This Biryani recipe was adapted from a blogger friend, while it is not the classic Pakistani Biryani Recipe, the easy ingredients and twist make it a cherished one!
What is Punjabi Biryani?
This is one of those rare occasions when I cannot explain what differentiates this Biryani from others. Ainy Cooks no longer has a website, but for her this was her Punjabi family's family recipe and different from the Karachi iteration. In honor of her family's recipe, I have chosen to keep the name as is.
Recipe Twist
I made some changes to this Pakistani Punjabi Biryani recipe to suit our palate and my convenience (lol), but my favourite addition is the "koylay ka dum" or charcoal smoke. It is a game changer and simple enough to do. This utterly genius idea is, like this recipe, not entirely my own, and comes from a former co-workers family who made theirs this way to astounding effect.
Hope you like this recipe, would love to hear from you below!
Pakistani Punjabi Biryani
Ingredients
For the Meat Mixture
- 1 lb Chicken/ Beef/ Mutton
- 1 large sliced onion
- 3 large diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp ground/grated ginger
- 1 tbsp ground/crushed garlic
- 5-6 Dried plums aloo bukharay, squeeze in lemon juice when the masala is ready if you don't have any
- ½ cup yogurt
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp Red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric power
- ½ tsp crushed coriander seeds
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp fennel seeds saunf
- 2 Large black cardamom
- 4 green cardamom
- 2 small cinnamon sticks
- 6-7 whole black pepper
- Generous handfuls of chopped fresh coriander/cilantro + mint leaves
- 3-4 green chillies
For the rice
- 3 cups rice rinsed and soaked.
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 2 generous tsp salt
- Optional: Yellow food coloring a piece of coal.
Instructions
- Slice your onions and cook in oil in a large pot till browned.
- Put in the ginger, garlic and tomatoes and cook till mushy.
- Add the yogurt, remaining spices, meat, green chillies and mix well.
- If cooking chicken then add one cup of hot water, bring to a boil then simmer till tender. For tougher meats i.e. beef and mutton add more water.
- Add coriander leaves and mint leaves.
- In large pot add water, salt, vinegar to the soaked rice and boil till it is parboiled i.e. most of the grain will be translucent with an opaque center.
- Strain the rice when done.
- Layer the rice in the following order: half the rice, all the meat masala, remaining rice, sprinkle over the yellow food coloring, and leave on the lowest heat setting for 15-20 minutes. I have a glass cooktop so I am in no danger of burning my rice on the lowest setting, but please exercise caution on gas stoves!
- If you are doing the 'koylay ka dum" then light a piece of coal over a flame. While it is getting nice and hot place a piece of foil inside the biryani pot (on top of the rice) and drizzle with oil. Once the coal has red hot surfaces then place it on the foil and quickly shut the lid. You can do this after your biryani is ready or add it before your set the biryani over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove the foil + coal before serving.
Eric says
Wow it's soooo good ! Not too familiar with Middle Eastern food, have only had it less then 10 times in restaurants, and Biryani only using the sauce from a jar. But I am an accomplished cook and baker so lets give it a try. I love the sweetness in the sauce without it being over powering, never cooked with plums before, their great in this. I used Jasmine rice instead of Basmati since it's what I had, and next time I might crack open one of the chili's to give it a little heat. But great recipe ! Thanks
Sarah Mir says
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Duaa Qamar says
Oil, is your dad going to tell the people to add oil? Rather your angels?
Please be fair to the people you are teaching 👏🏻🤦🏻♀️
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Duaa! I have edited the recipe to say that people should brown the onions in oil because you are right there may be some people who would try to brown it without any liquid or oil. I appreciate you pointing out the error, but the dad and angels comments were a little unnecessary. Thanks.
Hamna says
Hi! I know it's an old Post but iihope you do see this comment. why did you add vinegar to the water? I want to make this for my family, haven't ever made biryani before and I don't have a go to biryani recipe either, so I'm a bit nervous about the vinegar
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Hamna! So this recipe is from another food bloggers mother, but I have seen vinegar put in biryani before and some people will say they are doing it for the taste and some people will say it gives you a better quality of cooked rice. If you want to skip it you totally can 🙂 SO excited to see how this turns out for you!
Kylie says
This recipe looks awesome . How much water did you use for the rice ?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Kylie! Sorry for the late reply, but tend to put loads of water, boil the rice and then drain the excess water out. If you are trying to cook with the exact right amount of water then it is 1.5 times the rice you have in which case please put a tsp of salt for every cup of rice. Since I put more than twice the amount of water than rice I use more salt because it gets drained out. Happy Cooking!
Sana says
Plan on making this tomorrow but wanted to quickly check first... If I'm increasing the amount of meat to 2 lbs and keeping rice at 3 cups, do I double the spices, tomato etc for the meat mixture?
Inzamam says
Punjabi Baryani is my favorite dish & last night i made it with my moms and enjoy.
i am start a blo related to pakistani recipe where you find sindhi, punjabi and balochi baryani. Shareing a link ( https://pakistanirecipespoint.wordpress.com/ ).
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
wonderful to hear it! will definitely follow your blog to see what delicious things you're making!
Shumaila says
This sounds and looks great and that charcoal smoke sounds like a great addition. I am pinning this even though I too have a biryani recipe, but no harm in trying a recipe that is similar to one that made you eat like a man 😉
Shumaila says
By the way I just noticed your tag line- baker by birth, cook by circumstance- LOVE IT!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thanks so much!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
hahaah I hope you enjoy it! I am going to try yours too!
Eraj says
This looks so good! You're very brave to do the koilay ka dum 🙂 also I have to comment on how perfectly done your rice looks, every time! Mine ends up a mushy starchy glob if basmati at least 9 times out of ten :/
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Know thy rice Eraj know thy rice! My mother cooks with almost double the water when she makes pulao, I used about 1 1/4 times or 1 1/3 times depending on the brand of rice! Also koylay ka dum is a game changer. For real
Eraj says
Sarah, I *found* the guy whose biryani you used to chow down! 😂
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
You have no idea how happy that made me! Now if you could find the recipe for that biryani then ... actually, I don't even have the words!
Also SO excited to hear you're moving. Let me know if I should scare some neigbours away. If you tell Asif I said that he may make comments about how that would not be so hard for me hehehe
Ainy says
Oh i am so glad Sara that you have tried my recipe. I am grateful to you.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
No, I am grateful to you for putting together this outstanding collection of recipes!
salmadinani says
I love biryani in general even though I've only made my moms recipe. I will have to try this one too!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thanks Salma! am sure your moms is delicious!
Anisa says
I noticed this recipe once when you mentioned it on Instagram! I made it and it turned out amazing, very simple to make. I didn't think if the koyla, must try tat next time. One question since I know you live in Ontario, which rice do you use? Yours always seem perfect, something I have yet to master. Thank you for sharing!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
HI Anisa! I am so thrilled that you tried it and liked it! In terms of rice I have two go to brands. One is Falak and one is India Gate. Falak cooks quickly and beautifully so for my rice obsessed family it works well. India Gate takes a more 'normal' time to cook, bu t then is a little more forgiving when you are making biryanis or something. I am working on post ideas for the fall/winter - any suggestions? would love to hear what you'd like to see!
Anisa says
Thank you so much for replying back! I'll have to check out the rice, I think I'll pick up a bag of India gate and give it a try. Suggestions for fall/ winter posts for me would be comfort foods, desi or otherwise. Thank you so much for asking!