Fragrant, comforting, and easy to serve as a complete meal, kofta biryani recipe | veg kofta biriyani | kofte ki biryani is a vegetarian Indian biryani made with paneer / cottage cheese, potato / aloo, and ginger garlic paste in about 70 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 60 minutes
  • Total time: 70 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Servings
  • Category: biryani
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

for kofta:

  • 1 cup paneer / cottage cheese (grated)
  • 2 potato / aloo (boiled & mashed)
  • ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
  • 1 chilli (finely chopped)
  • ½ tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • ¼ cup besan / gram flour (roasted)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • oil for roasting

for curry:

  • 2 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 3 pods cardamom
  • 1 pod black cardamom
  • 7 cloves
  • 1 tsp cumin / jeera
  • 1 onion (sliced)
  • 1 chilli (slit)
  • 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
  • 1 tomato (finely chopped)
  • ¾ tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp biryani masala
  • 1 cup curd / yogurt (whisked)
  • 2 tbsp mint / pudina (chopped)
  • 2 tbsp coriander (chopped)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup water

for rice:

  • 8 cup water
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp cumin / jeera
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 pods cardamom
  • 5 cloves / lavang
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1½ cup basmati rice (soaked 20 minutes)
  • 1 tbsp oil

for layering:

  • 4 tbsp coriander (chopped)
  • 4 tbsp mint / pudina (chopped)
  • 4 tbsp fried onion / barista
  • 2 tbsp saffron water
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tsp ghee / clarified butter
  • ¼ tsp saffron food colour (optional)

Method

  1. firstly, in a thick bottomed deep vessel spread in a layer of prepared kofta curry.
  2. further layer with cooked rice.
  3. also spread few chopped mint, coriander and fried onions.
  4. as a third layer, spread again prepared kofta curry.
  5. repeat layering with cooked rice, coriander, mint, fried onions, 2 tbsp saffron water.
  6. also top with ½ cup water from sides, 1 tsp ghee, sprinkle saffron food colour and biryani masala.
  7. now close with aluminium foil. you can alternatively use the wheat dough to seal.
  8. keeping the flame on low, cook for 15-20 minutes or till the rice gets completely cooked in presence of steam or dum.
  9. finally, serve paneer kofta biryani with raita or mirchi ka salan.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.