothpastes, cosmetics, organic pesticides, etc.
Bob
Google "Indian recipes shrimp biryani" and you will find thousands of recipes for this dish that do not require an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Enjoy.
ngsarathy
Excellent. Here were my modifications. 1. Fried whole cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, and a bay leaf in hot oil for 10-20 seconds before adding anything else to the pot. Then continued. 2. Couldn’t bear to risk pressure cooking shrimp, with so many mixed reviews. So I sautéed them for a minute at the end of step 2 and removed to a plate. They were just starting to turn pink. After pressure cooking, and 5 mins on warm, I added the shrimp back for a further 5 mins on warm.
Howard
It should read in the body of the article "This version, from Chandra Ram's 'The Complete Indian Instant Pot Cookbook'" ("Essential" appears in the text instead of "Complete"). The correct title is given at the bottom of the article.
Matt K
Are there any changes for a stovetop pressure cooker? And is it necessary to boil the water first?
S
Just FYI: Curry leaves have no relation to curry powder. The latter is a spice blend that does not contain curry powder. The flavour of curry leaves is totally different. I am sure your variation tasted good, but just so you know that it's not an equivalent substitution.
Ram
Usually typical Indian biryanis or pulaos recipes doesn't add curry leaves in them. You can substitute with bay leaves or (Aachi or Shah) Biryani masala powder.
Priti Kohli
There is absolutely no need to use a pressure cooker for this recipe. Also, it's more a pulao than a biryani (which is a layered dish)
Carlos
What if I only have a stovetop pressure cooker?
j
Good. Used 1 lb cooked shrimp, 1.25 cups rice, a little less than 1 tsp each of curry powder, chili powder, turmeric and paprika. Did all the frying on the stove, then transferred to instant pot.
Arwood
Just tried this recipe and I really don’t think it works. The rice was wet and more like risotto and the shrimp were overcooked and tough as rubber. Pressure cookers are great, but not for this
ML
This was delicious. Wasn’t able to get curry leaf but the internet told me that makrut lime zest was a substitute, and it worked beautifully
E
The sauce didn't set up as thick as I'd have liked. Even after letting the dish rest for a bit.
aashumi
Fantastic - follow to the tee everytime
Rez
I made this in my InstantPot but used a 28oz can of tomato, a half cup more boiling water, a lot more garlic and chili peppers (I used bird's eye instead of serrano) and it came out perfect. I also skipped the curry leaves because I didn't have any and I served with lemon slices instead of lime because it's what I had.
Amy C for Comfort Cook
This was delicious, but out of proportion for my personal preferences — too much rice, and not enough sauce or shrimp. But it’s difficult to make ratio adjustments to an instant pot recipe without scorching it or turning it into mush. I added spinach to boost the veggie content, and found a good sub for chili powder, which I didn’t have. For every 1 tablespoon chili powder, use 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne.
Elizabeth
Mixed ingredients and cooked for 20 min on IP Stew/Meat setting. That was way too long; rice was mushy. Next time , much shorter cook time. Tasted great though!
Tía Joan
I cooked this according to the recipe in an Instant Pot. I did add an extra 1/2 cup water but it was perfect. Key is giving it a good stir after adding the rice and tomatoes. No “burn” issues.
p forsyth
I made this recipe exactly as instructed and I cannot recommend this recipe. In fact I am not sure that many changes could help it. I did not have any issues with it being "to wet" or undercooked etc. It was just totally not good. We ate it.... I make a lot of Indian food so I do have experience cooking and eating it. I probably should not have tried it in the first place since the recipe looked suspect from the get go. Sorry.
elena
there's no need to soak the rice, it overcooks if you do
Mike
Tasty, plenty of liquid (per a previous comment), but rice was undercooked. Probably a better dish not in the pressure cooker so you can add shrimp towards the end
jane
I'll add my vote to the add more water camp. The only change I made to the recipe was that I used 21-25 size shrimp, frozen and thawed, in an attempt to make this dish a little more $$ friendly. Got a food burn notice on my instant pot. The rice cooked despite the warning, but I did add water at the end to loosen it up and after sitting in the IP for a little too long the texture was a little too soft. The taste was great though!
Ruby
I attempted to avoid burn issues by sautéing the onion spice mixture on the stovetop before adding it to the IP and doubling the water. This was still not enough, and I ultimately had to abandon the IP and transfer to the stovetop. Beware!
Eric
I followed the instructions here but the InstantPot would never generate enough pressure to seal. The InstantPot alarmed with a "food burn" message and shut off. I added more water and restarted with the same result. After 3 tries I gave up. I am confident that I was using it correctly and am wondering if there was not enough water?
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