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Home >> Recipes >> Rice Recipes

Paneer biryani recipe

By swasthi , on February 13, 2021, 62 Comments, Jump to Recipe

Paneer biryani is an Indian dish made with paneer, basmati rice, spices & herbs. This paneer biryani is unique, flavorful & amazingly delicious. Biryani is most commonly made with meat but this recipe uses paneer aka Indian cottage cheese. If you are a vegetarian and love the flavors of authentic biryani then this paneer biryani is a must try.

dum paneer biryani

There are many kinds of vegetarian biryani made. Most of them use vegetables & are one pot dishes. Since this paneer biryani is dum cooked, it turns out to be extremely flavorful & delicious.

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Paneer turns out super flavorful and remains soft as it is dum cooked.

Vegetable biryani is one of the most made in my home as it is super quick to make. Sometimes I also add some paneer to the veggie biryani. But the dum paneer biryani shared here is exotic and is great to make for celebrations or on weekends.

I make this paneer biryani on occasions when I plan for a special meal. It goes very well with a raita and shorba.

Preparation

1. Wash rice and soak it for 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Add oil to a pan and fry onions evenly stirring often.

frying onions for paneer biryani

3. When they turn brown, set these aside.

fried onions in pan

4. This step is optional. If using capsicum or cashews, add them to the same pan and fry just for two to 3 minutes. If using

frying capsicum for paneer biryani

5. If using cashews fry to golden. You can fry few paneer chunks till golden if you want to garnish with them like i did.

frying paneer for garnishing

6. Soak saffron in little milk. set aside.

soaking saffron in milk
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7. Marinate paneer with all the marination ingredients and set aside till the rice cooks.

8. Add 1 tsp oil & ½ to ¾ tsp salt to 6 cups of water. Bring it to a rolling boil. Add the drained rice and cook till al dente. Meaning the rice grains have to be firm and not mushy but almost cooked.

cooking rice to make paneer biryani

9. Drain it off to a colander.

drained rice in a colander.

How to make paneer biryani

10. To a pan add ghee or oil, transfer the paneer marinade to the pan.

paneer marinade in pan
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11. Layer the rice and sprinkle fried onions, mint, coriander leaves, kewra or rose water and then saffron milk.

layering rice to make paneer biryani

12. Add the capsicums or cashews. Cover it with a moist cloth or aluminum foil. Cover it with a lid.

adding herbs to make dum paneer biryani

Place it on a hot tawa and cook for 5 minutes on a high flame and then for 10 minutes on a medium flame. Switch off the flame. Do not open the lid for another 15 minutes.

dum cooking paneer biryani on tawa

Garnish with fried onions, chunks of fried paneer or cashew nuts & mint. Serve paneer biryani with onion raita or cuumber raita

paneer biryani recipe

Tips

Fried onions or brown onions are the key to any dum cooked biryani. For authentic flavor deep fry the onions until crisp. I have just pan fried them with very little oil.

Use premium quality aged basmati rice as it has a good aroma. The rice grains will be non-sticky & will not turn mushy.

Please use good quality paneer that has no corn starch in it. Paneer with additives like corn starch will likely turn hard after cooking. To make your own you can check this link on homemade paneer.

Using ghee will make your paneer biryani aromatic and delicious. However you can replace it with oil.

You can also use some nuts and raisins for garnishing. I went ahead using some red and green bell peppers as I do not prefer to miss the veggies in our meal.

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Recipe card

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paneer biryani

Paneer biryani

Easy paneer biryani cooked in a dum style. Indian cottage cheese marinated in yogurt, spices & herbs and steam cooked along with rice.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Servings3
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

  • 1 ½ cups basmati rice aged
  • 1 tsp oil for cooking rice
  • ½ to ¾ tsp Salt to cook rice
  • 2 onions sliced thinly or 4 tbsp fried onions
  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil for frying onions
  • 2 tbsp Mint leaves or pudina chopped
  • 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

Marination for paneer biryani

  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil
  • 1 ¼ cup paneer cubes
  • ½ cup curd or dahi or yogurt
  • 1 tsp garam masala or biryani masala
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ½ to ¾ tsp red chili powder
  • ¼ to ⅓ tsp Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp mint leaves finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
  • 1 green chili
  • 1 bay leaf or tej patta
  • 4 green cardamoms or elaichi
  • 1 black cardamom or badi elaichi (optional)
  • 6 cloves or laung
  • 3 inch cinnamon piece or dalchini
  • 1 strand mace or javitri (optional)
  • 1 star anise or biryani flower
  • ½ tsp shahi jeera or cumin or jeera
  • 1 tsp kewra water or rose water (optional)

Garnishing

  • 6 cubes paneer
  • 8 cubes Capsicum or few cashew nuts
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Instructions

Prepration for paneer biryani

  • Soak rice for at least 30 to 40 mins. Later drain to a colander.
  • Add oil to a heavy bottom pan, fry onions till golden brown. Set these fried onions aside. Fry capsicums till they turn slightly soft. Fry few paneer cubes or cashew nuts as well. Set these aside.
  • Marinate paneer with 2 tbsps fried onions and the marination ingredients. Set aside.
  • Add 1 tsp oil & ½ to ¾ tsp salt to water. Bring it to a rolling boil.
  • Add the drained rice and cook till al dente. Meaning the rice grains have to be firm and not mushy but almost cooked. Drain off the rice to colander and set aside.

making paneer biryani

  • Add the paneer marinade to the same heavy bottom pan used for frying golden onions.
  • Layer the cooked rice over the paneer marinade. Level the rice. Add few more fried onions and mint and coriander leaves. Then sprinkle fried onions, capsicums, kewra or rose water.
  • Seal it with a foil or a moist clean kitchen cloth. Place the lid over it. Meanwhile heat a old tawa or griddle.
  • When it is hot, transfer the biryani pot or pan on the hot tawa. Cook for 5 minutes on a high flame and then for 10 minutes on a medium flame.
  • Switch off the stove and leave it undisturbed for at least 15 minutes.
  • Garnish with fried cashews or fried paneer, mint leaves and fried onions.
  • Serve paneer biryani with raita.
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Notes

You can skip all the whole spices in the recipe if you do not have.

Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Paneer biryani
Amount Per Serving
Calories 816 Calories from Fat 342
% Daily Value*
Fat 38g58%
Saturated Fat 22g138%
Cholesterol 92mg31%
Sodium 130mg6%
Potassium 400mg11%
Carbohydrates 92g31%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 23g46%
Vitamin A 535IU11%
Vitamin C 27.9mg34%
Calcium 586mg59%
Iron 2.6mg14%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes

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About swasthi

I’m Swasthi shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthis recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

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  2. reenu says

    March 18, 2015

    Its amazing in test.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      March 18, 2015

      thank you reenu

      Reply
  3. zoya says

    November 24, 2014

    Nicely explained….’
    Keep posting more recipes & 🙂

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      November 25, 2014

      Hi Zoya,
      thank you.
      🙂

      Reply
  4. SHALINI says

    September 27, 2014

    SUPER GOOD LOOKING

    VERY WELL EXPLAINED

    COLOUR IS APPETISING……. THANK U

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      September 27, 2014

      Hi shalini,
      Thanks for the compliments.
      🙂

      Reply
  5. Ana says

    September 27, 2014

    SUPER GOOD LOOKING

    VERY WELL EXPLAINED

    EXPECTING MORE MORE DISHES FROM U

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      September 28, 2014

      Thank you

      Reply
  6. RAJENDHAR DASARI says

    July 31, 2014

    VERY DELICIOUSLY LOOKING. GOOD EX PLANED.

    Reply
    • swasthi says

      August 4, 2014

      Hi Rajendhar,
      Thanks

      Reply
  7. Ana says

    July 31, 2014

    VERY DELICIOUSLY LOOKING. GOOD EX PLANED.

    Reply
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  9. Sruthi Eamdiwar says

    November 1, 2013

    Will use your recipe for my office pot lunch party ………………. thank you :)<br />

    Reply
  10. Nandita Pai Shirali says

    October 26, 2012

    Oh myyyyyy…soooo delightfully tempting! I would love to have a serving right now! Lovely step wise post, I am book marking this and am sure to try this out soon 🙂 just bumped into ur page… and am glad I did.

    Reply
  11. Vimitha Anand says

    August 10, 2012

    Delicious and yummy biryani… Would love to grab a plate…

    Reply
  12. Amina Khaleel says

    August 10, 2012

    wow… paneer biryani looks delicious… yummy..

    Reply
  13. Kavitha says

    August 9, 2012

    delicious briyani….will try this….

    Reply
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  15. Az says

    August 9, 2012

    Looks delicious…

    Reply
  16. kitchen queen says

    August 9, 2012

    delicious and yummy biryani with a wonderful presentation.

    Reply
  17. Mélange says

    August 9, 2012

    It&#39;s perfect Swasthi..Worth an effort..And the aroma reached here.

    Reply
  18. kate says

    August 9, 2012

    Mmmmmmmm birryani looks super tasty. Can&#39;t wait to try this.

    Reply
  19. Poorni says

    August 9, 2012

    nice explanation.. eye catching biriyani..

    Reply
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  21. Sanoli Ghosh says

    August 9, 2012

    Lipsmacking paneer biryani dear. Thanks a lot for sharing it. Bookmarked.

    Reply
  22. PrathibhaSreejith says

    August 9, 2012

    looks utterly delicious, well explained 🙂

    Reply
  23. PT says

    August 9, 2012

    tempting biriyani.. perfectly done swasthi..

    Reply
  24. Asmath Nawaz says

    August 9, 2012

    Well explained with step by step pics…..delicious biriyani….

    Reply
  25. ♥ Priya Ranjit ♥ says

    August 9, 2012

    your tips and explanation are really useful… love the hues of color in the briyani.. i am sure this is a keeper

    Reply
    • saran says

      February 15, 2015

      a good one……….. really very yummy and delicious dish…… with many explanations and photos… great work…. post many recipies…. thnk u

      Reply
      • swasthi says

        February 15, 2015

        welcome Saran,
        🙂

        Reply
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