Thursday, July 10, 2014

Fish Biryani (Meen Biryani, Machli Baath, Fish Pulao, Fish Biriyani)

Basmati rice - 2 cups
Fish fillets - 4
Onion - 1
Green Chillies - 2 (minced)
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tblsp
Tomato - 2 ( crushed)
Coriander leaves(Cilantro) - handful
Mint leaves - handful
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 2 tblsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 5
Cinnamon stick - 2 pieces
Cardamom - 2 pods
Bay leaf - 1
Star anise - 1
Cashew nuts/ Almonds - 10

For fish
Oil - 3-4 tblsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Egg - 1

Method
1. Wash and soak the rice for half an hour. Fry the rice in 1 tblsp of ghee and keep aside.(optional)
2. Cut the fish fillets into small pieces.
3. Take a small bowl, beat the egg in it and mix the spices under 'For fish' with it (chilly powder, pepper powder, salt and turmeric powder).
4. Coat the fish pieces with the above mixture and shallow fry it. Keep it aside.
5. Heat ghee in a deep pan and add cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf, star anise and cloves.
6. Add onions and fry till it becomes golden brown. Add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for 2-3 mins, until the raw smell disappears.
7. Add the tomato puree along with the chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and curd and fry till a nice spicy paste is formed.
8. Add part of the chopped coriander leaves saving a part for garnishing. Add chopped mint leaves and fry for another minute.
9. Add the nuts to this mixture.
10. Put the above mixture with the rice into a rice cooker with 3 cups water and let it cook.
11. Once the biryani is done add the fried fish pieces to it. Gently toss everything without breaking the rice and keep covered for 10 minutes. Do this when the biryani is still very very hot so that the flavor of the fish will get blended with the rice.
12. Garnish with cilantro and few fried fish pieces on top and serve with raita.

Variations
      - Try using dried fish and make Karuvadu Biryani (Dry Fish Biryani).

Tips
- The juice of a lemon can be mixed at the end to give additional flavour.
- If you like bits of fish pieces all over the biryani. scramble the fried fish pieces and mix it with the cooked rice.

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