I was always reluctant to have fish biryani until one day I tasted it in my husband's aunt's place for our virunnu after wedding. It just shattered my belief that fish biryani cannot compete with the taste of other biryanis. So here I am sharing a fish biriyani recipe. The recipe is somewhat similar to that of the chicken biriyani recipe that we posted here. Although fish biriyani tastes best with king fish, I tried this biriyani with salmon which is our favorite fish. This recipe serves around 5-6 people.
Ingredients
1. Fish - Around 3/4 - 1 kg, cleaned and cut into medium-sized pieces
2. Basmati Rice - 2.5 cups
Marinade
3. Chilli powder - 2 tbsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Pepper powder - 1 tbsp
6. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
7. Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
8. Fennel powder - 1.5 tbsp
9. Yoghurt - 2 tbsp
10. Salt - To taste
For masala
11. Onion - 2 large, sliced (Use pearl onions(15-20) to make the gravy more tasty. Crush them along with ginger, garlic, green chillies and the whole spices)
12. Tomato - 2 medium chopped
13. Green chillies - 6
14. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
15. Garlic - 5-6
16. Ginger - 2 inch piece
17. Whole Spices - Cloves- 8-10, Whole pepper corns - 8 - 10, Cinnamon Sticks - 2, Cardamom - 2-3, Bay leaves - 2, Mace - 3-4, star anise - 1, fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp)
18. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
19. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
20. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
21. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
22. Biriyani masala powder - 1 tbsp ( I usually use home-made garam masala but for this recipe I used bombay biriyani masala powder available in the stores here. I always add fennel powder, if I do not use my home-made masala since its flavour predominates my masala powder.)
23. Fennel powder - 2 tsp
24. Salt - To taste
25. Oil - As required
For garnish
26. Fried onion - 1/2 cup
27. Cilantro - 1/2 cup
28. Mint - 1/2 cup
29. Fried cashews and raisins - 1/2 cup
Cooking Rice
To cook rice I usually follow the draining method. Soak the basmati rice for around 30 mts. Boil water in a deep vessel. To the boiling water add ghee – 2 tsp, lemon juice – half lemon, whole spices (peppercorns- 10, cloves – 6, cardamoms - 2, bay leaves-2, cinnamon - 2, fennel seeds – 1tsp, star anise- 2 and mace - 3). I usually add lots of whole spices. Add enough salt. The water should be slightly salty. Now add the soaked rice and cook it to the perfect consistency. Drain the water and allow the rice to cool.
Method
1. Marinate the fish pieces with the items under marinade for at least 4-5 hrs. Keep it in the refrigerator.
2. Shallow fry the fish fillets in oil and keep aside.
3. Crush together ginger, garlic, green chillies and half of the whole spices mentioned under the ingredients for masala.
4. In a wide pan, heat oil and add the remaining whole spices. Saute for a few seconds and add sliced onion. When the onion turns brown add the crushed ginger-garlic-greenchilli-whole spices mixture and saute for a few more minutes.
5. Now add the chopped tomatoes, curry leaves and cook until the tomatoes are all mashed up. Lower the flame and add the masala powders mentioned under the ingredients. Saute for a minute and add 1/2 cup water. Boil the gravy and switch off. Now add the fried fish pieces to this masala and coat them well. Keep aside.
Layering
Smear the base of the baking dish with ghee. Then add the fried onions, chopped cilantro, mint, cashews, raisins, and the fish pieces with some gravy. Now add the rice and repeat the process. The topmost layer should be that of rice with the items under garnish. You can pour the gravy over it. Now seal the cookware with an aluminium foil (so that moisture won’t escape), cover with its lid and bake it at 350 F for around 25 - 30 mts (depending on the cookware you use). If you are planning to keep it for long, cook the rice only till it is 95% done or so. If you are using stovetop keep it at low flame for around 10-15 mts. Serve hot with boiled eggs, raita, pappad and any pickle of your choice. This recipe serves around 5 people.
wow! It looks delicious. I have never prepared fish biriyani. I will give it a try sometime. Great Recipe!!
ReplyDeleteMy fav Biriyani. I always prefer fish biriyani.Looks tempting
ReplyDeleteWow its awesome ... I never knew onion should be browned like this wherever I have read fry till brown.Simply superb step by step pics. Great job dear
ReplyDeleteenttamooooo yivida munushyan officyil vishannu yirippa..appozha biriyani kannichu kothippikkunna............
ReplyDeleteSlurppp!!such a tempting briyani...makes me hungry..
ReplyDeletewow looks mouthwatering, i have never tried doing fish biryani but this one is surely tempting me to try soon...
ReplyDeletewow...adipoli dears..ethu biriyanyum njganlude fav anu..Happy Easter...
ReplyDeleteLove
Kairali sisters
wow such a mouth-watering dish....looks gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteLooks so so so yummy... he he before reading the title just was seeing the picture , I thought the fish marinade as paneer. The biriyani looks too good with stepwise instruction.
ReplyDeleteIn bengal we too make fish biriyani...but I never prepared....urs look so yammy and tempting...thanks for sharing the dish dear...
ReplyDeletedelicious biriyani...love this...nice blog..have added u to my list
ReplyDeleteLooks really delicious.. thxs for visiting my site & ur lovely commen.. added u in my blog list..
ReplyDeleteWow.....iam a first timer here.....my fave biriyani is fish biriyani and my storyis also like urs...never imagined fish boroyani would be s tasty.....i regularly prepare that with king fish..never tried with salmon though...
ReplyDeleteWow!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is first time for me to come across something like this dish.. but i must say u have done a gr8 work.. it is looks just awesome..
ReplyDeleteKeep the good work going...
Awesome..am drooling now :-)
ReplyDeleteThe fish biryani is looking great! I am drooling just looking at it!
ReplyDeleteMyyy all time fav biriyani...
ReplyDeleteMouth watering pics, Biryani looks very tempting, nice clicks Ladies !!
ReplyDeleteThanks a looot :)
ReplyDeleteWow what a decadent biryani.Can you pls pass it on? Looks so yum.
ReplyDeleteSo....when are you going to invite us to your place for a virunnu just to shatter my belief that fish biryani cannot compete with the taste of other biryanis??? ;)
ReplyDeleteWell illustrated recipe Yummy team!