Homemade Paneer Biryani.

"Homemade Paneer Biryani" with Onion-Tomato-Cucumber Raita, Visonu (King Fish) Fry and Tomato Saaru (Saar)" ... It's been raining heavily since last evening, there's chill in air too ... A spicy tummy filling delicious lunch today and a quick short nap ... Yummilicious ... 

** Biryani is a spiced masala rice dish that needs no introduction to any Indian. I am sure all of you have relished this spicy rice dish many a times and loved it too. I myself have written a lot about Biryani and the different methods in which it is prepared. However, with changing times, people have begun to take short cuts and prepare dish directly in pressure cooker or sort of all in one together cooked and it does taste wonderful. I myself have stopped taking the long laborious method of preparing biryani and do so only if that particular dish needs to be done so only. Otherwise, I just prepare the ground masala and directly cook all together in pressure cooker and it’s perfectly done. Today also I have used pressure cooker pan to cook this biryani. But a word of caution here with pressure cooking you should be very careful, like the cooker should have a thick based bottom, you should not cook on very low heat, nor too high, lest it gets burnt at the bottom, do not take too many whistles and do not allow it to cool down on its own for over 5-7 minutes, etc. 

** There is no need to panic if you are a newbie, once you learn the trick of preparing in pressure cooker properly, after a few errors and trials, then it is a breeze work and you will love preparing these dishes in a jiffy for sure. I will not run into more details but will directly post the recipe for this paneer biryani I prepared using homemade paneer. The post I have blogged just before this one, mentions how I ended up with a missed out pack of milk and that which got curdled on heating. The same had then to be prepared into paneer. You can check through the link that I will furnish at the bottom of this recipe for preparing of paneer at home. Do try this out and enjoy with your family and friends. I prepared this pulav very spicy enough and served it with onion-tomato-cucumber raita and tomato saaru (saar). To make the meal more scrumptious I fried some Visonu (King Fish) and served them too and the lunch was fantastic and loved by one and all. Do try out this awesome combo and enjoy with your family and friends and if you are a vegetarian, just add some bajias instead of fish. 

** Here is my Simple Method to preparation of "Homemade Paneer Biryani" … My Style 

** Ingredients : 

Basmati / Jeera Rice : 2 cups 

Paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese / Channa / Chhena : approx. 200 gms. 

Onion / Piyavu / Kanda : 1 large sized. 

Cashew nuts / kaju / Kajjubi : handful. 

Tejpatta / Bay Leaves : 2-3 

Coriander Leaves / Dhania / Kothimbir : ½ cup finely chopped. 

Salt / Namk to taste 

Ghee / Toop : 4 tblsp 

Oil : 2 tblsp 

Boiling Water : 4 cups 

** Onion / Piyavu / Kanda to be fried : 1 large sized. 

** Masala to be Ground : 

Tomato : 1 Large sized cut into pieces. 

Coriander / Dhania / Kothimbir Leaves : ½ cup cut into pieces. 

Pudina / Mint Leaves : 1 cup cut into pieces. 

Green Chillies / Hirvi Mirchi / Tarni Mirsanga : 3-4 cut into pieces. 

Ginger / Alle' / Adrak : 1 inch piece 

Garlic / Losun / Lehsun : 3-4 cut into pieces. 

** Masala Powders to be added : 

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 2-3 tblsp 

Coriander / Dhania / Kottimbir Powder : 1 tblsp 

Cumin / Jeera Powder : 1 tsp 

Fennel / Badisep / Saunf Powder : 1 tsp 

Goda Masala Powder : 1 tblsp (I used Goda Masala powder)

OR 

Garam Masala Powder : 1 tbsp 

Haldi / Turmeric Powder : ½ tsp 

** Wash and soak the rice in plenty of water for 25-30 minutes. Rinse well and put in a colander to drain off all excess water. Keep this ready aside. 

** Masala to be Ground : Add in the tomato, coriander leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic and pudina leaves into a mixer grinder and grind all to a semi coarse paste with just half to one cup of water. Do not add more water while grinding. Remove and keep this ready aside. 

** Masala Powders : In a small bowl add in the chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, garm masala powder and haldi powder together and keep this ready aside. I follow this method so that it makes it easier to add in all the masala in one go. 

** Preparing the Paneer : Cut the paneer into small sized cubes and keep them also ready aside. 

** Slice both the onions given under frying and for biryani into thin slices and keep them ready aside separately. Do not mix them, they will be needed separately. 

** In a pan heat some oil, say about 2-3 tblsp and when hot add in the paneer cubes and fry on medium heat for just about 2-3 minutes. Remove and keep them aside. Now add in the cashew nuts and fry them until they are slightly browned. Remove and keep them also ready aside. Finally add in the finely sliced (one) onion kept for frying and fry till the onion turns brown remove and keep it aside ready. 

** Preparing the "Homemade Paneer Biryani" simple way : In a pressure cooker pan add in ghee+oil and in the remaining oil too if any from the pan in which the onion, cashew, paneer were fried too. When hot lower the heat and add in the other sliced and kept ready onion along with bay leaves and fry till the onions turn translucent. Now add in half of the browned onions kept aside and all the masala powder mixed and kept ready and fry for another minute. Now add in the ground masala and mix well and continue frying for say 2-3 minutes. Now add in the soaked and drained rice kept aside and mix well. Lower the heat to minimum, cover the pressure pan with a plate and let cook for a minute, mix well, cover and keep it so for another minute. 

** Finally add in the 4 cups of boiling water, salt to taste and mix well. Now cover the pressure cooker lid and let cook on medium heat to 3-4 whistles. Remove from fire and keep it aside for 5-7 minutes to cool down. Do not attempt to release the pressure valve and remove the lid before 7 minutes. Then if there is still pressure in cooker and you are not able to open the lid, carefully lift the pressure weight with tongs and release the pressure and then gently open the lid and allow the steam to pass away. Leave the biryani aside undisturbed for some time as mixing in the same when hot will make it mushy and you will not get the rice separate. 

** Once the biryani is cool enough with the help of fork gently fluff the rice up a bit and allow the steam within to be released. Follow this step twice, this way you will get perfect cooked Biryani. Garnish with a handful of coriander and mint leaves chopped finely. Now add on the fried and kept aside paneer cubes and the browned onions and just give it a gentle mix. Do not mix vigorously, mix it just about lightly so that the paneer get evenly mixed. 

**"Homemade Paneer Biryani" is done and ready to be served. You can serve this hot with any dish of your choice, though personally I always prefer it with Raita / Salad. Spicy biryani is always appealing with cold curd dishes and I always make it a point to serve it either with raita or some dish which has curds addition to it like tambuli. Today however since it is monsoon and was raining heavily I served the biryani with onion-tomato-cucumber raita, visonu (king fish) fries and hot and spicy tomato saaru (saar) and it was really and excellent combo lunch. 

** Do try out this yummy Biryani combo and if you are an vegetarian no problem just replace the fish fries with some bajia/bajo like that of capsicum or onion or any other of your choice. I am sure your family and friends will love this combo meal and please do not forget to give me a feed back on the same as it will help me do that much more. If you have young children at home who at times cannot relish more spice, just decrease the amount of chilly powder added to the masala powder. 

** For the “Visonu (King Fish) Fry” Recipe, Please follow the link given below … 

https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/2015/04/tawa-fried-surmai-visonu.html#more

** For the “Tomato Saaru (Saar)" Recipe, Please follow the link given below …. 

https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/2015/06/tomato-saar.html#more

** For the “Onion-Tomato-Cucumber Raita” Recipe, Please follow the link given below, the recipe remains same just replace cabbage with onions …. 

http://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.in/2015/01/onion-tomato-curd-salad.html#more

** For the “Homemade Paneer” Method, Please follow the link given below … 

https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/2019/07/homemade-paneer-from-skimmed-milk-cows.html#more

** There are many more “Biryani/Pulav/Rice” Recipes in my Blog. Sharing a common link below to the same, you can choose that which appeals to you and try out he same too …. 

https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=Biryani

https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=Pulav

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