Kerala Style Fish Biriyani

Kerala Style Fish Biriyani (Nadan Meen Biriyani) is one of the best dishes to showcase Kerala’s rich flavors to the world. The recipe combines fried fish with a spicy masala gravy layered with aromatic rice. The dish is a true masterpiece in presentation, aroma, and taste.

Check out the ingredients and follow the step-by-step instructions below to prepare this dish at home. You’ll also find helpful tips, serving suggestions, and storage notes.

What is Kerala-style fish Biriyani?

Kerala Style Fish Biryani is a dish of marinated fish layered with spiced rice. It’s slow-cooked using the dum method, mixing rich flavors for a full taste. The fish and rice cook together to blend the spices well.

The process starts with marinating the fish, then frying it. Then the masala is cooked, rice is made, and everything is layered. It is cooked on dum, rested, and served.

Across India, we have other fish biriyanis too. Each has its own flavor twist, but all share that same comforting, spiced rice feel.

Mangalorean fish biriyani is more tangy with coconut and tamarind in the masala. Whereas Konkan style is sour and slightly smoky with kokum and local spices.

For those who enjoy biriyani, our Kerala Style Beef Biryani, recipe is a must-try. It’s packed with bold flavors.

Why You'll Love This Recipe?

Once you open the dum, the aroma of the biryani spreads radiates. The presentation with different colors captivates your senses the moment you serve it. Then, the blend of flavors comes together perfectly. It's rich in every aspect.

The steps may be a bit long, but not overwhelming. And the result is worth every effort. For more rich and flavorful Kerala non-vegetarian delights, browse our Kerala Non-Veg Recipes.

Recipe Ingredients

1. Fish: I use Pomfret, which turns out awesome. Always choose fleshy fish like pomfret, seer fish, or kingfish. You can also try salmon. Avoid fish with too many bones, as they may mix into the rice and be dangerous while eating.
2. Rice: Jeerakasala rice or kaima is best for authentic Kerala biriyani. Small in size, smells amazing. Basmati is bigger, mostly used in North Indian biriyanis. Use only if kaima or Jeerakasala is not available.
3. Ghee: Purified ghee is an inseparable part of biryani. A major portion of its aroma comes from ghee. 
4. Spices: Kerala spices enhance the flavor of the biryani, used in both powdered and whole forms. The powdered spices include chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, and coriander powder, while the whole spices consist of fennel seeds, cinnamon, star anise (thakolam), cloves, cardamom seeds, and bay leaves. If you're a spice and fish lover, then be sure to try our Authentic Kerala Style Fish Curry recipe for an unforgettable taste experience!

Check out the Recipe Card below for the complete ingredient list along with their nutritional details.

Variations to Try

Kerala Biryani can be customized with various meat options, including beef, chicken, mutton, or pork. Among these, Kerala Style Chicken Biriyani is the most popular.

 For fish biryani, choose fleshy, boneless fish like pomfret, seer fish, kingfish, or salmon. Avoid fish that may break apart during cooking or have too many bones, as this can pose safety concerns. 

For vegetarians, meat can be substituted with potatoes, carrots, peas, and other vegetables to create a delightful vegetable biryani.

How To Make Kerala Style Fish Biriyani? (Step-by-Step Guide)

1. Grind ginger and garlic. Marinate cleaned fish with the ingredients listed under marination - chili powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Keep it aside for 30 minutes. I used Pomfret, which turned out awesome. You can also try seer fish or kingfish.
2. Heat coconut oil in a flat pan. Shallow-fry the fish pieces for 2 minutes on both sides in a medium flame.
3. Fry fish in batches.
4. Prepare masala - Thinly slice onions. Soak cashews in hot water for 10 minutes. Heat ghee in a pan. Use a flat-surfaced pan so that it is easy to add and mix fish pieces towards the end.

5. Saute these onions well until golden brown. Sweating them with salt early on helps caramelize faster.
6. Grind ginger, garlic and green chilli. Add it to the above pan and saute well. Add ghee as needed.
7. Add garam masala and saute for a minute. Add sliced tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are done.
8. Mix the curd/yogurt and cook for 2 -3 minutes.

9. Saute the grated coconut until golden brown. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
10. Grind the coconut and cashews (previously soaked), with some water and make it a good paste. This mix is also used in Kerala Style Fish Stew for a creamy texture.
11. Add coconut cashew mix and mix it with the masala. Chop mint and coriander leaves. Mix it with the masala. Add ½ cup water, mix well, and add salt as required.
12. Then add fried fish. Make sure that the fish is covered in the gravy.

13. Cook for around 10 minutes or until the fish is done.
14. For rice preparation - Clean rice. Heat ghee in the pan/cooker. Fry aniseeds.
15. Fry cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom seeds, curry leaves, cloves, and star anise.
16. Once it is sauteed well, add rice. Sauté it till the rice is crispy. Add ghee if needed.

17. Add 4 cups water and lemon juice to it with enough salt. Cover and cook until rice is done. Don't pressure cook. It takes 15 - 20 minutes. A detailed guide is available in our Kerala Ghee Rice Recipe.
18. For garnish - Thinly slice onions and deep fry it in ghee. Sprinkle salt and a bit of sugar. Roast cashews and raisins in ghee.
19. ** Never miss this step in the preparation of Kerala-style fish Biryani. Layer and cook - You can either layer the biryani and bake it in the oven or you can cook it on the stove top. I have tried both. Preheat the oven to 350F. Layer a pan with alternating layers of rice and the fish masala. Add coriander leaves, mint leaves, 1 teaspoon of ghee, fried onions, cashews,, and raisins at every layer. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Without aluminum foil, rice gets dried up easily.
20. If you want to cook on the stove top, layer the biryani in a cooker or pan. Cover it with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. This helps the rice and biryani masala blend well. Finally, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Tips And Tricks

1. Masala Preparation: Instead of using ghee, I used the leftover oil from frying the fish to prepare the masala. This added extra flavor and worked perfectly.
2. Dum Without an Oven: If you don’t have an oven, you can dum cook the biryani on the stove using a thick-bottomed vessel. Layer the ingredients and seal the top with aluminum foil or a dough mixture (maida and water) around the lid to prevent steam from escaping.
3. Alternative to Spices: If you’re missing some spices, you can use ready-made fish biryani powder as a substitute.

Serving Suggestions

Nadan meen biriyani is best enjoyed with accompaniments like raitha (a yogurt-based side dish), pickles (achar), and crispy lentil wafers (pappadam).

For an enhanced experience, pair it with Nadan Meen Varuthathu. In some parts of Kerala, biriyani is also served with thick coconut chutney, cilantro chutney, or tomato chutney to add extra flavor to the dish.

Storage Instructions

Enjoy Kerala fish biriyani fresh and hot. If storing, refrigerate in an airtight container and use within 1–2 days itself.Freezing is not recommended.

Cooked fish doesn’t stay good for long. Texture and smell can change. Bring to room temperature before reheating. Steaming is best, followed by pan-heating with a splash of water or gentle microwaving.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

More Kerala Style Biriyani Recipes To Try

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have tried this! Please leave a ⭐️ rating and a comment below. Don’t forget to share your photos on Instagram and tag @a_little_bit_of_spice

Kerala Style Fish Biriyani

Jane Jojo

An Indian one pot meal. Fish marinated, fried, cooked in spicy masala gravy and then layered with rice. A really delicious one 🙂 I used pomfret which turned out awesome. You can also try seer fish or king fish.

3.25 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine kerala

Servings 4 serving

Calories 755 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ kg fish

Marination

• ▢ 1 tsps chilli powder
• ▢ 1 ½ tsps pepper powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ ½ tablespoon ginger (crushed)
• ▢ ½ tablespoon garlic (crushed)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Masala

• ▢ 2 tbsps ghee
• ▢ 2 numbers onion (medium)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ginger (crushed)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon garlic (crushed)
• ▢ 5 Chilly green
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ▢ 2 tomato (medium)
• ▢ 2 tbsps curd
• ▢ 2 tbsps coconut grated
• ▢ 2 tbsps cashew
• ▢ ½ bunch coriander leaves
• ▢ ½ bunch mint leaves
• ▢ salt

Rice

• ▢ 3 tbsps ghee
• ▢ 2 cups basmati rice Jeerakasamba/Biriyani/
• ▢ ½ tablespoon Ani seed
• ▢ 3 cinnamon (1" stick)
• ▢ 1 Star Anise (thakolam)
• ▢ 4 Cloves
• ▢ 3 Cardamom Seeds
• ▢ 2 Bay Leaf
• ▢ 1 sprig curry leaves
• ▢ 4 cups water
• ▢ 1 lemon juice salt
• ▢ salt

Garnish

• ▢ ghee
• ▢ 2 tbsps cashew nut
• ▢ 1 tablespoon raisin
• ▢ 1 number onion (medium)

Layering

• ▢ coriander leaves
• ▢ mint leaves

Instructions

 

• Grind ginger and garlic. Marinate cleaned fish with the ingredients listed under marination - chilli powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Keep it aside for 30 minutes. I used pomfret, which turned out awesome. You can also try seer fish or kingfish.
• Heat oil in a flat pan. Shallow fry the fish pieces for 2 minutes each on both sides at medium flame.
• Fry fish in batches.
• Prepare masala - Thinly slice onions. Soak cashew in hot water for 10 minutes. Heat ghee in a pan. Use a flat surfaced pan so that it would be easy to add and mix fish pieces towards the end.
• Saute these onions well until golden brown. Adding salt, helps the onion to get cooked fast.
• Grind ginger, garlic and green chilli. Add it to the above pan and saute well. Add ghee as needed.
• Add garam masala and saute for a minute. Add sliced tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are done.
• Mix the curd and cook for 2 -3 minutes.
• Saute the grated coconut until golden brown. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
• Grind the coconut and cashews (previously soaked), with some water and make it a good paste.
• Add coconut cashew mix and mix it with the masala.
• Chop mint and coriander leaves. Mix it with the masala. Add ½ cup water, mix well and add salt as required.
• Then add fried fish. Make sure that fish is covered in the gravy.
• Cook it for around 10 minutes or until fish is done.
• For rice preparation - Clean rice. Heat ghee in the pan / cooker. Fry aniseeds.
• Fry cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom seeds, curry leaves, cloves, star anise.
• Once it is sauted well, add rice. Saute it till rice is crispy. Add ghee if needed.
• Add 4 cups water and lemon juice to it with enough salt. Cover and cook until rice is done. Don't pressure cook. It would approximately take 15 - 20 minutes.
• For garnish - Thinly slice onions and deep fry it in ghee. Sprinkle salt and bit sugar. Roast cashews and raisins in ghee.
• ** Never miss this step. Layer and cook - You can either layer the biriyani and bake in the oven or you can cook on stovetop. I have tried both. Preheat the oven at 350F. Layer a pan with alternating layers of rice and the fish masala. Add coriander leaves, mint leaves, 1 teaspoon ghee, fried onions, cashews and raisins at every layer. Cover the pan with aluminium foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Without aluminium foil, rice gets dried up easily.
• If you wanna cook on stovetop, layer the biriyani in a cooker or in a pan. Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes.  Rice and biriyani masala gets blended well with this. You need not add water since biriyani masala has good gravy content.

Notes

1. Masala Preparation: Instead of using ghee, I used the leftover oil from frying the fish to prepare the masala. This added extra flavor and worked perfectly.
2. Dum Without an Oven: If you don’t have an oven, you can dum cook the biryani on the stove using a thick-bottomed vessel. Layer the ingredients and seal the top with aluminum foil or a dough mixture (maida and water) around the lid to prevent steam from escaping.
3. Alternative to Spices: If you’re missing some spices, you can use ready-made fish biryani powder as a substitute.

Nutrition

Serving: 454gCalories: 755kcalCarbohydrates: 91gProtein: 36gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 125mgSodium: 391mgPotassium: 821mgFiber: 5gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 690IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 3mg

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