Malabar meen biriyani - malabar style fish biriyani (fish and rice casserole)

Ingredients

For Fish masala:

• 600 gm (4 Large pieces) King fish.

To marinate the Fish:

• 1 tablespoon Kashmiri Chilly powder
• 2 teaspoons Coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon lime juice
• ½ - ¾ teaspoons salt
• 10 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying fish and making masala.

For the gravy:

• 3 medium-large onions crushed in processor
• 2 1/2 medium size tomatoes chopped
• 12 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 5 green Chillies, chopped fine
• 4" piece ginger, crushed
• 1 teaspoon pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves 6-8 mint leaves,chopped
• 2-4 tablespoons water
• ½ teaspoon fennel seed powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, or as reqd
• 1 teaspoon garam masala.

For the Ghee rice:

• 3 cups Basmati rice
• 4 1/2 cups boiling water
• salt-as required
• 3 tablespoons Clarified butter/ghee
• 1 large onion sliced
• 2 tablespoons raisins,washed
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cardamom
• 7 cloves
• 4 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon extra garam masala to sprinkle while layering rice

For Garnishing:

• 4 tablespoons Almonds blanced,peeled and roasted or cashew nuts
• 1 large onion sliced
• 2-3 tablespoons raisins
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder + little water/ few strands of saffron soaked in water/little yellow or orange food colour.

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Preparation

• The Fish masala:
  Wash the fish, drain and marinate them in kashmiri Chilli powder, Coriander powder turmeric powder, lemon and salt for half an hour. Heat a large non-stick saucepan to high, and add the oil. When hot, shallow fry the fish briefly on both sides, turning once or twice. Drain them in the kitchen towel. In the same oil add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chillies along with salt and cook until the onions have become soft for about 10 - 15 minutes.
• Add in the chopped tomatoes and pepper powder. Reduce the heat to medium and cover and cook until the tomatoes become soft and you get a thick gravy.At this point of time, add the chopped mint leaves, chopped coriander leaves, garam masala, fennel powder and lime juice. Reduce the flame to low, stir well, cover and cook for another 4 -5 minutes.Add 2-4 tablespoons of water and stir well.
• You can break the fish into 2,3 pieces if they are really big. Add in the half fried fish and cook on very low flame for about 15-20 minutes so that the flavour of the fish diffuse in the gravy and the gravy is thick.
• For preparing the Ghee Rice and the garnish:
  Wash rice several times and soak the rice in normal tap water while you prepare the fish masala, for about ½ -1 hour. Boil water in the kettle or a large cooking vessel. Heat a large pan to high heat and add ghee and oil. Sauté the onions to be garnished until golden and take them out. In the same oil, sauté the cashews or peeled almonds until golden and keep them along with onions. In the same manner sauté raisins until it puffs up. Keep them with the fried onions and nuts.
• For preparing the Ghee Rice and the garnish:
  Wash rice several times and soak the rice in normal tap water while you prepare the fish masala, for about ½ -1 hour. Boil water in the kettle or a large cooking vessel. Heat a large pan to high heat and add ghee and oil. Sauté the onions to be garnished until golden and take them out. In the same oil, sauté the cashews or peeled almonds until golden and keep them along with onions. In the same manner sauté raisins until it puffs up. Keep them with the fried onions and nuts. For preparing the ghee rice, In the same oil, add onions and sauté until the onions turns soft. At this stage add cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, raisins and cumin seeds and sauté for a couple of minutes until the aroma of the spices starts coming out.
• For layering the biryani and final cooking:
  Divide the rice in 3 parts and masala in two parts. Take a large heavy based vessel and rub it with oil or ghee. Layer the bottom of the vessel with the first part of the rice. Sprinkle a 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala all over and scatter one half of fish masala over the rice. Tip in the second part of rice and sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala (1/4 teaspoon) all over again. Scatter the second half of fish masala over the rice and then tip in the third part of rice and sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala (1/4 teaspoon) all over again. Now you can sprinkle yellow or orange food colouring in streaks if you like to have few yellow grains.Use ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder mixed in little water. You may use saffron soaked in water as well.
• For layering the biryani and final cooking:
  Divide the rice in 3 parts and masala in two parts. Take a large heavy based vessel and rub it with oil or ghee. Layer the bottom of the vessel with the first part of the rice. Sprinkle a 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala all over and scatter one half of fish masala over the rice. Tip in the second part of rice and sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala (1/4 teaspoon) all over again. Scatter the second half of fish masala over the rice and then tip in the third part of rice and sprinkle a good pinch of garam masala (1/4 teaspoon) all over again. Now you can sprinkle yellow or orange food colouring in streaks if you like to have few yellow grains. You may use saffron soaked in water as well. Cover the entire vessel with foil, then close the lid tightly. Place a weight over this vessels and cook on hob top for about 20-30 minutes at very low heat. This is to infuse the flavour of the biryani masala into the rice and this process of cooking is called. You can also do the layering in an ovenproof vessel and place it in a preheated oven at a very low temperature for about 20-30 minutes for the final cooking. Enjoy with Cucumber Raita, tomato and onion salad, thenga chammanthi, pickle and pappadams.