Hariyali Paneer biriyani/ cottage cheese biriyani

Shopping is such a loved activity by all females 😉 Did that sound like a MCP comment?? it is. This is a tagline hubby quotes whenever we three go shopping !!!

But we two females in his life, know when to turn deaf 😉 😛

We shopped till we dropped 😀 and reached home exhausted and hungry.

It was my regular cooking help’s Off – Day and my man does not like any compromise in the food department.

So i went about preparing a one pot meal and biriyani it was going to be. Since there was no meat in the fridge, so i went ahead with paneer/ cottage cheese. 🙂

also i wanted to make an easy- peasy biriyani 😉

It took around 30 mins to prepare this and the taste you can discover by making it for yourself 🙂

This serves 4 to 5

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cup – basmati rice

1 onion – large

1 tbsp – ginger paste

1 tsp – garlic paste

1 tsp – chopped green chilli

200 grams – cottage cheese/ paneer (cubed)

1 cup – yogurt/ curd

1 cup – fried onion ( I usually have a prepared packet in the fridge, and can be used for flavoring variety of meals)

1 stick – cinnamon

1 nos – cardamom

2 nos – bay leaf

1 nos – star anise

1 pinch – nutmeg powder

½ tsp – black cumin seeds / shah jeera

2 tsp – biriyani spice ( if store brought, use 1 ½ tsp, because they are extra spicy)

Edible green color ( baking color variety)

Few drops of essence

Salt to taste

3 tbsp – oil + 1 tsp ghee(optional)

Few mint leaves

METHOD

In a frying pan add 1 tsp oil and stir fry the cubed cheese for 3- 4 mins. Keep aside.

Wash the rice and keep aside. Fill a 3 ltr vessel half with water and put on high flame. Add 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp salt and ghee. Once it comes to boil, add the washed rice. Allow the rice to come to boil and keep it on boil for 2 mins only. Reserve a cup of the starch and drain out the rest. Leave the rice partially uncovered for the excess steam to escape.

Keep a 3 – 4 ltr cooker on medium flame. Pour in the oil. Finely chop the onion. As the oil reaches smoking point, add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, star anise and black cumin seeds. Once it splutters add the chopped onion and fry till translucent. Add the chili, ginger and garlic paste and fry for 1 min. Add the yogurt, nutmeg powder, biriyani spice and sprinkle some salt. Cook it till yogurt starts releasing oil. Add the cottage cheese and some more salt to taste. Lower the heat, cover and allow it cook for 2 mins. Switch off the gas.

Assemble the biriyani, by taking out the cooked cheese and some of the gravy, just leaving enough to cover the cooker bottom. To this add a tbsp of the reserved starch. Add the color and essence to the semi – cooked rice and prepare a layer of it in the cooker over the gravy.  Sprinkle some mint leaves and fried onions, and add another layer of rice. Add the rest of the cheese and gravy and cover it with a layer of rest of the rice. Again sprinkle some fried onions and mint. Sprinkle the reserved starch water and lid up the cooker.

Keep an iron griddle/ tawa on high flame and let it turn hot. Lower the heat to minimum and keep the cooker on this griddle for 20 mins. Allow the staem to escape on its own (around 5 mins).

Biriyani is ready to be served !! 🙂

I served it with two sambals, flavored cucumber yogurt ( raita) and potato, carrot, pickled eggs salad with a dash of thousand island dressing and black pepper.

cheers !!! 😀

 

…………………..and then it was Zzzzzzzzzzzzz………*snores* 😉

 

 

 

 

Advertisement