Canned fish (pilchard) biryani

• 2 x 400 g cans pilchards in tomato or chilli sauce (or use middle-cut)
• 125 ml brown lentils
• 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• ½ t egg-yellow food colouring powder
• 2 cups cooking oil, for deep-frying, plus 4 T for toasting
• 2 onions, sliced
• 5–6 free-range eggs
• 3½ t salt, or to taste
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 star anise
• 2 t braising spice or cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 chillies, seeded and sliced
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 t garlic-and-ginger paste
• ½ t garam masala
• ½ t ground cumin
• ½ t ground coriander
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 3–4 T chilli powder (or masala or curry powder of choice)
• 2 tomatoes, grated
• ¼ cup tomato purée
• ¼ cup water
• 4 T chopped fresh coriander
• 10 mint leaves
• 2 cups raw rice, boiled in water with salt and 2 cinnamon sticks

1. Clean and debone the pilchards and set aside. Reserve the sauce.

2. Boil the lentils in water until soft and set aside.

3. Place the potatoes in a bowl and add ¼ t egg-yellow food colouring. Mix until well incorporated. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and deep-fry the potatoes until golden. Drain to remove the excess oil and set aside. Deep-fry the sliced onions in the same oil, drain and set aside.

4. Add 2 cups cold water and 1 t salt to a saucepan. Add the eggs, bring to a boil and cook for 8–10 minutes. (The salt helps for easy peeling.) Set aside.

5.. Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the remaining cooking oil, the cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise and braising spice or cumin seeds. Toast for 2 minutes.

6. Add the chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the chillies, curry leaves and garlic-and-ginger paste and sauté for 5 minutes.

7. Stir in the remaining spices and add the grated tomatoes, tomato purée, water and remaining salt. Mix through and cook, covered, over a medium heat for 10–15 minutes.

8. Place the pilchards and reserved sauce on top of the chutney in the saucepan. Next, add the cooked lentils, 2 T chopped coriander and the mint leaves. Add the cooked rice and then the fried potatoes.

9. Mix the remaining egg-yellow food colouring with 2 T water and drizzle over the rice and potatoes.

10. Peel the boiled eggs and add them next. Add the remaining chopped coriander, fried onion slices and butter. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and steam for 20 minutes.

11. Check every 10 minutes by lifting the mixture with a spoon to ensure the biryani is not catching on the bottom of the saucepan. After 20 minutes, lift and toss the biryani (do not stir), ensuring you do not break the pilchards. Serve with condiments of your choice.

Find more biryani recipes here

Extracted with permission from Cooking with Kim Bagley by Kim Bagley.