Paneer Tikka Biryani
Biryani, the quintessential Mughlai muse.
Who doesn’t love a plate of flavourful Biryani? Biryani, an evergreen classic, really needs no introduction. It’s aromatic, it’s heavenly and one of the most loved delicacies not just in India but across the world. Biryani is a rice based one-pot meal dish. Traditionally, biryani is used making the dum pukht method which is method of cooking in steam and not letting the steam to pass.
Biryani
The earthen clay pots or handis with biryani assembled are sealed tight with whole wheat flour dough, which doesn’t let the steam to pass. All the ingredients are cooked in its own steam and juices.
The rice is cooked on low flame and therefore the aroma & strong flavours along with spices do the magic. In quarantine period we were unable to get meat so we tried to make paneer tikka biryani which is extremely delicious.
Biryani
Biryani
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grained rice (basmati)
- 2 cups water
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1 mace (javantri)
- 1 bayleaf (tejpatta)
- 3-4 peppercorns (kalimirch)
- FOR PANEER TIKKA
- 1 tsp ginger (adrak) paste
- 1 tsp garlic (lehsun) paste
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tsp oil
- 2 tbsp Hung curd
- 250 gms paneer (cottagte cheese) cubes
- FOR BIRYANI GRAVY
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 black cardamom
- 2 finely chopped onions
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 cup tomato puree
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
- 2 tbsp cashew paste
- 2 tbsp fried onions
- salt to taste
- water as required
- Other Ingredients
- 1 tsp of rose water
- 20 fried cashewnuts (kaju)
- 1/2 cup fried onions (birasta)
- a few mint leaves (phudina)
- For smoking
- 1 charcoal
- 1 tsp ghee
- For The Garnish
- a few mint leaves (pudina)
- fried onions (birasta)
- For Serving
- Burhani Raita
- Papad
Method
- For the flavored rice
- Wash the rice, drain and keep aside.
- In a large pan, boil water, add salt, ghee, mace, bay leaf and peppercorns
- Add rice and cook it on high flame for 5 minutes. Lower the flame and cover the pan with a lid and cook the rice for another 15-20 minutes.
- Spread the cooked rice on a plate and discard all the spices from the rice.
- FOR PANEER TIKKA
- Mix ginger paste, garlic paste, tandoori Masala, salt, lemon juice, red chilli powder, pepper powder, oil and curds in a bowl. Add the malai paneer cubes and let it marinate for an hour.
- In a griller or pan heat a tbsp of oil, add the marinated paneer cubes and grill them till golden brown from both the sides. Keep aside
- FOR BIRYANI GRAVY
- Heat oil and butter in a pan, add cumin seeds, cinnamon and black cardamom
- Add the grated onion and saute till the oil separates
- Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 minute
- Add the tomato puree and cook till the oil separates.
- Add red chilli powder, garam Masala, fried fenugreek leaves, black pepper powder, cashew paste, fried onions, salt and enough water to adjust the consistency
- Let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Discard the black cardamom and cinnamon stick from the gravy
- In a handi spread 1 tbsp of butter and spread the flavoured rice in an even layer. Spread Paneer tikka evenly over it and top it with the briyani gravy followed by other layer of rice
- . Add the rose water over it. Top it with fried onions and finely chopped coriander.
- OPTIONAL: : Place a burning charcoal in a steel katori and pour a teaspoon of ghee.
- Immediately cover with a lid and lock it with dough so that the biryani gets a smoky flavour. Put it on low flame for good 20 minutes for Dum. (Remove the charcoal)
- Garnish with fried onions and mint leaves
- Serve hot with raita and papad