How to cook healthy fish biryani? What do I need for the recipes?

Question 1

My name is Lorry, and my interest is healthy nutrition and the ways of cooking healthy food.

See, today I want to prepare a very famous in our lands biryani. I’m a huge fan of aromatic foods and spices and since this particular dish is rich in both – I decided to cook it. There are several dozen variations of biryani. The basic ingredient is rice and a lot of aromatic spices (cloves, cardamom, coriander, curry, ginger, garlic and many more). But the second ingredient can be meat, vegetables and, of course, fish.

The beauty of this dish is that it may be altered to one’s taste. It’s suitable for meat eaters, vegetarians and even vegans, all because the star of the show is the rice, but meat, fish, eggplant of boiled eggs are just backup singers.

The most common in the territory of this strange Asian country is the Hyderabad biryani, which includes any redfish, cashew nuts, basmati rice, and a variety of condiments. And if someone thought that such a difficult dish would not be able to a non-professional culinary expert, he is mistaken. I want to make the standard version of it, and that’s why I am asking you for some recipes. Thanks in advance!

Question 2

Hello Lorry, nice to hear from you again! Try Thomasina Miers’ simple recipe for fish biryani:
You need:
Juice of ½ lime
½ tsp turmeric
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g skinless, sustainably caught cod fillet (or other firm white fish)
400g basmati rice, rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
½-thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
400g fresh plum tomatoes
1 green chilli, deseeded
¼ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp freshly ground coriander seed
¼ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
400ml coconut milk
Coriander and mint leaves, to serve

In a bowl, mix the lime juice, turmeric and half a teaspoon of salt, smear this all over the fish and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. After that, wash off the marinade and store the fish in the fridge.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put the rice, bay and cinnamon in a pan with a pinch of salt, cover with boiling water and boil for four minutes, until al dente. Drain, return to the pan, cover and leave to steam while you get on with the next stage.

Warm the oil in a large pan on a low heat and start frying the onions, stirring occasionally. With the onions on the go, put the ginger, garlic, tomatoes and chilli in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Once the onions have been frying for five to eight minutes and have softened nicely, turn up the heat to medium-high and add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the ginger and garlic mix, and fry until lightly coloured. Add the coriander, chilli powder and garam masala, stir-fry for a minute, then add the coconut milk. Once the mix is simmering, add the rinsed fish to the pot, making sure it’s just submerged, and cook gently for five minutes. Once the fish is just cooked through, take the pan off the heat.

Spread half the fish and its sauce in a deep baking dish, and spoon half the rice on top. Repeat the layers, then cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, until heated through, then leave to cool and rest for 10 minutes. Serve scattered with torn mint and coriander, and with raita and chutneys of your choice alongside.

Joey Bright · Answer · Published: September 13, 2018 | Modified: October 15, 2019

Hello Lorry, nice to hear from you again! Try Thomasina Miers’ simple recipe for fish biryani:
You need:
Juice of ½ lime
½ tsp turmeric
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g skinless, sustainably caught cod fillet (or other firm white fish)
400g basmati rice, rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
½-thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
400g fresh plum tomatoes
1 green chilli, deseeded
¼ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp freshly ground coriander seed
¼ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
400ml coconut milk
Coriander and mint leaves, to serve

In a bowl, mix the lime juice, turmeric and half a teaspoon of salt, smear this all over the fish and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. After that, wash off the marinade and store the fish in the fridge.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put the rice, bay and cinnamon in a pan with a pinch of salt, cover with boiling water and boil for four minutes, until al dente. Drain, return to the pan, cover and leave to steam while you get on with the next stage.

Warm the oil in a large pan on a low heat and start frying the onions, stirring occasionally. With the onions on the go, put the ginger, garlic, tomatoes and chilli in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Once the onions have been frying for five to eight minutes and have softened nicely, turn up the heat to medium-high and add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the ginger and garlic mix, and fry until lightly coloured. Add the coriander, chilli powder and garam masala, stir-fry for a minute, then add the coconut milk. Once the mix is simmering, add the rinsed fish to the pot, making sure it’s just submerged, and cook gently for five minutes. Once the fish is just cooked through, take the pan off the heat.

Spread half the fish and its sauce in a deep baking dish, and spoon half the rice on top. Repeat the layers, then cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, until heated through, then leave to cool and rest for 10 minutes. Serve scattered with torn mint and coriander, and with raita and chutneys of your choice alongside.

Question 3

Indian biriani or spicy Indian pilaf in it’s classic recipe is made from lamb, but this dish is already so widespread around the globe that now there are a lot of options with chicken, dried fruits, vegetables. Biriani is a very fragrant dish, which several times surpasses pilaf by these parameters, and in a symphony of smells and flavors.

But the main difference between biriani and ordinary pilaf is the preparation process itself, in which meat and rice must necessarily be prepared separately. But a selection of spices can be selected individually: most often it is saffron, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cardamom, garlic, mint, onion. The main ingredient is ghee ghee.

To reproduce the original recipe of Indian birian is not quite easy at home, but we offer the most suitable option, which is quite possible and affordable for almost any hostess.

Ingredients:

Baking oil 60 g
Cilantro 10 g
Dried apricots 60 g
Chili mini 2 g
Basmati rice 200g
Cashew nuts 20 g
Almonds 30 g
Turmeric 2 g
Cinnamon (chopsticks) 4 g
Ground coriander 1 g
Cardamom (in grains) 1 g
Ginger (root) 15 g
Raisins 25 g
Garlic 4 g
Onion 80 g
Red pepper red 100 g
Sunflower-seed oil 40 ml
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Rinse the rice in cold running water.

Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic and ginger; Cut dried apricots in half; peel the Bulgarian pepper from seeds and membranes and cut into medium cubes; chop pepper finely with seeds.

On medium heat, melt the butter, add 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil and fry the nuts for 1 minute.

Add onion and fry together for 2 minutes, add raisins, dried apricots, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger and fry together for 1 more minute.

Add the Bulgarian and chilli pepper (or 1/2 pepper for less spice); pour and flatten the rice; gently pour the drinking water so that the water slightly covers the rice. Brine, bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for 8 minutes.

Add the coriander, turmeric, garlic, mix, salt to taste, cover and let it brew for 10 minutes.

Place the dish on plates, garnish with a large chopped cilantro and serve.