What is Biryani?
Before I share my Paneer Dum Biryani recipe, the most amazing rice delicacy in the world deserves a small introduction. The Biryani word is derived from the Persian word ‘birian’ which means fried or roasted before cooking. Biryani is a mixture of rice with meat, chicken, eggs or vegetables. It is believed that Biryani originated in Persia and was brought in India by Mughals and was further modified and spiced up by the chefs of Nizams of Hyderabad. Different cities have their own specific style of preparing biryani and besides Hyderabadi dum biryani, you must’ve also heard about Kolkata biryani, Lucknow biryani or even Moradabadi biryani.
All these recipes have their own masala profiles and cater to different flavor palates, but it would not be wrong to say that all of them can be really spicy.
What is Dum in Dum Biryani?
The literal meaning of dum in Urdu or Persian is breathe. In cooking, it translates to complete infusion of flavors in rice and the other ingredients of the biryani due to a process of slow cooking in a handi due to internal pressure. Dum aalu and dum biryani are classic use cases of this term.
Why am I writing a Paneer Dum Biryani recipe and not Chicken or Mutton Biryani?
There exists a large group of people who believe that Veg Biryani does not exist, it’s just Veg Pulao. Being a non-vegetarian, I vehemently stand by that group on normal days.
But tough times call for tough measure 😉 If only it was not the month of Sawan, and if only it was not Tuesday today and my mother’s obsession of cooking Satvik food in this month, then I would be making my favorite chicken biryani too. It’s hard to fight off my mom on these weird Punjabi beliefs. Since I believe in writing about recipes that I’m making right now, I went ahead with the next best available option of experimenting with Cottage cheese for my Paneer Dum Biryani recipe. I’m tempted to call it Paneer pulao, but since I’ll be making layers of rice, I’ll stick to calling it Paneer biryani only.
All those who have been requesting me to share Chicken Biryani recipe will have to wait for a little more time.
Paneer Dum Biryani Recipe
Hyderabadi Paneer Dum Biryani is a spicy rice based delicacy which
substitutes the usual curried biryani meat with paneer (cottage cheese).
Follow the steps given below and make it easily at home.
Ingredients
Ingredients for Paneer Marination
- 250 grams Amul Malai Paneer Cut into cubes
- 200 grams Curd (Dahi)
- 1 tsp Ginger Paste
- 1 tsp Garlic Paste
- 1/2 tsp Salt As per taste
- 1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala
- 1/4 tsp Pudina powder Optional
- 2 tsp Oil
- 1 Onion Cut in cubes
- 1 Capsicum (bell pepper) Cut in cubes
Ingredients for Rice preparation
- 1 glass Long grain basmati rice
- 1 tsp Shahi Jeera/Cumin seeds
- 1 Star flower masala/star anise
- 1 Black cardamom
- 1 inch Cinnamom stick
- 1 Green cardamom
- 1 tsp Oil
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Additional Ingredients for Biryani preparation
- 2 Onions Sliced
- 4 tsp Tomato Puree
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 tsp Ghee
- 2 tsp Biryani Masala
- 1/2 tsp Pudina powder
- 3-4 Coriander leaves
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 4-5 tsp Milk with Haldi or Saffron
Instructions
Preparing paneer for marination
- Take half bowl of curd, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, pudina powder and mix together with ginger garlic paste to prepare the marination base.
- Cut cubes of 250 gms of paneer and add it to the marination base with 2 tsp of oil with onion and capsicum cubes. Keep it in the refrigerator for an hour for properly infusing the masala in paneer pieces.
Preparing Rice
-
Meanwhile, we will cook rice upto 60-70%. For that, Take a glass of rice, wash it and boil it in a pan with approximately 3 times the water. Add cumin seeds, star flower, cinnamon stick, black and green cardamom, salt and 1 tsp of oil to rice. The spices will infuse flavour in the rice as well.
- Once the rice is approximately 70% cooked, strain out the remaining water and put the rice in a pan.
Making the Biryani
- Fry 2 sliced onions till they turn dark golden brown, add a large bay leaf while frying onions too.
- Keep the onions aside in a plate once ready.
- Heat 1 tsp of ghee and add 4 tsp of tomato puree to it. Fry it for 2 – 3 minutes till the puree releases ghee.
- Add the marinated paneer into the pan and mix it for one minute on high flame. This forms the base layer of our Paneer Dum Biryani.
- Lower down the flame, add 1/3rd of the boiled rice above the paneer mix. Sprinkle some salt, garam masala/ biryani masala, pudina powder over it. Pour ½ tsp of ghee above it and add ⅓ fried onions and coriander leaves. Layer the next ⅓ portion of rice and repeat the same process till the last round.
- On the top most layer, pour 4-5 tsp of milk mixed with a pinch of haldi/ yellow colour/saffron. Close the lid of the pan and keep it on very low flame for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve hot with Raita and salan 🙂
Notes
- Use a tawa below the kadai/pan if your kadai is too thin from bottom, this will prevent biryani from sticking and burning.
- You can also do this process in a pressure cooker
Recommended Products
I recommend products that will help you make the recipe in the best way possible.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Amount Per Serving: Calories: 450
Let me know if you enjoyed reading my Paneer Dum Biryani recipe or as non-believers would like to call it – Paneer Pulao Recipe ;). Let me know which group do you belong to in the comments below.
After this spicy royal treat, I’m sure you must be salivating for some desserts and there could be nothing better than Bengali Rasgullas to go with the Biryani. Or if you gorge too much on biryani, then you will definitely need some digestive tangy mango candy 🙂
Some readers also asked me to share links to the major ingredients that I use in my recipes. Here are the links for your reference
- Glass covered pan used for cooking – https://amzn.to/2CaagTu
- Biryani rice – https://amzn.to/2ZpEtXw
- Biryani Masala – https://amzn.to/2WhLRSD
This is mouthwatering!🤤😍 Nicely explained too!🤩
Thanks Aditi. I would like it more when you let me know how it turns out for you 🙂