My mother has been making this biriyani for as long as I can remember. And I make it a point to continue the tradition and have this at least once a month. The recipe is also quite simple and straightforward. As for the flavour and taste, its a winner at all parties!
Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 15 minutes. Marinate the fish pieces with turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt like how you would for making fish fry and then shallow fry the pieces. This is to ensure that the pieces dont fall apart while the biriyani is being layered. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and sauté till they turn golden brown in colour. Add ginger garlic paste and curry leaves and sauté again for a couple of minutes. Add tomato, biriyani masala and salt and sauté again for 3-4 minutes. Now add the fried fish pieces along with curd and cook on medium flame for 5-10 mins. Make sure not to stir the fish too much while doing this!
Drain the rice. In another thick bottomed pan, pour ghee and keep the burner on medium. Sauté cardamom, cloves and cinnamon for a minute. Add the rice and fry until it starts crackling. Remove from fire and spoon the rice into a pressure cooker. Add salt, lemon juice and 3.5 cups of water. After the first whistle, reduce the flame and again cook for 5 mins and then remove from fire.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Apply some ghee to a baking dish. Put a layer of rice in the dish. On top of this, spread some fish masala. Repeat this process by alternating between rice and fish masala until both are over. Take care to have rice as the top layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Garnish with fried cashew, raisins and onions. Serve hot with pickle and raita.