Fish dum biryani/ Fish biryani is a spicy, flavorful and delicious biryani. It prepared by layering fried fish on a layer of onion tomato masala mixture and finally put to dum with a layer of basmati rice and cooked to perfection. Sounds interesting right?

We usually make biryani with chicken/ shrimp. But due to lockdown we are not out frequently so thought to make use of the frozen boneless fish at home. So made this yummy biryani which tasted super yummy. Though the process/ preparation was quite lengthy it was all worth I should say.

For this fish biryani recipe I used boneless tilapia fish, but you can use any fish of your choice, I used boneless fish because it is easy to eat. But you can change it according to your liking, both will work. If you plan to use fish with bones try making this biryani with King fish and it will taste great. So let’s get to the making of Machi biryani / Fish dum biryani!

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Fish dum biryani recipe, Fish biryani

Recipe by Sandhya Riyaz

4.0 from 1 vote

Course: LunchCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Marination time

minutes

Soaking time

minutes

Ingredients to make Fish dum biryani

2 cups, Basmati rice
1 nos., Onion (large, 2 medium sized)
1 nos., Tomato (medium sized)
2 nos., Green chilli
1/2 cup, Mint / Pudina
1/2 cup, Coriander/ Cilantro
1 tablespoon, Curd/ Dahi/ yogurt
1 tablespoon, Ginger garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon, Turmeric powder
1 1/2 teaspoon, Red chilli powder
2 teaspoon, Biryani masala
1 teaspoon, Garam masala powder
Salt – to taste
3 tablespoon, Oil
1 tablespoon, Ghee
INGREDIENTS FOR FISH FRY
10 pieces Fish
½ teaspoon, Turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon, Red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon, Coriander powder
Salt – to taste
1/4 teaspoon, Ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon, Lemon juice
WHOLE SPICES
1 nos., Bay leaf
2 nos., Cardamom
2 nos., Clove
1 nos., Cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon, Cumin seeds

Directions to MAKE Fish dum biryani

Clean the fish and slice them into desired no of pieces, make sure to keep the pieces big as thin pieces will break easily in biryani. Now to the fish pieces add turmeric power, salt, chili powder, coriander powder, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. Marinate it for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes of marination heat oil in a pan and slide the fish pieces one by one and fry them in medium flame. When one side looks cooked and roasted flip the fish gently with spatula and cook the other side. When fish looks cooked put off the flame and transfer the fish to a plate and keep it aside. Now let’s move onto the biryani preparation.
Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 20 to 30 minutes. I soaked rice in enough water.
Now in a vessel add enough water, few mint leaves, oil, cloves, cumin seeds, salt and bay leaf ; allow it to boil. When the water starts boiling add the soaked rice and cook till 70% done. Keep it aside. I cooked rice side by side along with the gravy that way it saves time.
Now heat oil in a pan add whole spices when aromatic add sliced onions and green chili. Saute well until onions gets translucent/ pink in color.chopped. When onions look sauteed add ginger garlic paste to it and saute until the raw smell goes.
Now add the sliced tomatoes, chopped mint and cilantro. Saute well for a minute or 2 minutes.
After 2 minutes of sauteeing add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, biryani masala and garam masala powder. Saute well for a minute. Now add curd and mix well. Now add 1 cup water to get thick gravy consistency as my mixture was dry and also the fish pieces are already cooked this amount of water was enough to cook rice. You can add water according to your required consistency. Allow the mixture to boil.
Now on a tawa place a heavy bottom pan. Now add the fried fish on to the gravy then add 70% cooked basmati rice and garnish it with chopped mint, chopped coriander and ghee (optional). I drizzled fish fried oil 2 tbsp along with ghee and 3 to 4 tbsp hot water. Cook in high flame for 5 minutes then in low flame for 10 minutes or until its done. Do not open dum immediately allow it to rest for 10 minutes without any flame. After 10 minutes of rest time fluff the rice gently and serve it hot with raita!

Notes

* 1 cup = 235 ml

HOW TO MAKE FISH DUM BIRYANI WITH STEP BY STEP IMAGES

Clean the fish and slice them into desired no of pieces, make sure to keep the pieces big as thin pieces will break easily in biryani. Now to the fish pieces add turmeric power, salt, chili powder, coriander powder, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. Marinate it for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes of marination heat oil in a pan and slide the fish pieces one by one and fry them in medium flame. When one side looks cooked and roasted flip the fish gently with spatula and cook the other side. When fish looks cooked put off the flame and transfer the fish to a plate and keep it aside. Now let’s move onto the biryani preparation.
Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 20 to 30 minutes. I soaked rice in enough water.
Now in a vessel add enough water, few mint leaves, oil, cloves, few cumin seeds, salt, 1 bay leaf , 2 cloves and 1 cardamom; allow it to boil. When the water starts boiling add the soaked rice and cook till 70% done. Keep it aside. I cooked rice side by side along with the gravy that way it saves time.
Now heat oil in a pan add whole spices when aromatic add sliced onions and green chili. Saute well until onions gets translucent/ pink in color. Saute well.
When onions look sauteed add ginger garlic paste to it and saute until the raw smell goes.
Now add all the sliced tomatoes, chopped mint and cilantro. Saute well for a minute or 2. After 2 minutes of sauteeing add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, biryani masala and garam masala powder. Saute well for a minute.
Now add curd and mix well. I added around 1 cup water to get thick gravy consistency as my mixture was dry and also the fish pieces are already cooked this amount of water was enough to cook rice. You can add water according to your required consistency. Allow the mixture to boil.
Now on a tawa place a heavy bottom pan. Now add the fried fish on to the gravy then add 70% cooked basmati rice and garnish it with chopped mint, chopped coriander and ghee (optional). I drizzled fish fried oil 2 tbsp along with ghee and 3 to 4 tbsp hot water. Cook in high flame for 5 minutes then in low flame for 10 minutes or until its done. Do not open dum immediately allow it to rest for 10 minutes without any flame.
After 10 minutes of rest time open the lid and fluff the rice gently and serve it hot with raita!