Instant Pot Paneer Biryani

4.82 from 11 votes

Paneer Biryani Instant Pot recipe is very delicious, flavorful and easy one pot rice recipe prepared from paneer, whole spices, biryani masala and the long grain basmati rice

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword cottage cheese biryani, instant pot, paneer biryani, paneer recipes

Diet Gluten-Free, Vegetarian

Method Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings

Calories 300.2kcal

Author Bhavana Patil

Equipment

Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice
1 cup paneer (cottage cheese) fried
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
¼ cup mint leaves
¼ cup coriander leaves
2 green chilles
¼ cup curd (yogurt) (vegans can use dairy free)
1.5 cups water
2 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) or oil
salt to taste

Whole Spices

Dry Spices

Instructions

Instant Pot Method

Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add ghee, and once it's hot, add Bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom, and cloves. *Vegans can use oil instead of ghee.
Then add sliced onions, green chilies, ginger-garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn light brown - stir regularly.
Add mint, coriander leaves, yogurt (curd), turmeric powder, red chili powder, biryani masala powder, and fried paneer and mix well.
Add rinsed Basmati Rice, water, salt, and give a quick stir.
Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
Once the pot beeps, Wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE(NPR).
Squeeze some lime juice, mix well, and Pressure cooker Paneer Biryani is ready to serve with Onion Raita or plain yogurt.

Indian Pressure Cooker Method

Firstly, heat a pressure cooker with oil on medium flame, add Bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves.
Then add sliced onions, green chillies, ginger-garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn light brown in color - stir regularly.
Add mint, coriander leaves, curd, turmeric powder, red chili powder, biryani masala powder and fried paneer and mix well.
Then add rinsed basmati rice, water, salt, and give a stir.
Cover the cooker with lid and cook for 1 whistle.
Squeeze some lime juice, mix well and Paneer Biryani is ready serve with Onion Raita or plain yogurt.

Video

Notes

For Vegans, you can skip yogurt and add lime juice or 1 medium tomato.
I have shallow fried paneer in a pan for biryani, but you can add raw paneer itself.
You can get biryani masala powder from any Indian grocery store or amazon. You can use any brand. If you don't get biryani powder then replace with same quality of garam masala powder.
You can increase or decrease spices accordingly.
If you want to make it healthy add some vegetables along with paneer to this biryani.
You can add fried onions on top before serving.
If you think your paneer is becoming chewy after pressure cooking, saute paneer separately and add in the end or use homemade paneer.

No Pressure Cooker?: In case you do not have a pressure cooker, you can use a large pan and cook covered. However cooking time will be more. Also, in this method, add the paneer to the pan once the rice is half done.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition