Ingredients:
For fish masala:
Fish pieces - King Fish/ Ayakoora / Pomfret or any other firm fish - 6 nos
Ginger, Garlic, Green chilly paste - 3 tbsp
Big Onions - 3
Small onions - 15 nos
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1⁄2 tsp
Tomato - 3
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Poppy seeds -1⁄2 tsp
Fennel seeds- 2 tbsp
Garam Masala Powder- 1 tsp
oil- as required
Salt -as required
For biriyani rice:
Basmati rice/Kaima rice - 2 cups
Onion sliced - 2
Cardamom - 1⁄2 tsp
Cloves-1⁄4 tsp
Cinnamon sticks- 3
Boiled water - 4 cups
Refined Oil - 2 tbsps
Ghee - 2 tsps
Salt as required
For Garnishing and layering:
Onion sliced- 1/4 cup
Cashew nuts- 1 tbsp
Raisins- 1 tbsp
Garam masala- as required
Mint leaves chopped - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves chopped - 1 tbsp
Garam masala powder - 1⁄2 tsp
Fresh lime juice - 1 tbsp
Method:
Wash the rice thoroughly and soak in cold water for 25 – 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
Add 2 tbsp of ghee to a large vessel. Fry the cashews, raisins and one finely chopped onion in oil until its golden brown in colour, one after the other. Keep them aside for garnishing and layering. Add cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and cardamom and fry for a minute. Add sliced onions and saute again till they are soft. Add the drained rice and fry for 5 - 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, keep the water on another stove and let it boil. Add the boiling water, 1/2 tsp turmeric Powder and salt to the fried rice. Cook the rice with the vessel closed with a tight lid. Also gently stir in between to make sure that the rice does not stick on the bottom of the vessel. Once the rice is done keep it aside.
Wash and clean the slices of fish pieces and marinate with Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Ginger-garlic Paste,Pepper powder and Salt. Keep it aside for half an hour.
Grind green chillies, garlic and ginger to a fine paste. Keep them aside.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Saute the sliced onions and crushed small onions in oil until they become translucent. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilly paste. Add coriander Powder,turmeric powder, Red chilly Powder and garam masala and fry for 5 minutes.
Grind coconut and poppy seeds to fine paste and add to the masala and cook well. Add chopped tomatoes and let it cook until mashed to this and 1/2 cup water and boil. Add the fried fish once the gravy starts boiling. Let it boil for few minutes. Gravy should be thick and not watery. Be very careful not to break the fish while stirring.
Now we need to start layering for that, divide the cooked rice into three Portions. Chop coriander leaves and mint leaves. keep lime juice and garam masala ready.
In a big wide open vessel start layering by spreading the first layer with rice. Sprinkle one pinch of garam masala, few tsp of chopped coriander and mint leaves on each layer of rice. Sprinkle 1 tsp of lemon juice also . On top of this spread fish masala. only two slices of fish need to be kept in each layer. cover this layer with cooked rice.
After layering we can either bake this in a preheated oven for 180 degree Celsius for 15- 20 minutes or keep in dum on a stove top method by heating a thava/dosa kallu, when it is really hot, place the biriyani vessel on top of that. Reduce the heat to the lowest flame & cook for 10-15 mins. Keep the heat at the lowest flame throughout, otherwise it might get burnt. Also place a pan of boiling water on top of the biriyani vessel at the same time. When its time to serve remove the lid and carefully keep the fish pieces separately and mix the rice well with the masala. 
To serve, on the plate keep the fish piece and cover with the rice. Garnish with fried cashew nuts, raisins and onion. Fish biriyani Ready...:) Enjoy with salad, Pickle, Pappad and Coconut Chutney.
Recipe Courtesy:Mrs Prassana Sugathan
