Corn Biryani Recipe | Easy Sweet Corn Biryani
Corn biryani is a delicious innovation, or fusion food if you like, that incorporates an unconventional ingredient—corn or maize—into a traditional biryani recipe to produce a dish that is packed with flavour and goodness.
Follow our quick and easy sweet corn biryani recipe to make this convenient one-pot meal of rice and corn, and savour its spicy flavours, creamy richness, and enticing aromas at any time.
This simple yet mouth-watering dish of biryani with corn is a perfect marriage of juicy sweet corn kernels and a mélange of spices and aromatics, cooked with saffron and garnished with fragrant birista (crispy fried onion).
At the risk of sounding controversial, we believe that corn biryani differs from corn pulao in its basic technique / method of cooking and assembling. In corn pulao, or actually most pulaos, the uncooked rice is coated and sautéed in oil or ghee along with other ingredients, and then topped with water to cook till done. While in our corn biryani recipe (like in most other biryanis), the rice is cooked separately and then assembled by layering with the corn masala. This is not the case in all biryanis - in some (like our Mutton Biryani Dum Pukht), the ingredients are layered with rice and cooked together, but this is still a very different method when compared with pulaos.
This corn biryani is absolutely delicious with fresh crunchy sweet corn in season. However, even off season, you could use frozen corn or even canned corn to make a spectacular corn rice dish.
You can use desi corn, which is not sweet, or American corn, which is sweeter and is readily available in Indian markets. Our recipe is suitable for sweet corn and regular desi corn. But note that the better and tastier the corn, the better the final result of the corn biryani recipe will be.
This sweet corn rice is ideal for children’s lunch boxes, weekday meals, or lazy weekends. It calls for everyday ingredients found in any kitchen.
Garnish this yummy sweet corn biryani with birista (finely sliced deep-fried onion), and fresh coriander and mint leaves. Sprinkle fried cashew nuts and raisins for extra flavour and texture. Or reinforce the “corniness” quotient of the corn rice recipe by garnishing it with steamed or fried corn kernels or even adding bits of corn on the cob.
Serve sweet corn biryani as a stand-alone dish or pair it with a simple salad (kachumber), roasted papad, plain yogurt, or a raita of your choice (pomegranate raita, onion–tomato raita, boondi raita, aloo raita, bhindi raita), and green chutney.
For a more substantial meal, serve this corn biryani with dal tadka or dal fry or a vegetarian or non-vegetarian spicy dish like paneer butter masala, bagara baingan, tamatar mirch, dhaba chicken, or prawn masala.
For best results, always use good-quality basmati rice. Gently rinse and wash the rice and then soak it for at least 30 minutes to achieve the desired separate grains of cooked rice. Avoid handling the rice too often and stir gently to prevent the delicate long grains of rice from breaking.
Biryani cooked in ghee has an irresistible aroma and wonderfully rich taste. If you wish to reduce fat in the corn biryani recipe for health reasons, you could reduce the quantity of ghee in half.
For a variation of this rice and corn recipe, add a mixture of vegetables like cauliflower, carrot, green peas, mushroom, potato, French bean, and capsicum. Not only do these extra vegetables enhance the colour, flavour, and attractiveness of the pulao, but they also make for a healthy and nutritious dish.
However, do ensure that the total weight of the vegetables does not exceed the amount given in the recipe, and that they do not crowd out the corn, which is the signature ingredient of this vegetable biryani.
For a different taste profile and for an alternate texture, include soya chunks in the sweet corn biriyani.
Find brilliant recipe ideas and cooking tips for delicious Corn Biryani (sweet corn rice) with all ingredients and cooking method from Yummefy Recipes
And if you’re in the mood to explore more delicious food, take a look at all our Rice and Biryani Recipes right here!
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RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
Rice:
3 green cardamom pods
1 piece cinnamon, about 2-inches long
1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
300 grams basmati rice, (about 1½ cups) or other long grain aromatic rice
3 tablespoons ghee
5 green cardamom pods
1 piece cinnamon, about 2-inches long
2 bay leaves (tej patta)
150 grams onions, (about 1½ medium onions), peeled and finely chopped
1 1⁄2 teaspoons turmeric powder (haldi)
3 green chillies
2 1⁄2 teaspoons red chilli powder, mild
1 1⁄2 teaspoons ginger paste
1 1⁄2 teaspoons garlic paste
150 grams tomato, (about 1½ medium tomatoes), chopped
1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
100 grams potatoes, (about 1 medium potato), peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
40 grams coriander leaves, (about 1 cup), chopped
40 grams mint leaves, (about 1 cup), chopped
300 grams corn kernels, (about 1½ cups ), canned or fresh
3⁄4 cup coconut milk, 1st press
3 teaspoons yogurt
1 1⁄2 teaspoons lime juice
To Garnish:
1 1⁄2 tablespoons ghee
1 pinch saffron, soaked in 1 tablespoon of warm milk
50 grams onions, finely sliced, fried till crispy brown
COOKING METHOD
- Place rice in a bowl and wash under running water, gently stirring and mixing the rice with your hands, draining each time the bowl fills up. Do this 2 to 3 times till the water runs clear; then let soak in fresh water, covered, for 1 hour. Drain.
- Place a separate saucepan over medium heat and add 6 cups water, cardamom pods, cinnamon, and 1¼ teaspoons salt. Let water come to a boil, then add drained rice and cook for 10 to 11 minutes; rice should be soft but not overcooked. Drain and set aside.
- Soak corn and potatoes in water separately.
- Pour ghee into a large saucepan or open pressure cooker over medium heat. When hot, add cardamom pods, cinnamon and bay leaves. Once the cardamoms have plumped up nicely, about 1 minute, add onion to the pan and sauté till golden brown. Toss in turmeric and green chillies. Stir, add red chilli powder, and sauté well, about 3 minutes. Add ginger and garlic pastes and stir well before adding tomato and salt. Continue to stir, and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan often so that the masala does not stick.
- Once the oil separates from the masala, add the potato, stirring to coat well, about 2 minutes. Slide in mint and coriander leaves and sauté till wilted and cooked, about 4 minutes. Stir and scrape vigorously, continuing to get all the bits from bottom of pan. Add corn and stir through.
- Pour in 1 cup water, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, until the potato and corn are cooked, 10-11 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Uncover and add coconut milk, yogurt, and lime juice, stirring vigorously to incorporate. Check seasoning, then remove from heat.
- Spread a little less than half of the rice at the bottom of a medium pan with a lid. Layer half the corn mixture on top of the rice. Cover with almost half of the remaining rice, reserving half. Layer the remaining corn mixture, then top with the reserved rice.
- Drizzle ghee onto the biryani. Pour on the saffron along with the soaking milk. Top with crispy fried onion. Cover pan tightly, return to low heat to give it dum for 10 minutes. Serve hot, cutting through all layers.
Serves: 4 to 6
Prep Time: 20 minutes plus 1 hour unattended soaking time for rice
Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Place rice in a bowl and wash under running water, gently stirring and mixing the rice with your hands, draining each time the bowl fills up. Do this 2 to 3 times till the water runs clear; then let soak in fresh water, covered, for 1 hour. Drain.
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