I was scared to make biryani earlier because the process seemed lengthy. When I tried, the earlier few attempts were totally a mess. That is, the rice came out perfectly but didn’t taste good. After many attempts and thanks to my Instant Pot, I now get a delicious biryani every time. The post contains Helpful Tips & Tricks for making Paneer Biryani Recipe. But if you’re in a hurry, you can also click “Jump to Recipe’ under the Heading to go directly to the Recipe Card or click Recipe Card from the Table of Contents below.
⭐WHAT IS PANEER BIRYANI?
Paneer Biryani is nothing but rice casserole made by layering rice with paneer masala or gravy (yogurt-based curry). It is made by adding lots of whole spices, making the recipe extremely aromatic. Traditionally, biryani was made by dum cooking with some meat, vegetables, and aromatic biryani spices. But later on, as the tastes changed, people started experimenting with new flavors in biryani like paneer biryani, lentils biryani, lamb biryani, veg biryani, and Hyderabadi biryani, etc. There are many variations of biryani that you can make in a pan. You can make it in the pressure cooker or an Instant Pot for a simpler method.
🥘INGREDIENTS & SUBSTITUTIONS
For Making Rice:
Rice: You need long grain basmati rice for any biryani recipe. You can it get from the Indian store. Whole Spices: When boiling the rice, I use whole spices to make the rice aromatic, like star anise, javitri, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. You can also add chopped mint leaves and cilantro. Ghee: Add a tablespoon of ghee (Indian clarified butter) to make the rice extra flavorful.
For Paneer:
Paneer: These are the main ingredients to make the paneer biryani recipe. You can use the store-bought or homemade paneer. Veggies: I use tomatoes to make the base of the paneer masala. You can also add veggies (like carrots, bell peppers, cauliflower, etc.).Ginger-Garlic: Add ginger-garlic paste or chopped ginger & garlic to the masala base.Ghee/ Oil: Add oil when making the paneer masala. Also, add 1 tablespoon of ghee when layering the rice with paneer masala.Biryani Masala: This particular spice mix is added to all the biryanis to make them extra flavorful and aromatic. You can also add garam masala powder, but it will not have the same flavor.Saffron Milk/Oil: Add saffron milk or saffron oil when layering.Garnish: Garnish with chopped cilantro and mint leaves for fresh flavor.Fried Onion: Fry the onion in oil and use them when layering.
See the recipe card for quantities.
🧂BIRYANI MASALA
To make the most aromatic recipe, Biryani Masala plays an important role. I tried many different masalas for the recipe: some readymade and some freshly made at home. It is made by adding fresh spices to the recipe, including Cardamoms, Cloves, Mace flower, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Kashmiri Red Chilies, etc. Adding fresh ingredients gives a nice aroma and is really important. If you don’t have Biryani Masala, you can also use Garam Masala, but the taste will not be that authentic.
🔪HOW TO MAKE THE PANEER BIRYANI RECIPE
Check the recipe card below, but you refer here for step-by-step photo instructions for the full recipe.
COOKING RICE:
Boil water in a big pot. Flavor the water with star anise, green cardamom, black cardamom, javitri, cloves, cinnamon, salt, ghee, and bay leaf. Add rinsed rice in boiling water for 5 minutes or until rice is 70-80% cooked. Once partially cooked, drain the liquid in a mesh strainer. Next, remove the whole spices (cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, star anise, and bay leaf).
MAKING PANEER MASALA:
FRY ONIONS: First and foremost is to fry the onion. Add onions to the oil and fry the onion until crispy and brown & keep stirring in the between. Once the onions are fried, place the onions on a paper towel to remove excess oil. MAKE PANEER MASALA:
LAYERING
Layer rice and paneer masala in a cast-iron skillet or big pot. Start by adding paneer masala and top with fried onions & chopped cilantro & mint leaves. Add a second layer of partially cooked rice and top it with saffron milk or saffron oil. Cover it with the lid and cook it low for 15 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, adjust the seasoning and carefully mix it so that the rice doesn’t get broken. Then, serve the Paneer Biryani Recipe with Yogurt or Raita.
💭PRO TIPS
Rinse the rice well and leave it in water for 15- 20 minutes. This will reduce the cooking time. And it’s best to cook with basmati rice as long rice makes Biryani taste great.Biryani usually turns out better when it is rich in oil. So don’t be skimpy in adding oil to it.The first step is frying lots of onions. When frying onion, keep stirring to prevent them from burning.You can also add veggies to paneer masala. Before adding Yogurt to the Biryani, mix the yogurt until it is free of lumps. Adding Ghee (clarified butter) to the biryani adds an extra layer of flavor. However, you don’t need to add a lot. Just 1-2 tablespoon will give rich flavor to the recipe.Adding a few strands of saffron in milk and boiling it gives a nice yellow color. I add this over rice before pressure cooking. You can add this saffron milk or saffron oil to the recipe. I also add ghee-coated Cashews as they give an extra layer of flavor to the Biryani.
🧾FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
🥗OTHER PANEER RECIPES
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📖 RECIPE CARD
🥗SOME OTHER RECIPES
