PANEER MATAR MASALA DUM BIRYANI using leftover curry is a delicious and quick biryani using last nights paneer and green peas curry for a quick and less laborious lunch/dinner! Paired with a yogurt raitha, it is a complete gourmet Indian meal!
I love cooking up new dishes using leftovers like my Matar Poha cutlet and Semolina cutlets or even a crispy Sweet Shankarpare using leftover Rasgulla syrup!
Why, I have even used leftover coconut chutney which I normally enjoy with dosas and idlis to make a Bhindi curry or Okra fry! Do check that one out too!
This time, I have been on a roll with my recipe of my Thanksgiving Tandoori Whole Baked Gobi in a Tomato-onion Sauce using the sauce to make my Paneer Matar curry and now, using the leftover curry to make a delicious Dum Biryani!
I love such roll over recipes which not only save time in the kitchen but also use up leftovers to make for a quick and delicious dinner or lunch! No wastage of food and less time in the kitchen here.
WHAT IS DUM BIRYANI?
Dum Biryani is nothing but cooked rice, Basmati or any aromatic long grained rice and any vegetable, chicken or meat curry, layered and cooked in “dum” style or “sealed and cooked/steamed” to infuse all the juices, aromas and flavors throughout the whole biryani!
Traditionally dum is done by sealing the pan using some whole wheat dough to trap the steam and cook the rice and curry. I have covered my pan with some aluminum foil and then placed the lid over it to create a “dum” like atmosphere.
Also, in this dish, I am using an already prepared curry to make a quicker version of biryani.
HOW TO MAKE DUM BIRYANI WITH LEFTOVER CURRY:
If you have any curry (which by the way needs to be thick and not runny), you can make your own dum biryani too in a jiffy! All you need is Basmati rice (or any long grained rice), some herbs and spices. Just cook the rice until 80% cooked, drain and use.
For an authentic Dum Biryani flavor, deep fry slices of onions to layer with the rice and curry. All traditional biryani have layers of golden brown, crispy and aromatic deep fried onions along with some stirred in the curry too along with freshly chopped mint and coriander leaves/cilantro. This is optional but gives a lovely aroma to the dish!
Once the onions, rice and curry are ready, just layer the three and cook on dum until hot, aromatic and delicious!
You could even bake this in a hot oven for about 20 to 30 minutes until hot and all the flavors have seeped through the whole dish!
If you do not have any leftover curry, you can make your favorite curry or this Paneer Matar Masala Curry and then proceed; just takes a slightly longer time.
Now, making restaurant style dum biryani is super easy in your own kitchen using any leftover curry you have! Fun, isn’t it?
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
This flavorful biryani has all the flavors you need to enjoy it as a stand alone meal but if you really need something on the side, a simple raita or yogurt based Indian sauce like this Onion, tomato and carrot raita or even plain yogurt is all you need! We enjoyed it with a simple Boondi Raita; recipe is given below.
Serve this as a main meal at any party or gathering and the best part is you can make it ahead of time; actually, it tastes better the next day!
Now, you have a wonderful rollover recipe where you make a dish once and enjoy it again and again with slight variations multiple times; a great time saver for all of us!
Do try both the matar paneer masala curry and dum biryani using that; or start with my Thanksgiving Tandoori Whole Baked Gobi with Tomato-onion-cashew sauce (make a bit more gravy to last all the 3 dishes) and enjoy all three over the week! It would be a fun rollover dishes kind of week!
I know I will be making this again as my whole family was nodding their heads in total approval!
Enjoy and Happy Eating my lovely foodies!
Well, if you love rice/biryanis, you are going to love these from my blog:
- Vegan Mixed Vegetable Dum Biryani
- Jackfruit and Chickpea Pulao
- Lemon Rice
- Mushroom Fried Rice
- Burnt Garlic Vegetable Fried Rice
- Tamarind Rice
Now, let us see how to make this super delicious and easy to make (with leftover curry) Matar Paneer Dum Biryani:
A delicious and quick biryani using last nights paneer and green peas curry for a quick and less laborious lunch/dinner! Paired with a yogurt raitha, it is a complete gourmet meal!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Basmati rice (or any long grained rice)
- 3 cloves
- 1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
- 1 star anise
- 3 green cardamoms
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups Paneer Matar curry or any other leftover curry (slightly on the thicker side)
- 1 large onion, sliced (about 2 cups)
- 4 to 6 tbsp oil (or more if you are deep frying the onions)
- 1 tsp red chili powder/cayenne pepper powder
- 1 tsp Biryani Masala Powder (any brand or homemade; I have used Everest brand)
- 1 tsp chaat masala powder (optional)
- 1 cup mix of cilantro and mint leaves, finely chopped
- Dash of saffron strands
- ¼ cup milk
- More oil/ghee as needed
- Extra Biryani Masala powder or any curry or garam masala powder you like.
Instructions
- In a mortar pestle, crush saffron strands to a powder and add milk to infuse it with the aroma and color of saffron. Set aside.
- Finely chop cilantro and mint leaves.
- Wash Basmati rice in plenty of water until the water runs clear, drain and soak in fresh water for 30 minutes. This step is optional but reduces the cooking time.
- In a large pot of boiling water, add all the whole spices; cloves, cumin, star anise and green cardamoms along with the soaked and drained rice.
- Boil and cook the rice, stirring in between until it is 80% cooked.
- Remove, strain the rice, run cold water over it to stop the cooking process and set aside to cool slightly.
- In a deep saucepan or any pan, heat oil. You can either deep fry or shallow fry onions to a golden brown color. I preferred to shallow fry it.
- Once they turn a golden brown color, remove from hot oil using a perforated ladle and place on oil-absorbent paper line plate until the other elements of the biryani are ready. Leave 1/3rd of the fried onions in the oil to make the curry.
- Fried onions can be made ahead of time or use store bought ones.
- In the hot oil which still has some fried onions, add red chili powder and biryani masala powder; sauté for a few seconds.
- Immediately stir in the prepared curry; in this case the paneer matar masala curry.
- Mix well, add chaat masala or any other spice powders if you prefer and bring to a simmer.
- Adjust salt and other seasonings if you feel like it. Keep in mind the curry needs to have more flavor and spice when layering with plain rice to make for a delicious biryani!
- Turn off the heat.
- Remove 2/3rds of the curry and set aside.
- Start layering and prepping the biryani now.
- Divide cooked rice into 3 portions.
- Layer one part of rice over the curry in the pan. You could do this starting fresh in a new handi or deep pan too.
- Next, sprinkle some chopped herbs and half of the stored fried onions.
- Sprinkle some of biryani masala powder and saffron infused milk.
- Layer the second portion of curry, cooked Basmati rice over this and continue with the rest of the ingredients as mentioned above – herbs, fried onions, biryani masala powder and saffron milk.
- Spoon the final layer of curry, rice, herbs, fried onions, saffron milk and biryani masala powder.
- Cover the pan using an aluminum foil and place the lid over it to trap any steam that releases while “dum” cooking.
- Heat a griddle or flat pan over high heat and when hot, reduce the heat to medium low.
- Carefully place the pot of layered biryani over the hot griddle and cook on dum for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the lid and serve hot, spicy and delicious PANEER MATAR MASALA DUM BIRYANI with a side of raita and/or salad.
- We enjoyed this mouthwatering biryani with some Boondi Raita and slices of onions.
- Beat 2 cups yogurt well until smooth and add more water to get a fairly thick but pouring consistency. This is optional.
- Add powdered sugar and salt to taste; this raita has a bit of sweetness to it so adjust accordingly.
- Stir in ½ to 1 tsp roasted cumin powder. Mix well.
- You could stir in some Kashmiri red chili powder or cayenne pepper powder but this is optional too.
- Just before serving, stir in crispy, deep fried boondis (deep fried, Indian spiced chickpea batter balls homemade or store bought) in the raita, mix and serve.
- If you love the soft, spongy texture of boondi, stir in half the required boondis before hand and just before serving top with more crisp boondies.
- Serve chilled with any biryani, pulao or parathas.
Notes
Use any mix of spices in your curry and biryani to suit your family preferences.
Adjust seasonings and amount of spices as you wish.
Serve the biryani with any raita or just plain yogurt or even extra curry if you have.
Step-wise Instructions to make Paneer Matar Dum Biryani using leftover curry:
In a mortar pestle, crush saffron strands to a powder and add milk to infuse it with the aroma and color of saffron. Set aside.
Finely chop cilantro and mint leaves.
TO MAKE THE RICE:
Wash Basmati rice in plenty of water until the water runs clear, drain and soak in fresh water for 30 minutes. This step is optional but reduces the cooking time.
In a large pot of boiling water, add all the whole spices; cloves, cumin, star anise and green cardamoms along with the soaked and drained rice.
Boil and cook the rice, stirring in between until it is 80% cooked.
Remove, strain the rice, run cold water over it to stop the cooking process and set aside to cool slightly.
FRYING THE ONIONS:
In a deep saucepan or any pan, heat oil. You can either deep fry or shallow fry onions to a golden brown color. I preferred to shallow fry it.
Once they turn a golden brown color, remove from hot oil using a perforated ladle and place on oil-absorbent paper line plate until the other elements of the biryani are ready. Leave 1/3rd of the fried onions in the oil to make the curry.
Fried onions can be made ahead of time or use store bought ones.
TO MAKE THE CURRY FOR LAYERING:
In the hot oil which still has some fried onions, add red chili powder and biryani masala powder; saute for a few seconds.
Immediately stir in the prepared curry; in this case the paneer matar masala curry.
Mix well, add chaat masala or any other spice powders if you prefer and bring to a simmer.
Adjust salt and other seasonings if you feel like it. Keep in mind the curry needs to have more flavor and spice when layering with plain rice to make for a delicious biryani!
Turn off the heat.
TO MAKE THE PANEER MATAR DUM BIRYANI:
Remove 2/3rds of the curry and set aside.
Start layering and prepping the biryani now.
Divide cooked rice into 3 portions.
Layer one part of rice over the curry in the pan. You could do this starting fresh in a new handi or deep pan too.
Next, sprinkle some chopped herbs and half of the stored fried onions.
Sprinkle some of biryani masala powder and saffron infused milk.
Layer the second portion of curry, cooked Basmati rice over this and continue with the rest of the ingredients as mentioned above – herbs, fried onions, biryani masala powder and saffron milk.
Spoon the final layer of curry, rice, herbs, fried onions, saffron milk and biryani masala powder.
Cover the pan using an aluminum foil and place the lid over it to trap any steam that releases while “dum” cooking.
Heat a griddle or flat pan over high heat and when hot, reduce the heat to medium low.
Carefully place the pot of layered biryani over the hot griddle and cook on dum for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, remove the lid and serve hot, spicy and delicious PANEER MATAR MASALA DUM BIRYANI with a side of raita and/or salad.
We enjoyed this mouthwatering biryani with some Boondi Raita and slices of onions.
Happy Cooking Foodie Friends!
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