half a foodie

Passport & Plate - Fish Biryani

India | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 4 photos

Ingredients
Rice - 500 gm
Carp Fish slices- 500 gm
Onion - 1 and a half + 1 sliced
Turmeric- 1 + 1 tea spoons
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
White Pepper Powder - 1 and a half tea spoons
Garlic Paste : 2 Tea spoons
Ginger Paste: 1 and a half Tea spoons
Yogurt - 200 gm
Poppy Seeds - 1 and half tea spoons ground
Green Coriander - handful chopped
Mint leaves chopped - less than a handful
Salt - to taste
Sunflower Oil - 15 ml + 10 ml
Ghee ( Melted) - 15 ml +10 ml
Mustard Oil - 2 table spoons
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tea spoon
Vetiver essence - 1/2 a teaspoon diluted in 1/2 cup water
Green Cardamom - 5 pods
Cloves - 5
bay leaves - 3

 

How to prepare this recipe
Pour oil and ghee into the pan and heat. Add cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. When they pop, add onion, reduce the heat, stirring a couple of times till onions are pink and fragrant. Increase the heat, add ginger, garlic paste and fry about 2-3 minutes till they lose their raw smell. Add white pepper,coriander powder and turmeric. Fry for 1/2 a minute and then reduce the heat to low, add the yogurt blended with poppy seed paste & 2 cups water. Cook for 12 -15 minutes till the yogurt smells cooked. Keep the heat low at this stage else the yogurt will split and spoil the dish. When the yogurt smells done, add the coriander and mint leaves. Add one cup lukewarm water, mix and add the fried fish, take off the heat, cover and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Rice: Cook with 900 ml water and 10 ml ghee and salt to taste and keep aside.
Fish : Clean Fish. Sprinkle 1 tsp turmeric and salt to taste. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Heat the mustard oil in a fry pan till smoking. Fry the fish slices on high heat for 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices. Flip the slices over and fry for a few minutes till the fish is cooked. Keep aside.

Onion: Heat sunflower oil in a fry pan. Add 1.5 sliced onions and stir till all slices are coated with oil. Reduce hear and fry till onions are caramelized and deep red in color. Keep aside.

Assembling the Biryani: Fluff up the rice with a fork and spread half the rice in a deep, oven proof dish. Sprinkle half the vetiver water and half the garam masala powder over the rice. Spread half the caramelized onions. Arrange the fish slices in a single layer over the onions and pour the leftover sauce on the fish. Cover the fish completely with the rest of the rice. Sprinkle vetiver and garam masala powder over the rice and top with the rest of the caramelised onions. Cover tightly with a lid or aluminium foil and keep in a 180 degree C oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot with Raita

 

The story behind this recipe
As a child growing up in Bihar, India, my first memories are scented with the aroma of freshly caught river fish frying in pungent mustard oil. My parents recount how, as an 18 months old, I used to steal fried fish from the kitchen and pick tiny bones out to eat the sweet, spicy fish.

My favorite food from my mother's kitchen, is fish biryani, a little known nugget of Hyderabadi cuisine which is like a yummy alien to my native eastern Indian cuisine dominated by garlic, chillies and mustard.

My parents on a trip to the south of India tasted this dish with layers of rice, fish and redolent with cardamom, fried onion, vetivier flavors. Of course, mother had to recreate it at home and took several trials to get the flavors just right. From using three different kinds of oils to insisting on a certain size of fish, she focused on every little detail till the mouthful of biryani felt perfect.

The fish used is the common carp from the river Ganga, weighing about 2 to 3 kgs as the younger fish, though tasty, have too many bones for a biryani and the older ones are too fatty to absorb the many flavors going around.

The tangy, spicy sauce, which the fish steeps in, is subtle yet bold. From dry spices like cardamom and poppy seeds to the ubiquitous ginger and garlic, to the green herbs, every element fits into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

When I began to cook the biryani in my own home, I tweaked the recipe to fit the ingredients I could find in the part of the world I was. In Brussels, replacing the fish with mussels, and in Dubai, adding dried lemons gave less than satisfactory results. Singapore saw the addition of chicken stock, to mixed reviews and since moving to Stockholm, dill plays a starring role in the sauce. However, I have given here the classic recipe for the simple reason that it is the closest to my heart. To me, it is both, as cosy and comforting as mother's hug and the epitome of rich, aromatic deliciousness that is Indian cuisine.