No Kidding! I love King fish biryani more than chicken or mutton biryani…
First, let’s talk a bit about King fish as it is quite unheard of in North America. King fish is a sea fish that is found in the Indian ocean and is very popular in Southern India. I personally think it is the most tastiest fish. It is an expensive fish and is often served in many fine dining restaurants in India. So where do you buy this fish? You can find king fish in some of the Indian stores (call ahead to check – sometimes they can get it for you even if they don’t carry) and in Asian supermarkets. I prefer buying king fish from the Asian supermarkets as they have it fresh.
I grew up eating biryani, chicken/mutton biryani being often made by my mom. Once in a while, when she gets hold of fresh king fish, she would surprise us with king fish biryani.
I love fish fry and so while starting to make any fish dish my first thought would be to “fry it”. I always wish if I could find a way to fry the fish without using oil and still get the same taste. Grilling does help to some extent, but it just cannot replace frying. Good thing about this biryani is that I fried the fish first and then made the fish masala with it. So, I get to taste the fried fish along with the biryani.
If you haven’t yet tasted fish biryani, it’s big time you make this biryani and you’ll be surprised on how your taste buds go crazy.
Cooking Video
King fish Biryani
Ingredients:
For marinating the fish:
- King fish, steak- 2 pounds (8 to 10 pieces)
- Chili powder- 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Salt- 1 tsp
For frying fish:
- Oil- enough for frying
For making Kingfish masala:
- Oil used for frying fish- 5 tbsp
- Onion, large cut thin and long- 3
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Tomatoes, chopped- 2
- Kashmiri or regular Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tsp
- Yogurt (not sour)- 3 tbsp
To grind:
- Garlic, chopped- 2 large cloves
- Ginger, chopped- 2 inch slice
- Small onions- 6
- Green chilies- 2 to 4 (based on your heat level)
- Whole Cardamom- 2
- Cloves- 2
- Cinnamon- 2 inch slice
For cooking rice:
- Basmati rice- 2 cups
- Dried bay leaves- 2
- Whole cardamoms- 2
- Ghee- 1 tbsp
- Water- 3 1/2 cups
- Salt- 1 tsp
Other ingredients for garnishing:
- Fried onions- 1 Onion, cut thin and long and fried in oil till golden brown.
- Cilantro, chopped
- Mint, chopped
Instruction
- Clean the king fish steaks under running water, if you want you could cut the steak into medium-sized pieces.
- Add the spices mentioned for ‘marinating the fish’, spread all over the fish, let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Shallow fry the fish in enough oil till golden in color. Avoid over frying the fish, Keep aside on a paper towel.
- Place a large pan over medium heat, add 5 tbsp of oil used for frying fish.
- Add onions along with curry leaves and 1/2 tsp salt, cook covered till onions turn translucent.
- Grind- garlic, ginger, small onions, green chilies, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon together into a coarse paste.
- When the onions turn soft, add the ground paste, saute for a few minutes.
- Cook till onions turn golden brown in color.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook till mashed.
- Add chili powder, fennel powder and coriander powder and 1/2 tsp salt; combine well.
- Add the fried fish and gently combine everything.
- Add beaten yogurt, combine well, cook covered for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid, let all the liquid in the masala dries off.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep aside covered.
Making Rice:
- Soak the rice with 3 cups water for 15 minutes.
- Rinse the soaked basmati rice taken in a large strainer under running water.
- Combine rice, bay leaves, whole cardamom, ghee, salt and water.
- Cook in a rice cooker till the rice is well done. Or cook in a saucepan over stove top for 15 to 20 minutes.
How to layer the rice and fish masala:
- In a large pan or wok, spread half of the fish masala as the first layer.
- Top with half of the rice as the second layer.
- Sprinkle chopped cilantro, mint leaves and fried onions.
- Again repeat layering with fish masala, rice, finally top it with cilantro, mint leaves and fried onions.
- Close the pan tightly with aluminum foil and then with its lid.
- Place the pan over low flame and cook for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and keep aside covered.
- While serving, combine the rice and fish masala together, serve on a plate along with raita and pickle.
Tips:
- Adjust the spice level according to your needs, if you like it spicy increase the amount of chili powder or green chilies accordingly.
- This biryani, in fact all biryanis taste better when it sits for sometime, it would taste even more better the next day.
- King fish- 10 to 12 pieces
- Chili powder- 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Salt- 2 tsp
- Oil- enough for frying
- Oil used for frying fish- 5 tbsp
- Onions, sliced- 4
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Tomatoes, chopped- 2
- Kashmiri or regular Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Fennel powder- ½ tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tsp
- Yogurt (not sour), beaten-3 tbsp
- Garlic, chopped- 2 large cloves
- Ginger, chopped- 2 inch slice
- Small onions- 6
- Green chilies- 2 to 4
- Whole Cardamom- 2
- Whole Cloves- 2
- Whole Cinnamon- 2 inch slice
- Basmati rice- 2 cups
- Bay leaves, dried- 2
- Whole Cardamom- 2
- Ghee- 2 tbsp
- Water- 3½ cups
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Fried onions- 1 Onion, cut thin and long and fried in oil till golden brown.
- Cilantro, chopped
- Mint leaves, chopped
- Clean the king fish steaks under running water, if you want you could cut the steak into medium sized pieces.
- Add the spices mentioned for 'marinating the fish', spread all over the fish, let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Shallow fry the fish in enough oil till golden in color. Avoid over frying the fish, Transfer to a kitchen paper towel.
- Place a large pan over medium heat, add 5 tbsp of oil used for frying fish.
- Add onions along with curry leaves and ½ tsp salt, cook covered till translucent.
- Grind garlic, ginger, small onions, green chilies, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon together to a coarse paste.
- When the onions turn soft, add the ground paste, saute for a few minutes.
- Cook till onions turn golden brown in color.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook till mashed.
- Add chili powder, fennel powder, coriander powder and ½ tsp salt, combine well.
- Add the fried fish and gently combine everything.
- Add beaten yogurt, combine well and cook covered for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid and cook till the liquid in the masala has dried off.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep aside covered.
- Soak the rice with 3 cups water for 15 minutes.
- Rinse the soaked basmati rice taken in a large strainer under running water.
- Combine rice, bay leaves, whole cardamom, ghee, salt and water.
- Cook in a rice cooker till the rice has cooked well. Or cook in a saucepan over stove top for 15 to 20 minutes.
- In a large pan or wok, spread half of the fish masala as the first layer.
- Top with half of the rice as the second layer.
- Sprinkle chopped cilantro, mint leaves and fried onions.
- Again repeat layering with fish masala, rice, finally top it with cilantro, mint leaves and fried onions.
- Close the pan tightly with aluminum foil and then with its lid.
- Place the pan over low flame and cook for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and keep aside covered for a few minutes.
- While serving, combine the rice and fish masala together, serve on a plate along with raita and pickle.
This biryani, in fact all biryanis taste better when it sits for sometime, it would taste even more better the next day.
