This is one of my oldest recipes learnt from my favorite chef Sanjeev Kapoor. It was a late 90’s cooking show called Khana Khazana, shown on Zee channel. I was a regular viewer of the show. No youtube, blog or any other social media to refer. Just a book was enough to note down the ingredients and watch the show to try and recreate the dish. The below dish is one classic example that I have been preparing since a while.
Ingredients:-
Brown chana ½ cup
Paneer 250 gms
Basmati rice 1 ½ cup
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Green chilli 2
Garlic 4
Coriander seeds 2tsp
Dry red chilli 1
Cloves 3
Cardamom 3
Cashew nut 3 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves ½ cup
Fresh pudina leaves ½ cup
Oil 5 tbsp
Salt 2 tsp.
Method
Soak the brown chana for 6 hours and pressure cook them. Wash the basmati rice and keep it aside for ½ hour. Cut the paneer into small cubes. Grind together green chillis, garlic, coriander seeds, dry red chilli, cashews, coriander leaves, pudina leave with ½ cup of water. Cut the onion and tomato into small pieces.
Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a deep pan, add the cloves and cardamom, now add 4 cups of water and salt. When the water starts boiling add the rice, give it a stir, cover and cook on medium flame till the water gets absorbed. Put off the flame, the rice should be only cooked 80%. Remove the lid and allow the rice to cool. Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add the onion and fry till they become translucent, next add the tomato and fry further for 2 minutes. Next add the brown chana and the grounded paste and cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the paneer cubes and give it a stir.
Add the mixture to the cooked and cooled rice and mix it well. Heat a tawa, place the pan on the tawa, lower the flame, cover the pan and dum cook the biryani for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy steaming chana and paneer biriyani with raita and chips.
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