Fish Biriyani

 I haven't posted any biriyanis in ma blog yet. Was not sure whether to post it or not...there are so many delicious biriyani recipes in different blogs that I thought to keep mine away from those. But now, as some of ma friends requested to post it; here it goes:

This is ma mom's spl recipe. She makes the masala black in color, which is really yummy. & we kannurians never uses any color for our biriyanis....we luv the natural color of it.

 Ingredients:

Marinade:
Fish 5-7 pieces
Red chilli powder
Salt
Pepper

Other ingredients:
Ghee 1 tbsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Onion 150-200 gms (depends on how u wud luv ur masala to be..)
Ginger-garlic paste 2 tbsp
Green Chillies 5 or more
Tomato 1 big
Red Chilli powder 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala * 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves 3 tbsp
Mint leaves 2 tbsp

For rice:


Jeerakasala /Basmati rice 1 1/2 cup
Water 2 1/2 cups
Lime Juice 3 tbsp
Ghee 1 tbsp
Oil 3-4 tbsp

Method:

1. Marinate fish in marinade ingredients & keep refrigerated for about 1/2 an hr. Then shallow fry it. Keep 2 pieces without marinating...lik belly pieces or something. Add this to the masala without frying...so that it'll give a nice flavor to the masala.

2.Wash rice atleast 3 times & drain. Make sure that no water is left behind.

3.Cut onions in chunks & pulse them in a food-processor or blender. Don't make paste of it. Just crush them. You can slice them too; but crushing makes it easier to cook.

4.Heat ghee & oil in a pan. Add crushed onions & saute for 2-3 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste. Saute again for a minute more.

5.Now add tomatoes , red chilli powder & coriander powder. Add the fish pieces which we kept aside. Cook till masala is done. You can saute in between. Don't take care of the fish.. let it break down into pieces.

6.By the time, heat ghee & oil in another pan to cook rice. Put rice in it & roast it for 5-6 min in low flame; till it changes its color.

7.Now add boiling water,salt & lime juice. Lime juice is used here to get the rice separated.(not stick to each other). When the water & rice reach the same level, close the lid & allow it to simmer till the rice is cooked. Saute in between.

8. Now time for Dum. For fish biriyani, my Mom always put masala at the bottom to turn it to dark color as u can see in the pic. It always tastes good so. So the masala should not be that dry; otherwise it will get burnt.

9.the dum procedure goes like this. first masala at the bottom, then rice, garam masala powder, coriander & mint leaves. If you are making in huge quantity, then you can preserve some masala to layer it in the middle also & then, repeat the procedure.

10. Garam masala smells & tastes good if u make it at home freshly. I used to make it fresh ;a small qty; whenever ther's some guests arrived. It really smells awesome..

Garam Masala (yields 2 tbsp)

Saunf 1 tsp
Cardamom 2
Clove 2
Cinnamon 1" stick
Black Cardamom 1(only the inner thing)
Nutmeg 1/2
Star anise 1/2
Mace 1

Heat this for min or 2 ..till a nice aroma gets out of it. then powder it using a garlic crusher.(spice crusher).