Foody Fridays: Sort-of-fish-breyani

The other day someone asked me if I liked cooking. My answer was "no I don't like cooking, but I love food so that trumps my dislike of cooking". I also like it when others enjoy my cooking. But as a busy mom of 4, cooking can, at the best of times be a tedious chore. So I break the rules and take shortcuts wherever I can to still make those hearty homecooked meals with as little effort and in as little time as possible. Any mom will tell you that the first hurdle is knowing WHAT to cook. You get bored of making and eating the same food week in and week out, but you still have to consider the likes and dislikes of your family. Anyway, I try to make fish once a week, so Wednesday I was stumped about what to cook and I saw some frozen hake fillets in the freezer. I was not in the mood to make battered fish so I decided to give fish breyani a try. Having never made fish breyani I turned to my trusty recipe books. There was a fish breyani but the method was just so laborious so I skipped pass. Then  there was a tuna breyani recipe which seemed quick, but with not alot of spices because it uses tinned tuna which already has a distinct flavour. So I called up Yaasier's gran because I know she makes mean fish breyani. And then I combined all 3 recipes to make something quick, easy and tasty...my sort-of-fish-breyani.
You wil need:
2 cups rice
5 or 6 medium sized fish fillets (fresh is best but I used frozen and it was still delicious)
3 cardomon
3 stick cinnamon
3 cloves
Salt
Fish masala
Lemon juice
Grated or chopped tomatoe
Oil
Garlic
Chilli powder
Frozen veggies of your choice
Potatoes (optional)
Method:
Parboil your rice for approximately 10 minutes in the microwave. I used basmati rice but fragrant jasmine will also be fine, it will just have different texture. In the water you boil the rice in, add the cardoman, cloves and stick cinnamon. While the rice is in the microwave heat some oil in a heavy-based pot. If you are using frozen fish theres no need to defrost first. Simply dip the fish in warm water before marinading. I read somewhere not to marinade in a metal dish when using lemon juice because it apparently changes the flavour of the lemon juice. I don't know if this is true, but I always use glass just in case. Anyway, you add to your fish some oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic, 2 tsp fish masala, 1/2 - 1 tsp chilli powder (to your taste preference), and grated or chopped tomatoe. I always use the tinned chopped tomatoe so I use about 3 tablespoons full, but if you are using fresh whole tomatoe,1 peeled tomatoe should suffice. Now when I made this I was too lazy to peel potatoes so I just left it out, but if you want potatoes, cut them into quarters and flSh fry them in the oil you were heating up just to give it a light brown then remove. Now you can start layering everything in your pot. Drain your rice but keep the spices that were floating in the water. In your pot add half the parboiled rice and toss lightly in the hot oil. Then add some frozen vegetables. I used frozen peas and frozen corn, but you can use any vegetables you prefer. You can also add as little or as much as you want depending on your preference. Whatever amount you want to use, place only half on this layer. Then place your potatoes ontop (if using)  followed by fish then the other half of your frozen vegetables. Finish off with a layer of the remaining rice. Pour about 1 cup of water in the dish you used to marinade your fish and pour this spiced water over you rice. Now seal your lid onto the pot and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes to get a steam going, then turn the plate down to low heat and forget about it for about 45 mins to an hour. Thats it! Preparation time only 15 minutes! I would have loved to have pictures of the dish, but they ate it all up before I even had a chance to get my camera. Hope you enjoy!