fresh n Delicious: Fish Biriyani- Malabar Style

Biriyani, as we all know is the King of meals and the first thing to come in my mind for any special occasion. There are many varieties of biriyani ranging from hyderabadi to thalassery based on the way of preparation and fish, chicken , mutton , beef , prawns etc based on the ingredients.(just typing these words have already enlightened my taste buds J) . Today I am sharing with you one of the finest thalassery biriyani combination with Pomfret fish...Have a blast!!!

There are 3 major steps for preparing fish Biriyani(any Biriyani).

They are

1) Preparing Gravy/Masala

2) Preparing Rice

3) Dum (is a process of filling cooked rice over the gravy/masala with a layer of fried onions and coriander leaves in between and keeping it in low flame. This will help to get all the flavours of the masala into the rice).

Ingredients for preparing Masala

Any firm fleshy Fish - 500 gm

Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Salt - to taste

Onion (chopped thinly) - 250 gm

Ginger                                  - 1 inch piece
Garlic                                     - 15 medium pods
Green chillies                     - 4
Tomato (sliced)                 - 2
Curd                                      - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves                       - a few
Coriander leaves              - a few
Turmeric powder             - ¼ tsp
Garam Masala                   - ½ tsp
Salt                                         - to taste
Oil                                           - 2 tbsp
Oil for frying fish

Ingredients for preparing Rice

Biriyani Rice (Use Malabar Kaima) - 1 kg

Water - Measure rice in any cup and take 1.5 cups of water for each 1 cup of rice). Quantity of water depends on the type of rice. For some kind of rice, double quantity of water is needed.

Any sunflower oil - 4 tbsp

Ghee                                                                   - 2 tbsp
Cloves /Grambu                                                - 5-6
Cinnamon /Karukappatta                                - 1 inch piece
Cardamom  /Elakka                                           - 3

Ingredients for Dum Process

Onion very thinly sliced - 3

Coriander leaves (chopped finely)           - 3 tbsp
Garam Masala                                                   - 1 tsp
Cashew nut                                                        - 5-10 (as per your taste)
Raisins                                                                  -5-10 (as per your taste)
Fresh lime juice                                                  - of 1 lemon
Oil                                                                         - 100ml

Utensils needed:-

1) A pan for frying the onion, cashew nut, raisins etc.

2) A pan for preparing rice.

3) A non stick pan for preparing masala, which can be used for Dum (to fill cooked rice over the gravy/masala with a layer of fried onions and coriander leaves in between). So take a pan having enough size to place masala and rice.

Initial Preparations:-

Use ingredients under “Ingredients for Dum Process” for the following.

· Heat 100 ml oil in a pan and add thinly sliced onion.

· Saute till it become golden colour.Drain the onion and transfer it into a flat plate.

· In the same oil, fry cashew nuts and raisins and add it to the fried onion.

· Add finely chopped coriander leaves to the fried onion.

· Sprinkle1 tsp of garam masala all over the onion and mix well. Keep it aside. We need this mix later for dumming the biriyani.

Method:-

Step 1:- Preparing Gravy/Masala

· Clean and cut fish into medium size pieces.

· Make a paste of red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt with a little water.

· Marinate fish pieces with the paste for at least 15 minutes.

· Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish pieces slightly. Turn the sides in between carefully. Don’t deep fry the pieces. Keep them aside.

· In the same pan, sauté onion and curry leaves for 1 min. Then simmer the heat and stir in between. From now onwards, keep the flame low always. This will make the onion watery and thus no need for adding any water to the masala.

· Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies and add it to the onion.

· Once it is done, add sliced tomatoes and stir in between.

· When the tomatoes are blended well, add curd,turmeric powder, garam masala and salt to taste.

· Add the fish pieces carefully and cover each piece with the masala.

· After 2 min, turn the sides of the fish.

· Switch off the flame after 2 min.

Step 2:- Preparing Rice

Now, we have to prepare the rice.

· Clean and drain the rice well.

· Heat the required amount of water in a non stick pan. Add crushed cardamom, cinnamon,cloves and salt to the water. Add 4 tbsp of any sunflower oil.

· When the water starts to boil, add rice and mix well. Close with a lid and keep the flame high.

· After about 5 minutes, when rice starts to boil like bubbles, keep the flame low.

· Add 2 tbsp ghee and mix well.

· Check in between and switch off the flame once it is done.

Step 3:- To dum biriyani

Now the next step is to dum the biriyani.

Keep gravy/masala, cooked rice, fried onion- coriander leaves mix and lemon juice together.

· Open the lid of gravy/masala pan.

1) Layer one plate/bowl of rice evenly all over the masala.

2) Add a few of the fried onion, coriander leaves, garam masala mix over the rice.

3) Add 3-4 drops of lime juice over it.

· Repeat these 3 steps until all the rice is layered over the gravy/masala. Close the pan with a firm lid and place it over low flame for 5 minutes.

· Keep the rice pan aside. Don’t wash it now. We need it later at the serving time to transfer the rice.

· Open the lid and check whether you are getting the steam and smell out of it.

· If so, switch off the flame and keep it closed until served.

· At the serving time, transfer all the rice from the top back to the rice pan. Please do this gently by using a spatula/ small plate. Meanwhile mix all the ingredients well.