A fragrant veggie biryani that’s light enough to serve as a side dish, but hearty enough to satisfy as a meat-free main.
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Yields:
6 serving(s)
Prep Time:
45 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr
Total Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Cal/Serv:
504
Ingredients
2Tbsp.
vegetable oil
225g
paneer, cut into 1cm cubes
2
onions, finely sliced
4
garlic cloves, crushed
4
cm piece fresh root ginger, finely grated
1
red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1tsp.
ground turmeric
1Tbsp.
garam masala
4
large tomatoes (about 450g in total), roughly chopped
150g
natural yogurt
Large handful coriander, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
75g
butter or ghee, melted
For the rice
325g
basmati rice
6
cardamon pods, bruised
Pinch saffron
Directions
Step 1First, soak the rice in a bowl of cold water for
30min. While the rice is
soaking, heat 1tbsp oil in
a large casserole dish
(that has a lid) over
medium heat and cook
the paneer, turning
occasionally, until golden
all over. Transfer to a
plate. Add the remaining
oil and cook the onions
for 15min, stirring regularly, until deep
golden brown. Remove
onions to the plate with
the paneer.
Step 2Add the garlic, ginger,
chilli, turmeric and
garam masala to the
empty pan and cook for
2min, until fragrant. Add
the tomatoes and cook,
stirring occasionally, for
a few min until they start
to break down. Reduce
heat to low and stir in the
yogurt and 1/2tsp fine salt.
Step 3While the tomatoes are cooking, drain the
soaked rice and cook
in a pan of boiling
salted water with the
cardamom pods and
saffron for 5min, until
tender. Drain well.
Step 4Spoon 1/2 the rice
(with the cardamom
pods) over the tomato
mixture in the pan,
and top with 1/2 each
of the onions, paneer,
coriander and melted butter/ghee. Repeat
layering once more.
Step 5Cover and cook on
medium-high heat until
you can see steam from
under the lid, reduce
heat to low and cook for
30min without lifting
the lid. Sprinkle over the
extra coriander to serve.
A crack team of highly skilled food content producers, the GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurstis our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time.
Alice Shields is Senior Cookery Writer for Good Housekeeping. A trained pastry chef, you’ll find her food styling on photo shoots, developing delicious recipes and writing about all things food. She loves to bake and her favourite pudding will always be a chocolate fondant. Originally hailing from Lancashire, she finally achieved her goal of getting a butter pie recipe into the magazine.
