Kerala Style Fish Biryani

My Amma makes the best best best fish biryani, okay, I maybe a bit biased. But of all the biryani Amma makes, this one is my favourite. What I love about it is that this biriyani isn’t that difficult and and the flavour is too good!

Fish biryani is made with many kinds of fish, but for me it’s always Kingfish (Surmai, Ayakoora, Vanjiram, Neymeen). The smell and texture of Kingfish is the best for biryani. I have made a detailed recipe of my Amma’s fish biryani. Do try it and let me know, how you liked it!

Kerala Style Fish Biriyani

Lejna

A flavourful biryani made with fish and Jeerakashala rice.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Dum Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 55 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, Kerala Cuisine

Servings 3 servings

Ingredients

  

• 3 nos Large kingfish steaks

Fish Marinade

• 1 tbsp Red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• Salt as per taste
• ½ cup Oil to fry

Biryani Masala

• 4 nos Large onions thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
• 1 no Tomato thinly sliced
• 1 tsp Red chilli powder
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Garam masala
• 1 handful Mint leaves
• 1 handful Coriander leaves

Rice

• 2 cups Jeerakashala rice washed and drained
• 2 nos Onion thinly sliced
• ¼ cup Cashews split
• 2 nos Bay leaf
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 3 nos Cardamom
• 3 nos Clove
• ½ cup Ghee

Instructions

 

Frying the Fish

• Marinate the fish with red chilli, turmeric powder and salt and keep aside for atleast 15 minutes.
• Pour in the oil and fry the fish till its ¾th cooked.
• Remove the fish from the oil and set aside.

Biryani Masala

• Add onion to the hot oil that's leftover from frying the fish. Lower the flame and saute the onions till they become mushy and almost caramelised.
• Add ginger garlic paste to this and saute till the raw smell goes. Add sliced tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are well cooked.
• Add all the masalas and saute for 2 mins. Pour around ¼ cup of hot water and mix well. Cook the masala till its a thick gravy, add the fried fish, coat the fish well with the masala, close and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes add half of the leaves and close the pan.

Cooking the Rice

• Heat ghee in a deep vessel.
• Fry the sliced onions in the ghee till its golden brown. Remove and set aside.
• Fry the split cashew till it's golden colour. Remove and set aside.
• Add the bay leaf, cardamoms, clove and cinnamon to the hot ghee and saute for 2 minutes.
• Add the washed and drained rice to this and saute till you hear light popping sound of fried rice. At this point add 3½ cups of hot water to the rice, add salt, stir well and close the vessel.
• Fluff the rice once in every 10 minutes to see how it is getting cooked. Be gentle when you fluff it so that you do not break the rice.
• Once the water dries up , check the rice whether it's cooked. If there is a bite to the rice, sprinkle ½ cup of hot water on the rice, close the lid, and off the flame.
• Check the rice after 10 minutes. It will be done.

Layering the Biryani

• Spread the fish with the masala in a deep vessel. Sprinkle ¼ of the caramelised onions on the fish masala. Sprinkle a little mint and coriander leaves too.
• Then layer the cooked rice on top of this . Don't pat the rice down. Instead fluff it and layer. This allows the masala flavour to seep into the rice.
• Once you have layered the rice, put the remaining caramelised onions, cashews, mint and coriander leaves. Sprinkle 1 tsp of garam masala also on top.
• Cover the vessel with aluminium foil. Close it tightly with a lid.

Preparing the Dum

• Traditionally dum is prepared by laying hot coals on top of the biriyani. As we cannot replicate this I used an alternate method.
• I take a vessel that is lesser in diameter than the biryani vessel. Fill it ¾ with water. Heat the water till it comes to a rolling boil. Lower the flame. Now place the biriyani vessel on top of this vessel.
• You need to be extremely careful so as to not topple the vessels.The vessel bearing the hot water must be a flat one so that it remains sturdy.
• Dum the biriynai this way for atleast 45 minutes.
• After that take it off the heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
• Open the dum, fluff your rice and relish your biryani with onion raita and beetroot pickle.

Keyword Fish Biriyani, Fish Biryani, Meen Biriyani