Best Paneer Biryani (Traditional Recipe)

Paneer biryani is a mildly spiced and delicately flavored dum cooked, traditional biryani recipe. Simply moreish and flavorful paneer biryani that pairs beautifully with any raita. A dum cooked biryani takes time to make but the results are always awesome. You can make this tasty biryani on a stove-top or in the oven.

About Paneer Biryani Recipe

A traditional Paneer Biryani recipe is a slow cooked layered casserole of paneer cubes in a curd (yogurt) based gravy, fried onions and par-cooked rice flavored with spices, saffron or rose water.

Any traditionally made biryani will have separate layers of the gravy and rice, utilizing the dum method of cooking. The rice and gravy layers are slow cooked and steamed in a tightly sealed pan or pot, where the steam is unable to escape.

You will find many variations of making paneer biryani that are not only made in a pan but also in a pressure cooker and in the Instant Pot.

This paneer biryani recipe is very unique and different as there is no preparation of any gravy. Here I just marinate the paneer cubes, layer the marinated paneer with cooked rice in a pan. Later cook everything together. Easy, right?

There is no absolutely no need to make any gravy with the paneer. Bonus, the paneer cubes do not become dense or hard since we are not cooking them twice – like frying or cooking in the gravy and adding to the rice while layering.

Yes, easy in a way, but there is some prep work like frying onions (which is also known as birista) and cooking rice.

After these two steps, making this paneer biryani is a breeze. You need to make the layers in a pot or pan and cook the biryani on stovetop or in the oven.

When I had posted this paneer biryani recipe, it was first of its kind in on the web (now I do not know). As usually a paneer biryani is made by first frying the paneer and then cooking it further with gravy or rice.

This paneer biryani has mild, delicate aroma and flavors of the spices. It is not spicy or pungent.

Love paneer with rice? Get these recipes of Paneer Pulao and Paneer Fried Rice – that have distinct flavor profiles and are made with different cooking techniques.

How to make Paneer Biryani

Soak Rice and Fry Onions

1. Rinse basmati rice very well in running fresh water until the starch clears from the water. The water should be clear and not cloudy or opaque. Soak the rice grains in water for 30 minutes.

2. When the rice is soaking, prep the ingredients for the paneer biryani. Thinly slice 2 medium-sized onions. You will need about ¾ to 1 cup of sliced onions.

Heat 4 tablespoons oil or ghee in a small frying pan and add the sliced onions.

3. Stir and begin to fry the onions until they turn golden. Add one or two pinches of salt for quick browning of the onions. Stir often for uniform browning and fry on a low heat.

4. In the below photo, the onions have begun to get golden.

5. When the onions are golden and caramelized, remove them with a slotted spoon. Place the fried onions on kitchen paper towels and set aside. These crispy golden fried onions are also known as Birista.

Set the oil or ghee in which we fried the onions aside. We will be using this oil or ghee while layering the paneer biryani.

6. Warm ¼ cup milk on stovetop or in the microwave. Add 16 to 18 saffron strands to the milk. Stir and set aside.

Make Paneer Marinade

7. Whisk ½ cup of whole milk curd (yogurt) in a mixing bowl until smooth. Do not use sour curd as that will make your paneer biryani taste sour.

8. Add the following herbs and mix well.

• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves 
• ½ tablespoon chopped mint leaves

9.  Add in the following listed spices and mix again:

• ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
• ¼ teaspoon caraway seeds (known as shahjeera in Hindi)
• ¼ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of garam masala powder (sub ½ teaspoon curry powder instead)
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
• salt as needed

10. Add half of the fried onions and all of the paneer cubes (200 to 250 grams).

11. Mix gently. Cover and keep the marinated paneer aside for 30 minutes at room temperature. If you plan to marinate for a longer time, keep the paneer bowl covered in your fridge.

Cook Basmati Rice

12. In the below photo you see the soaked and drained basmati rice after 30 minutes. Do drain all the water from the rice very well and set aside.

13. Bring 4 cups water to a rolling boil in a pot.

14. Add the whole spices listed below:

• 1 inch cinnamon
• 1 medium-sized or 2 small tej patta
• 2 to 3 cloves
• 2 to 3 green cardamoms
• ¼ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahjeera)

15. Add 1 teaspoon salt.

16. Now add the soaked rice.

17. Do not stir and you will see the temperature drops a bit after adding rice. Do not cover the pan while cooking rice.

18. Keep the flame to high and cook the rice without lowering the heat.

19. Boil the rice grains until they are 75% or ¾ cooked. They should have a bite when you eat them.

20. Drain the cooked rice in a colander. You can rinse the rice grains gently to remove starch if any and to stop the grains from cooking.

Cover with a lid and set the cooked basmati rice aside.

21. This is the marinated paneer after 30 minutes.

Assemble and Layer Paneer Biryani

22. Add the same oil in which we fried the onions to a thick bottomed pan or pot. If cooking the biryani in an oven, add the oil to an oven safe glass bowl or pan.

23. Add the marinated paneer and layer neatly.

24. Make a rice layer now. Add all the rice. I have just made two layers. If you want you can make 4 layers each of the marinated paneer and cooked rice.

25. Add the remaining fried onions.

26. Now add 1 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) and ½ tablespoon mint leaves.

27. Sprinkle the saffron infused milk all over. Place the saffron strands as well on the rice.

28. Dot with 1 to 2 tablespoons of ghee. You can add 1 tablespoon of rose water or kewra water at this step.

Dum Cook Paneer Biryani

29. Cover with an aluminium foil or with a moist cotton kitchen napkin.

30. Place the lid tightly on the pan and place it on a tawa or skillet.

31. For the first 5 minutes dum cook the paneer biryani on a medium heat. Later reduce the heat and cook the paneer biryani on dum for 12 to 15 minutes.

You can cook the biryani in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).

32. Here’s the paneer biryani after being dum cooked for 20 minutes. Check the bottom with a spoon and there should be no liquids.

If you find the bottom of pan watery or with any gravy or liquid, dum cook for 5 to 10 minutes more.

Serving Suggestions

Enjoy paneer biryani hot or warm with raita like an onion-tomato raita or cucumber raita or boondi raita. You can serve with sliced onion-lime salad or onion-tomato-cucumber salad.

Pairing it with curries like mirchi ka salan and bagara baingan tastes awesome. Even a simple plain yogurt tastes nice with paneer biryani.

Storage

Place any leftovers in any sealed box or container and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days. Reheat by warming in the oven at 90 degrees Celsius (195 degrees Fahrenheit) or by steaming in the Instant pot for 5 minutes.

Expert Tips

Ingredient Variations

• Rice: For any biryani recipe I usually prefer aged basmati rice as the grains become fluffy, tender and non-sticky when cooked. Parboiled basmati rice (sella basmati rice) is another rice variety I like to make biryani with. You can make paneer biryani with any long grained variety of non-sticky rice.
• Adding veggies: You can add some steamed peas and steamed veggies like carrots, cauliflower, potatoes to the paneer biryani recipe. But you will have to increase the curd and other spices accordingly to accommodate the veggies.
• Vegan option: For a vegan version of paneer biryani, use tofu, oil and a dairy free yogurt & milk like cashew or almond milk/yogurt. Avoid soy or peanut yogurt as it gives an after taste.
• Nuts and dried fruits: Fried cashews and raisins can be added on top of the rice layers.
• Whole spices: I recommend adding all the spices and herbs in the same proportion as listed in this paneer biryani recipe. A only suggestion I offer which will alter the flavor slightly will be to replace caraway seeds (shah jeera) with cumin seeds.

Cooking Notes

• Cooking rice: Do not cook the rice grains completely. They have to be slightly underdone. Fully cooked rice grains will end up with a mushy biryani since the rice grains cook further during the dum cooking process.
• Paneer: Use homemade paneer for best taste and texture. For frozen paneer, thaw them in warm or hot water for some minutes.
• Marinating time: I always marinate the paneer for 30 minutes at room temperature. Sometimes if I have more time, I marinate the paneer cubes overnight in the refrigerator.
• Making birista: The birista or fried onions can be made a day before and stored in an air tight container. You can also make a big batch of fried onions that come in handy while making biryani. Freeze them for a longer storage.

More Flavorful Rice Recipes To Try!

Rice Recipes

Veg Dum Biryani | Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani

Rice Recipes

Veg Pulao Recipe (Mix Vegetable Pulav)

Rice Recipes

Chettinad Biryani Recipe (Vegetarian)

Rice Recipes

Bisi Bele Bath Recipe (Karnataka Style)

Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

This Paneer Biryani recipe from the blog archives first published on March 2015. It has been updated on November 2024.