Fish Pulao

Ingredients:

Rui Mach (Rohu fish): 500 gms (cut into cubes, marinated with salt and turmeric powder)
Basmati rice : 500 gms (soaked in water and dried for one hour)
Ghee : 6 tbsp and Mustard oil : for deep frying the fish cubes.
Garam Masala : cloves, green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, javitri, sha-jeera, sha-marich (roasted and coarsely ground)
Kismis and kaju: as per choice.
Ginger and red chilly paste : 2 tsp.
Finely chopped onion : 1 cup.
A few cloves of garlic (finely chopped) and bayleaf

Pinch of turmeric powder, in lieu of the artificial yellow, kesari, colour
Salt to taste  and Sugar : 4tbsp.

Procedure :

Deep fry the fish cubes in mustard oil and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp. ghee in a handi. Add chopped garlic, onion and fry till golden brown. Now add the ginger-chilly paste, a few bayleaves and 4tsp coarsely ground Garam masala. Saute for 2 minutes and add the fried fish cubes. Mix well and keep aside. Ensure that the fish cubes retain their identity ... that is they do not crumble.
In the same handi, add 2 tbsp ghee, 2 tsp coarsely ground Garam masala and the Basmati rice along with kaju and kismis. Fry them over a low flame. Add salt and a pinch of turmeric powder. Add water from top which is just sufficient to cook the rice (as a rule, keep the water level close to a couple of inches deep). Add the fish along with the masala mixture and sugar when the rice is nearly cooked. Do not stir.
Add the remaining ghee and garam masala. Close the lid of the handi. Serve after one hour.

Mutton Biriyani

Ingredients:

Basmati rice : 500 gms
Mutton : 750 gms
Potato : 1 or 2 large, cut into two halves
Fresh curd : 200 gms.
Ginger-Garlic paste : 4 tsp
Red chilly powder : 2tsp
Onion : 200gms, fineley chopped length wise
BIRIYANI MASALA : made with slightly roasted and coarsely ground cloves, cinnamon, cardamom - both the green and black variety, black peeper, shah jeera, white pepper, nutmeg (jayphol) and javitri (jayeetree)
Ghee : 4tbsp
White oil of any kind : 2tsp
Bayleaf : A few
Saffron (Keshar ) : 1/2 tsp added to 2tsp cold milk for colour and flavour
Rose water : 2tsp
Kewara water : 2tsp
Sugar : 2tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Marinate mutton in curd, biriyani masala, salt, sugar, ginger-garlic paste, chilly powder for two hours.
Wash the basmati rice and marinate with 1 tsp ghee, 2 tsp of the biriyani masala, salt and 1 tsp sugar for half an hour.
Take water -- twice in volume to that of the rice taken -- and heat it in a pressure cooker.
Add the marinated rice into the hot water, add the bay leaf and cook under pressure till the first "whistle" -- that is till the time when the steam escapes from the pressure valve for the first time !
Take the rice from the cooker, spread it out on a shallow platter. Keep aside and allow to cool.
Cook the mutton in a pressure cooker, only in the marinade -- without adding any additional water for 20 minutes.
Boil the potato and then fry them in ghee and white oil together.
Fry the chopped onion in the residual ghee-oil till golden brown and keep aside.
Take a deep, wide pot that can be closed with a lid, grease it with ghee inside. In this pot, place the rice and mutton in alternate layers. Along with each layer add potatoes, fried onions, kewra, saffron, rose water and the rest of the biriyani masala
Finally add the remaining ghee on the top
Close the lid and seal it with maida dough.
Preheat the OTG Oven till 200 C and then place the sealed pot inside the oven for about half an hour. Plan your time such that the biriyani can be served right after this step.
Serve with raita.

Becti Tef-flora / Bhetki paturi

Ingredients:

Becti fish, cut into 4 in. x 4 in. thick fillets
Pui leaves or any other edible greens, excluding spinach (too soft!)
Green-fish paste : made by coarsely pasted mustard, ginger, garlic, green chillies, coriander leaves, and a few spring onions.
Salt, a pinch of turmeric powder, lemon juice
Mustard oil for shallow frying



Procedure:

Marinate the Becti fillets with salt, turmeric powder, lemon juice, and the special green-fish paste for at least two hours.
Take a wide-non stick (teflon coated) skillet, and grease it with 1 tsp mustard oil to allow seasoning.
Place each of the marinated becti fillet inside a green leaf (preferably Pui leaf), brush it with 1/2 tsp mustard oil, and fold the leaf in a triangular fashion (much like a betel leaf). Ensure that the leaf doesn't open up by pricking through the folds with wooden toothpick (plastic ones may melt). Place these folded fish fillets, four at a time, on the non stick skillet. Apply high heat initially, and then shallow-fry over a low flame. Turn over when the lower face is cooked. Ensure that the interior gets fully cooked WITHOUT the green colour fading away.
Serve with hot rice and mustard.



Note that the green leaf used here is edible, and so it can be consumed along with the fish unlike the paturi. Moreover the masala-tang, and the taste of the fish, along with the nutritional value is entirely preserved.