Sayadeya

Method

1. 1 Sauté thinly sliced onions for 25 minutes until they turn a deep brown, almost caramelized color.
2. 2 Dark brown onions give the rice a brown color and a sweet flavor, while yellow onions result in bland rice.
3. 3 Blend half of the chopped onions with water to make onion juice, then strain the mixture.
4. 4 Cook the rice using strained onion water mixed with turmeric and cumin to make the rice grains fluffy.
5. 5 Pan-fry the marinated fish with garlic and lemon for 4 minutes on each side until the outside is golden brown.
6. 6 Arrange the fish on top of the rice, then drizzle with lime-based tahini sauce and sprinkle with the remaining fried shallots and cilantro.

With an appliance

• Air fryer 1 hr 38 min

  Replace step 5: lightly spray oil on the fish, bake at 200 degrees for 7 minutes, flipping at the 4th minute; this is shorter than pan-frying by about 1 minute, ensuring the surface is evenly seared with less oil splattering, but you must divide the fillets if they are stacked. The rice, onion sauce, and tahini sauce from steps 1–4 and 6 should still be prepared separately to prevent the fish from absorbing moisture and becoming soggy.