Veg biryani is an aromatic rice dish made by cooking basmati rice with mix veggies, herbs & biryani spices. Traditionally Biryani was made by dum cooking marinated meat with basmati rice & spices. Making a vegetarian version becomes much simpler as the veggies need no marination.
This recipe yields a perfect lightly spiced & aromatic veg biryani loaded with veggies. It only takes 30 minutes to prepare & makes a perfect meal for your hubby or kids lunch box.
I have made this veg biryani in a pressure cooker but have included instructions for making it in a regular pot as well.
If you have the time and patience to make a elaborate dum biriyani, then you may try this delicious Veg dum biryani. Usually a dum biryani takes more time to prepare and cook. So often I resort to this simple one pot veg biryani.
The difference between this one pot dish and a veg pulao is that there is no yogurt and spice powders used to make a pulao. But both are used in a biryani recipe.
I do make this pressure cooker veg biryani often since it doesn’t require much preparation. It is not time consuming and yet tastes good.
It is flavorful on its own and can be served without any side dishes. But if you prefer you can serve with a simple sherva/ shorba, bagara baingan, mirchi ka salan or raita. You can find a collection of raita recipes here.
More similar biryani recipes
Chicken biryani
Egg biryani
Kuska or plain biryani
Veg biryani recipe
Veg biryani recipe | How to make veg biryani
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for veg biryani
- 1 ½ cup basmati rice (soaked for at least 10 mins)
- 1 potato cubed (aloo)
- 1 carrot chopped (gajar)
- ¼ cup green peas or matar
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 tablespoons mint leaves or pudina chopped
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped
- 1 to 2 green chili (slit or chopped) (skip for kids)
- 1 ½ to 2 teaspoon Biryani Masala Powder (adjust to suit your taste)
- 1 small tomato (optional) chopped
- 2 ½ cups water or thin coconut milk
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Oil (or ghee)
- 10 cashews or fried capsicum for garnish (optional)
- 2 tablespoon curd or yogurt
- 1/8 teaspoon salt for veggies + ¼ tsp for water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
Whole spices
- 1 bay leaf (or tej patta)
- 4 green cardamoms (or elaichi)
- 1 star anise (or chakri phool)
- 2 inch cinnamon (or dalchini)
- 6 cloves (or laung)
- ½ teaspoon shahi jeera or jeera or cumin
- 1 black cardamom (optional)
How to make the recipe
Preparation for veg biryani
- Soak rice for at least 10 minutes. Drain the water and set aside.
- Chop all the veggies, coriander and mint. Keep these aside as well.
- If using cauliflower keep them slightly larger.
How to make veg biryani
- Add oil to a pressure cooker or pot and heat it.
- Next add bay leaf, star anise, shahi jeera, cloves, cardamoms & cinnamon.
- Saute for 1 to 2 mins.
- Add chopped or sliced onions and green chilies.
- Fry them stirring often until the onions turn golden.
- Next add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell has gone off.
- Add all the chopped vegetables and fry for about 2 minutes.
- Next add tomatoes, salt, curd, coriander leaves, mint leaves,red chilli powder and biryani masala.
- Mix all of these and fry on a high flame for 2 to 3 mins.
- The tomatoes should break down completely and the raw smell disappear.
- Drain the water from the rice and spread it in a layer evenly over the veggies.
- Measure and pour 2 ½ water or coconut milk to a separate bowl.
- Add salt and lemon juice. Mix well and taste the water. It has to be slightly salty.
- If needed add more. If making veg biryani in a pot then pour 2 ¾ cups water.
- Pour the salted water across the sides or edges of the pot.
- If you do not mix up everything then the veg biryani will cook in layers.
- (However you can also mix up everything and cook just like it is done normally.)
- Optional – Sprinkle 1 tbsp ghee, 2 tbsps chopped pudina & few fried onions.
- For pressure cooking: Cover the cooker and pressure cook for 1 whistle on a medium high flame.Turn off the stove. For al dente non mushy veg biryani, I release the pressure after 1 to 2 mins using a wooden spatula. When the pressure goes down, open the lid and fluff up veg biryani with a fork.
- If cooking in a pot, cook covered on a low flame until the water is absorbed and the veg biryani is cooked fully. Turn off the stove. Serve veg biryani with raita or salan.
Video
NUTRITION
Notes
Notes for veg biryani recipe
- You can pour 1 tbsp ghee, 1 pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tbsps milk and 2 tbsps of fried onions after pouring water to the cooker or pot.
- If rice is not cooked, just sprinkle some water and cover with a loose lid and cook for few more mins.
- If it becomes mushy, reduce the qty of water the next time you cook.
- You can use store bought biryani masala powder. Using too much of masala powder can make your veg biryani bitter. So adjust the powder according to your taste.
- You can also use frozen mixed veggies like carrots, beans, peas & corn. Or any of these. It is good to rinse them and then drain completely or let them come to room temperature before using. Using cold veggies directly may let out excess moisture and make the biryani mushy.
How to make veg biryani
1. Wash rice until water runs clear. Soak it till you begin to cook.
2. Heat a pressure cooker with oil. Add spices – cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, cloves, mace, bay leaf and shahi jeera. Saute for one to two minutes until they begin to crackle. I also add little stone flower.
3. Add onions and green chilies. Fry stirring often until the onions turn golden.
4. Next add ginger garlic paste. Saute this until the raw smell goes off.
Frying veggies for veg biryani
5. Transfer the veggies. Saute on a medium to high flame for 2 to 3 minutes. I have used potato, peas, onions, carrots, cauliflower and french beans. You can also add soya chunks if you like.
To add soya chunks, soak them in hot water until soft. Squeeze up the water. Rinse a few times and squeeze them completely. Then add here.
6. Add mint leaves, coriander leaves, red chilli powder, biryani masala powder, 1 small finely chopped tomato and yogurt. I suggest using a good biriyani masala powder. You can also check this Biryani masala powder recipe.
7. Fry again for another 3 minutes on a slightly high flame until the tomatoes break down. The mixture turns aromatic.
Cooking veg biryani
8. Add the drained rice. Spread it evenly.
9. Pour water to a separate bowl and add salt. Mix and taste the water. It has to be slightly salty. If needed add more. Pour the salted water around the edges of the pot. Level the rice. This method gives you layered veg biryani.
OR you can also just pour the water and mix everything and cook.
Optional : You can also add a tbsp of ghee, sprinkle some fried onions and then 1 pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tbsps milk.
10. Cover the pressure cooker. Cook on a medium high flame for one whistle. I manually release the pressure with the help of a wooden spoon after 1 to 2 mins.
11. Open the lid. Lastly fluff up the veg biryani with a fork gently and add lemon juice if desired. Do not stir it vigorously otherwise biryani will turn mushy.
Serve veg biryani with raita.
Tarika says
Thanks Swasthi for the awesome recipes.
swasthi says
Hi Tarika
You are welcome. Thank you!
Dimple says
Which basmati rice did you use….are they aromatic?
swasthi says
I use lalquilla old malai basmati. Yes they are good.
Pallavi says
Hi swasthi,
I always follow your recipes, it is too good n yummy.
swasthi says
Thanks Pallavi
Lima says
Yummy Recipes 👍 This is our absolute favorite. Biryani cravings satisfied in no time. The husband in action made it tonight and turned out 😋. Thanks for the clear instructions.
swasthi says
Welcome Lima,
So glad you all like this. Thank you so much!
Sushma says
Hi Swasthi,
I made vegetable biryani using your recipe. It was very tasty and easy to make. It was like non veg biryani because I used potatoes and soya nuggets. Thank you.
swasthi says
Hi Sushma,
You are welcome. Glad your biryani came out good.
🙂
Vidya says
Hi swasthi… want a help regarding the veg Biriyani recepie ….I want the same recepie for 4 people .. I meant the measurements.. can u pls help ?
swasthi says
Hi Vidya,
Use 2 cups rice, 3.5 cups water. Increase the rest of the ingredients a bit. Biryani masala 2.5 tsps. Hope this helps/
Vidya says
Thankyou swasthi … I made the way you said and it was class apart … thankyou so much ..
swasthi says
Welcome Vidya,
Glad it came out good.
🙂
Tj says
I always follow u r recipe it’s really so good
swasthi says
Thank you so much!
Anshu says
Yummy recipe. I made this veg biryani today with shahi biryani masala. It came out very good. This is my favourite recipe to make biryani from now on. Thank you
swasthi says
You are welcome Anshu
Happy to know you liked the biryani. Thanks for trying the recipe.
Helen says
Easy to follow the steps
swasthi says
Thanks Helen
Poorni says
Hi swasthi
I made veg biryani following your video. It came out very good but the top layer was a bit undercooked. How can I prevent that? TIA
swasthi says
Hi Poorni,
Thanks for trying. Once you open the cooker, just fluff up with a fork so that the top layer gets mixed well with the rest of the rice. Then put back the lid and rest for 10 mins. This works. Soaking the rice for a little longer should help.
Ohm prakash says
Mam , can we add curd once the biriyani is cooked on the top of biriyani ??
swasthi says
Hi,
You can serve curd separately in a bowl after cooking biryani. Just pouring curd over cooked biryani will not be good.
Tvisha says
Dear Swasthi,
Could you please help me, in letting me know the size of the cooker that you have used. I have been looking for help in this regard to use a smaller size of cooker than cooking in a large one that I have at present with me. Do kindly oblige. Your blogs are awesome, do keep it up as always!
Thanking you, once again.
swasthi says
Hi Tvisha
Thank you. The one I used in this post is a 5.5 liters cooker. The same can be made in a 4 liters cooker. I have used it here in pongal post. But this can only cook for 3 adults or 2 adults & 2 kids.
vinothini says
hi mam, you have not added tomato in this recipe… does it change the taste?? we usually add tomato so am asking…
swasthi says
Hi Vinothini
Usually tomato is not added to most biryanis. But if you like you can use 1 medium sized one after frying ginger garlic paste. Saute very well until it turns soft and mushy. Yes the taste is different.
Debra Daniel says
Hey thank you for such and amazing article with this recipe explanation I really appreciate your effort what you did,
I’m going to try this recipe and serve to my upcoming guests those are coming in my house but I’m here confuse about one thing I guess you can help me out with this , Can you please tell me can i use this persian saffron in this recipe for taste If YES ! then how much ?
Thanks
Debra
Aradhana Rawat says
Hi swasthi yesterday we tried your receipe. It turned out to be tasty and aromatic. The only problem we faced was,the basmati rice got burnt from the bottom. We strictly followed your proportions. Is there any way to prevent burning of rice at the bottom?
swasthi says
Hi Aradhana
Thanks for trying. I guess it is the flame. Try with a lower flame next time. If that too doesn’t work then probably adding little more water will help.