Vegetable Paneer Biryani with Brown Rice
A simple vegetable paneer biryani recipe with brown rice you can either make in your rice cooker or pressure cooker. Perfect for a quick meal under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds jeera
- 1 cup sliced onions
- A small piece of cinnamon
- 3-4 cloves
- 3-4 pods of cardamom
- 2 " piece of ginger
- 2-3 green chillies adjust to taste
- 3 flakes of garlic
- 2 cups of paneer cubes fresh or frozen, thawed
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/4 cup green peas fresh or frozen, thawed
- 1/2 cup plain curd or yogurt
- Salt to taste
- Mint leaves and coriander leaves chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Wash and soak the brown rice for 1 hour in enough water to cover it
- Chop and prepare your vegetables, onions, paneer, etc
- Heat ghee in a pan and add the cumin seeds (if you want to make this biryani in a pressure cooker, start this process in the pressure cooker pan)
- When they sizzle and turn a light brown, add the onions and whole spices
- Fry until the onions turn a golden brown
- In the meantime, grind together the green chillies, ginger, and garlic
- Add to the fried onion mixture and saute again for 20 seconds
- Now add the paneer. Mix and saute until the paneer turns a light brown
- Add the chopped carrots and peas
- Mix and cook for 3-4 minutes
- If using a pressure cooker, drain and add the soaked brown rice on top of this and add the curd and enough water (see notes). Cover and cook for 2-3 whistles or 20 minutes
- If using a rice cooker, transfer this mixture into the rice cooker vessel, add the drained and soaked brown rice on top with salt, curd and water, and cook until the rice cooker turns off automatically
- Open the lid, fluff with a fork, and serve hot
Notes
I didn't add any tomatoes this to biryani but you can add it along with the carrot and peas if you prefer.
The amount of water required will vary by type of rice used. Also, if using curd, then I count that as "water" and top up the remaining. So if you are using 1/4 cup curd, add 3/4 cup water if you are looking for total 1 cup water.
For basmati, I add 1:1 water and for brown rice, I add 1: 2.5 cups water. A bit of experimentation is needed to get this right
This is not an "authentic" biryani recipe, just a quick fix cheats recipe to satisfy a biryani craving so take it as it is
I forgot to take a picture with the garnishing of coriander leaves and mint leaves but definitely don't skip that, really helps make the biryani taste way better
I usually serve this with some dal and raita and papad.
This biryani recipe is fairly mild but you can add some chilli powder or biryani masala to make it spicier. I made this biryani during the days immediately following my delivery and didn't eat a lot of spice then