Hariyali Paneer Biryani

Hariyali Paneer Biryani is mix of basmati rice, refreshing hariyali paneer, and bunch of veggie along with yogurt, mint, kasuri methi and spices!

Biryani is the powerhouse of Indian food, the exciting aromas, the beautiful vibrant colors, the fluffy long grain basmati rice and the thrilling flavors. It is usually made with some sort of meat cooked with whole bunch of spices and then layered up with long grain basmati rice. Does it mean being a vegetarian, you cannot enjoy this category of food?!?! I would like to say you can absolutely enjoy Biryani being a vegetarian. Many will disagree, but that is a debate for another time!!

This Hariyali Paneer Biryani version is inspired by refreshing Hariyali flavors. This biryani is loaded with so many vegetables and marinated paneer with refreshing flavors. Along with yogurt, mint, cilantro, spinach, kasuri methi, and whole lot of spices with fresh vegetable. Making biryani is a time consuming process. However the vegetarian version is a bit less time consuming since there is no long time meat cooking is not involved. However, this recipe does require marinating paneer ahead of time and chopping of many vegetables. You can certainly prep ahead to split up the work!

I have mentioned the whole process below as part of my step by step recipe and a full video. I have another vegetarian biryani recipe, TANDOORI PANEER BIRYANI, on the blog that is just as delicious. Either one of these biryani recipes are surely to be a show stopper at your vegetarian dinner table. If you give it a try and like it, leave me a comment below or tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of my recipes!
Happy & Healthy Eating!

Print Pin

Hariyali Paneer Biryani

Mix of basmati rice, refreshing hariyali paneer, and bunch of veggie along with yogurt, mint, kasuri methi and spices!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

Partially Boiled Basmati Rice

• 1½ cup Uncooked Long Grain Basmati Rice it should yield to 6 cups of cooked rice
• 2 Cloves
• 2 Whole Peppercorn
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 tsp Oil
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds

Marinated Hariyali Paneer

• 14 oz Cubed Paneer
• ½ cup Full Fat Indian Style Sour Yogurt
• 1 cup Fresh Mint Leaves
• 1 cup Fresh Cilantro
• 1 cup Fresh Spinach baby spinach preferred
• 4 large Garlic Cloves
• 2 inch Ginger Root
• 1 large Jalapeno or 2 thai green chilis or 1 medium serrano
• 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi
• 1 tbsp Chaat Masala
• 1 tsp Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp Black Salt
• ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
• ¼ tsp Mango Powder
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 tbsp Mustard Oil
• 1 tsp Sugar

Other Ingredients

• 1¼ cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onions
• 1 cup Chopped Green Peppers
• 1 cup Chopped Carrots
• 1 cup Chopped String Beans
• 1 cup Peas frozen or fresh
• 1 cup Corn Kernels frozen or fresh
• 1 tbsp Mustard Oil more to garnish later
• 1 tbsp Ghee more to garnish later
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tbsp Grated Ginger
• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Jalapeno or thai green chilis/serrano
• 2 tsp Garam Masala
• 2 tsp Salt
• ½ cup Finely Chopped Cilantro
• ½ cup Finely Chopped Mint

Instructions

Marinate Paneer Overnight/Few hours

• Blend all ingredients but paneer listed under "Paneer Marinade" and pour it out in a bowl. Add cubed paneer to it and carefully coat paneer pieces with the marinade. Keep it in the fridge overnight or 4-6 hours. The longer it marinates, the better it tastes!

Partially Boil Rice

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 20-30 minutes
• Add soaked basmati rice and everything listed under the "Partially Boiled Rice" ingredients into a big deep pot.
• Add 5-6 cups water to the pot and partially boil the rice.
• Once boiled, strain the water out using a strainer. Run cold water through the rice just for few second and strain it completely. This will stop the cooking process. Keep it on side, leaving the rice in the strainer, it helps getting rid of most water from the rice. Toss it couple of time while it sits in the strainer.

Cook Biryani

• Heat up 1 tbsp of mustard oil and ghee in a heavy bottom wide pot.
• Once heated, add in cumin seeds and cook them until golden brown and starts to fragrant.
• Add in chopped onions, minced garlic, grated ginger, chopped thai green chilis with 1 tsp of salt. Cook it on medium heat until onions are translucent.
• Add in chopped green peppers. Cook them on medium heat for couple of minutes.
• Add in corn kernels. Cook them on medium heat for couple of minutes.
• Add in peas, chopped carrots and string beans. Mix well. Cover and cook on medium heat for 2-4 minutes.
• Uncover, add in garam masala and yet another 1 tsp of salt. Mix well.
• Add in marinated paneer cubes along with all the marinade (green yogurt sauce). Mix well, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
• Uncover, mix well. Take half of the paneer veggie mix out in a bowl. Layer the other half flat in the pot.
• Layer half of the partially cooked rice on top of paneer veggie mix inside the pot.
• Pat it down with a spoon. Sprinkle ¼ cup of chopped mint and cilantro. Drizzle 1 tsp of mustard oil and 1 tsp of ghee.
• Top it with rest of the paneer veggie mix. Flatten it down with a spoon. Then top it with rest of the partially cooked rice.
• Pat it down with a spoon. Sprinkle ¼ cup of chopped mint and cilantro. Drizzle 1 tsp of mustard oil and 1 tsp of ghee.
• Cover the pot, cook the layered biryani on low flame for 12-15 minutes. Everything is mostly cooked. Rice is also partially cooked so it does not take too much heat for the rice to cook completely. Once you turn the heat off, keep the pot/dutch oven covered for another 20 minutes.
• Serve it with beetroot raita, side of fresh onions, lime wedges and papad!