Fish Biryani

My Mother's special recipe

Sharing my mother's masterpiece recipe.. A really delicious Fish Biryani. I am not a big fan of fish, nor do I like biryani, but, still I love this particular fish biryani a lot.. While in college, we were a gang of seven really close friends - Jaleesa, Gayathri, Divya, Jisha, Devi, Rinu and me.. Whenever our mothers made anything special, they'd pack it up for all seven of us. We were a bunch of foodies, and would sit together and one among us would feed the rest. Though today we are all married and settled in different parts of the world, that bond is still intact. :) Well, this Fish biryani was an all time favourite of my friends.. On weekends, a big gang of my relatives would come home and this was their favourite lunch too.. When I got married, my husband, turned out to be a brand ambassador of this biryani :) Well, you must give this recipe a try!!

My mother is very health conscious and therefore she makes sure that she minimizes the use of fats and very hot spices in all her recipes and that's what makes this biryani unique. Less fat, less spice, no artificial colour, no artificial flavouring, no rich ingredients and yet, no compromise on taste.. Come, follow me to her kitchen for a change, today :)

Ingredients :
King Fish	-		1/2 kg
Oil	-		4-5 tablespoons
Marinade for frying Fish :
Kashmiri Chilli powder	-		1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	-		1/2 teaspoon
Salt	-		To taste
For the Masala :
Onion (thinly sliced)	-		5 medium
Ginger/Garlic (coarsely ground)	-		2 tablespoons each
Green chilli (coarsely ground)	-		8-10 numbers
Tomatoes (diced)	-		3 medium
Salt	-		To taste
Coriander leaves (chopped)	-		1/2 cup
Mint leaves (chopped)	-		2 tablespoons (Optional)
For final Garnish :
Pure ghee	-		2 tablespoon
Oil	-		3 tablespoons
Onion	-		1 large
For Rice :
Basmati rice	-		3 cups
Boiling water	-		6 cups
Onion, finely sliced	-		1 small
Cardamom pods	-		6 nos.
Cloves	-		8 nos.
Cinnamon sticks, 1 inch pieces	-		3-4 pieces
Salt	-		To taste
For Dum :
Garam masala	-		1 teaspoon

Note : The masala is prepared in the same oil in which the fish is fried and the rice is prepared in the same ghee and oil in which the onion for the garnish is fried.

Preparation Method :

Wash the fish pieces and marinate with the chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Then fry the fish pieces and drain onto a kitchen towel. Oops! by the time I reached my mother's kitchen with my camera, she had finished frying the fish. So no images..

Into the same oil, throw in the sliced onions, add some salt and sauté. Then, add the ground garlic, ginger and green chillies and sauté. Continue to sauté onion until it begins to slightly brown and all the ingredients looses its raw smell. Then, add the diced tomatoes and sauté until tomatoes softens and blends well into the onion masala. Then add the fried fish pieces and gently without breaking, cover the fish with the masala. Bring down the flame to low and cover with a lid. Allow to cook on low for 5 minutes. Then add the coriander leaves and mint leaves and gently combine. Be careful not to break the fish pieces. Then turn off the flame and allow the fish to sit in the masala for another 5 minutes.

Next, in a heavy bottom shallow pot, heat the ghee and coconut oil. Into it add half the sliced onion until it begins to brown. Remove it from the ghee and drain them onto a kitchen paper towel and keep aside for the final garnish. Go through the Malabar Ghee Rice recipe for better understanding. Therefore cutting short pictures of the whole rice preparation process.

Into the same ghee, throw in the whole spices. Throw in the sliced onions and sauté until onion begins to brown slightly. Add the drained rice, add salt and fry for a minute or two on medium-high. Pour in the boiling water and gently mix the rice in the water. Note : Never make the mistake of adding cold or just warm water. It will ruin the rice. Use boiling water straight from the kettle. Soon as you add the water the rice should bubble in the pot of hot water. Allow to boil on medium-high heat. Once the rice starts absorbing water and the rice plumps up and water level drops down, reduce the heat and cover the pot with a lid and allow the rice to simmer and cook slowly in the rest of the water.  But, for the biryani, we only require 80% cooked rice. So as soon as the rice is 80% cooked turn off the heat and fluff up the rice to avoid it from sticking together. Finally for the Dum -  In a heavy bottom shallow pot gently cover the bottom with half of the fish masala. Then add half of the rice. Then sprinkle on some garam masala. Then layer the rest of the fish masala on top of the rice and sprinkle some more garam masala.  Then layer the rest of the rice on top of the fish masala and garnish with the fried onion. Cover with a tight lid and allow to gradually cook on very low heat for 10 minutes. If you do not have a heavy bottom shallow pot, then place a frying pan below the pot.

While serving the biryani, make sure not to break the fish pieces. Make sure every serving has enough rice, fish and masala in it. Serve with raita, some pickle and paapad (pappadam).

Serves 6 people or more. Try it, and let me know how it worked for you! :)

Ras Malai

 Shared version - from my close friend Saaji 

The original version of Ras Malai is malai made with paneer, soaked in sugar syrup and later dunked into milk that's flavored with cardamom. When made with paneer, I personally do not like the rubbery texture of malai. If you try this Ras Malai recipe, take my word, you will never like the Ras Malai you get in restaurants or local sweet shops. This is much simpler to make and much more delicious. I learnt this recipe from a very close friend of mine, Saaji. I owe a wholehearted thanks to her for teaching me this.

Note: Follow the exact measures given below, a small variation can totally ruin this dessert.

Ingredients :
For the malai
Milk Powder	-		1 cup
Ghee	-		I tablespoon
Plain flour	-		1 tablespoon
Egg	-		1 no
Baking powder	-		1 teaspoon
For the Ras
Milk	-		1 litre
Condensed milk	-		2 tablespoons
Sugar	-		1/2 cup
Cardamom powder	-		1 teaspoon
Almonds and pistachio (sliced)	-		as required for the garnish
Saffron	-		As required
Preparation Method : To make the Ras - Whisk in condensed milk into the fresh milk. Preferably full fat milk. Bring the milk to a boil and then add the sugar and cardamom powder and whisk in well. For the Malai - Into the Milk Powder blend in the baking powder and plain flour. Then add the ghee and mix well. Finally add the egg and knead into a dough. We only require a rough dough. Do not knead the dough too much. quickly roll into tiny balls. The measure above makes 22-23 small balls approximately. Press down slightly to give an oval shape. Whisk the boiled milk well and bring down the flame to low and gently drop the tiny balls into the milk. Turn the balls over 2-3 times very gently to have uniformly and evenly cooked malai. Make sure you do not use any sharp spoons, the balls are really delicate and can break if not handled with care. Simmer the malai in the milk for 8 minutes on low. Test one malai by cutting it into half, if its cooked through, it will have no tint of the yellow left inside. will be evenly white inside out. Gently transfer to a dish. Garnish with some chopped almonds, pistachio and sprinkle some saffron and set aside to cool completely. Make sure you do not cover it when you do so. Once it has cooled down to room temperature,  refrigerate for a minimum of 2-3 hours. The longer the better. Before serving, shake the dish very gently so as to blend the colour of the saffron and flavour of pistachio and almonds into the milk. Before serving, garnish once again with the chopped nuts and saffron. You will surely love this dessert. Try it! :)

Mooli Paratha

  My Version

Mooli Paratha or Radish parathas. Delicious North Indian flat bread stuffed with a spicy radish filling. 

Ingredients :
Whole wheat flour	-		1 and 1/2 cups
Salt	-		As required
Oil	-		1 teaspoon
Water	-		Enough to knead into dough
For the stuffing:
Radish	-		2 nos.
Cumin powder	-		1 teaspoon
Coriander powder	-		1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder	-		1/2 tablespoon
Chili powder	-		3/4 tablespoon
Amchur powder	-		1 teaspoon
Kasoor methi	-		1 tablespoon
Salt	-		As required
Onion	-		1 medium
Green chilli	-		1 no or more
Coriander leaves	-		1 small bunch
Butter or ghee	-		As required
Preparation Method :
Coarsely blend the radish, onion, green chilli, coriander and powdered spices. Extract the juice out of stuffing mix. Heat some oil in a wok and add the radish and spice mix and cook for 7-8 minutes on medium heat until all the liquid evaporates and the veggies slightly begin to brown. Mean while make the dough by mixing oil and salt into the flour first. Pour in the extracted juice. Add sufficient water and knead into a fine dough. Make 7 large balls. Press down a ball with your fingers and sprinkle some flour on top. Roll-out the ball slightly. Press down the edges leaving the centre thick. Scoop out a spoonful of the radish filling onto the centre. Gather the edges and seal into a ball. Press down the sealed top with the fingers. Turn the ball upside down. Set all balls this way. Gently roll-out each filled dough balls with a rolling pin. I don't know why, I am not very fond of fancy rolling pins :) I still use a PVC pipe piece to roll out chapattis :) don't know if you noticed it. Not modesty. Actually it is light weight and easy to use. :) While rolling out the rotie, you may come across bubbles. Just prick it gently with a fork and pat the area with your fingers to even the surface and remove all the air out. Continue to roll-out until the fillings are apparent.  Brush the top with some oil or ghee. Onto a really hot tawa, place the flattened paratha, oiled side down. On the top, spoon out some butter or ghee. Or brush some oil. Turn the paratha and allow to cook for couple of seconds. Turn again until the paratha has puffed up and browned. Remove and cut the parathas. Cutting is just an option. Can be served plain, or with some plain yogurt, pickle, dhal, or any curry of your choice. Serve them hot and fresh. You can make stuffed parathas similarly with carrots, cauliflower, potatoes or any veggies of your choice. Small variations are required though. Makes 7 Parathas. Delicious!! :P