Biryanis & Pulav · Kerala

Fish Biryani

Thick steaks of seer fish fried in a chilli-turmeric crust, nestled into a tomato and shallot masala and steamed under ghee rice with fried onions, cashews and raisins.

Fish Biryani

Prep 30 min · Cook 45 min · Total 75 min + 30 min marinade · Serves 4

Ingredients

Fish

  • 600 g Seer fish (surmai/neymeen) steaks, 2 cm thick
  • 1 ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • ½ tsp Black pepper, ground
  • 1 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • ¾ tsp Salt
  • 4 tbsp Coconut oil, for frying

Masala

  • 2 Large onions, thinly sliced
  • 10 Shallots, sliced
  • 1 tbsp Ginger, crushed
  • 8 cloves Garlic, crushed
  • 5 Green chillies, crushed
  • 2 Tomatoes, chopped
  • ¼ cup Thick yogurt
  • 1 tsp Garam masala
  • ½ tsp Fennel seeds, ground
  • ½ cup Coriander leaves, chopped
  • ¼ cup Mint leaves
  • 1 tsp Salt

Ghee rice

  • 2 cups Basmati or jeerakasala rice
  • 2 tbsp Ghee
  • 4 Green cardamom pods
  • 4 Cloves
  • 1 inch Cinnamon stick
  • 3 ½ cups Boiling water
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 1 ½ tsp Salt

Garnish

  • 3 tbsp Ghee
  • 1 Large onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp Cashews
  • 2 tbsp Raisins

Method

  1. Marinate and fry the fish. Rub the fish with the chilli, turmeric, pepper, ginger-garlic paste, lemon and salt and leave for 30 minutes. Shallow-fry in the coconut oil over medium heat, 2 to 3 minutes a side, until just cooked and crusted. Set aside and keep the oil.
  2. Fry the garnish. In the 3 tbsp ghee, fry the cashews and raisins until golden and lift out. Fry the sliced onion in the same ghee until deep brown and crisp.
  3. Make the masala. In the fish oil, cook the onions and shallots until soft and golden. Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies for 2 minutes, then the tomatoes and salt. Cook until jammy, stir in the yogurt, garam masala, fennel and herbs and simmer for 3 minutes. Lay the fish in the masala and spoon some over the top.
  4. Cook the ghee rice. Heat the 2 tbsp ghee in a pan, add the whole spices and the drained rice and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in the boiling water with the lemon and salt, cover and cook on low until the water is absorbed and the rice is just done, about 12 minutes.
  5. Layer and dum. Spread the rice over the fish masala in its pan (or layer half and half in a wide pot). Scatter the fried onions, cashews, raisins and their ghee. Cover tightly and cook on a tawa over the lowest flame for 15 minutes.
  6. Serve. Rest 5 minutes and serve gently with a big spoon so the fish stays in pieces. Lime pickle, papadam and a cucumber raita go well alongside.

Tips

Fry the fish only until just cooked; it finishes in the dum. Seer is ideal because it holds together, but kingfish, cobia or salmon steaks work.