Fish Rice Recipe

Fish Rice recipe for beginners using pantry ingredients. This fish rice is one of our most loved ways to whip up a fast seafood meal, ready under 30 mins. It is flavoursome, delicious and is made in one pan. In this post I show how to make it with precooked rice but you can also make it with raw uncooked rice. I got you covered for both.

This Fish Rice reminds me of my childhood days when my Mom would make Ghee Rice with hard boiled eggs, crushed black pepper, green chilies and curry leaves. It would be delicious with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Some papadums, sliced carrots, cucumber and onions or a raita on the side would make a complete meal. This was our staple delicious dinner during the cold winters.

This Fish Rice is made much the same way, but the fish is seasoned with spices first and pan-fried until cooked through. In the same pan, I make the ghee pepper fried rice with sautéed onions, curry leaves, cashews and raisins (optional). Under 20 mins, this is ready.

However if you do not have pre-cooked rice, simply cook the raw rice in the same pan with water or stock or coconut milk, whatever you prefer. This takes you another 15 mins. On various occasions I have tried out these, while stock adds an umami flavor, coconut milk adds a rich tropical flavor. But using water is what I like the most because the flavor of ghee is more prominent with water.

Ingredients you need

• Rice: Use any kind of non-starchy rice because this kind of rice is less sticky. We want the rice grains to be separate and not sticky in the dish. I use aged basmati rice or jasmine for this recipe. If you have precooked cold rice from the refrigerator you may use that. I make mine fresh, in a pressure cooker. But included the instructions below if you want to use raw uncooked rice.
• Fish: Use any type of firm fish you like. Salmon, snapper, Spanish mackerel (king fish), cod, bass, haddock and catfish are some of the good choices. I use Spanish mackerel. You can use fillets or steak.
• Ghee / butter/ oil: I use ghee for flavor, you may use a mix of ghee and oil if you want. Or use unsalted high quality butter or your preferred cooking oil.
• Aromatics: onions/shallot, garlic, ginger and curry leaves are some of the aromatic ingredients. If you don’t have fresh curry leaves, use dried or use any other fresh herbs you have – cilantro or mint work well.
• Spices: I use black pepper, garam masala, Indian red chili powder and turmeric. If you don’t have garam masala, you may use steak seasoning as required. Red chili powder can be replaced with paprika or a mix of cayenne and paprika.
• Fresh green chilies add a depth of spicy flavor. You may use Indian, Thai chili peppers or serrano peppers or may omit them to use crushed black pepper.

Photo Guide

How to make Fish Rice (Stepwise photos)

Preparation

1. Add rice to a pot and rinse well. Drain completely and pour water. Bring to a rolling boil and cook covered on a low heat until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through. You need fluffy and perfectly cooked non-sticky rice for this recipe. (If you want to make all in one pan, you may first fry the fish in a pan, keep aside and cook the rice after step 7 in the same pan.)

2. Pat dry the fish with kitchen papers. Add red chili powder, turmeric, salt, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and garam masala. Coat the fish with all these seasonings. Set aside for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile slice onion, green chili and set aside.

Pan Fry Fish

3. Add ghee to a hot pan. Ghee lends a very good flavor but you may use oil or butter or mix. Add garlic and saute until nice aroma comes out. Place the fish, curry leaves and fry on a medium flame. Flip the fish after 3 to 4 mins and add more red chili powder if needed.

4. Cook on both the sides until the fish is completely cooked through. You know it is done, if the fish flakes easily at the prick of a fork. Remove these to a serving plate.

5. Heat more ghee in the same pan. Add chopped garlic, sliced onions, slit green chili and begin to saute. Do not skip green chili else the rice will taste bland.

6. When the onions turns golden, add curry leaves, cashews and raisins. These are optional but I suggest adding at least few chopped cashews else the rice will be plain.

7. Saute everything well until the nuts turn golden.

Make Fish Rice

8. Add cooled rice, black pepper and salt.

9. Mix everything well to heat through. Taste test and adjust salt & pepper to your preference.

Serve hot rice with roasted fish & onions, cucumber and carrot slices. A raita also pairs well.

Related Recipes

Recipe Card