Fish biryani
Biryani is has become a popular Cape Malay dish that can be made many different ways. Whether spelled biryani, breyani, biriani – it does not matter, because we all know it consists of mainly rice, spices and then meat, chicken or even fish as I used here. It normally gets closed in a dish and baked in the oven. I used a Cataplana pan, which I bought in Lisbon, Portugal and lovely, because the food gets placed in one round dome side (normally copper) and then gets closed with the lid, using clips. Although not tradition, I sometimes drizzle olive over the dish before baking to make it more moist and to add flavour.
Serves 4 – 6
Marinade
15 ml (1 Tbsp) white vinegar
2 x 175 ml tubs unflavoured plain yoghurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
10 ml (2 tsp) ground coriander
10 ml (2 tsp) ground cumin
3 ml (½ tsp) ground turmeric
3 cloves garlic, crushed
500 g fresh or frozen hake or any other fish, cut into portions
Rice mixture
250 ml (1 cup) uncooked white rice
100 g (½ cup) brown lentils
45 ml (3 Tbsp) cooking oil
2 medium onions, cut into slices
10 ml (2 tsp) chopped, fresh ginger
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
about 45 ml (3 Tbsp) butter or margarine
1. Marinade: Combine all the ingredients together. Pour over the fish and marinade for about 30 minutes.
2. Boil rice and lentils separately in salt water until soft, drain and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and fry the fish until golden brown in colour. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Add garlic and ginger and sauté lightly for a few minutes until soft. Add tomatoes and seasoning. Add fish with marinade and simmer for a few minutes.
5. To assemble: Spoon half of the fish in a ovenproof dish. Continue by adding half of lentils and then the fishmixture. Cover with remaining rice and lentils and bits of butter.
6. Cover and bake in a preheated oven at 160 °C for about 40 minutes.