Vegetable biryani is a popular, flavorful, and aromatic Indian rice dish made with basmati rice, veggies, herbs, and biryani spices. This biryani recipe I have shared is one of the best simple and easy rice recipes for busy weeknight dinners, weekend family dinners, and holiday meals.
While you are here, check out our simple and flavorful chicken biryani or one-pot chickpeas biryani.
Authentic biryani recipe
Biryani is also known as biriyani, or biriani. Every region has its variation and personal preference. So there is nothing right and wrong while making biryani.
Making authentic and traditional Indian biryani is time-consuming. To make the classic and traditional biryani at home, you will need a lot of patience as it involves prepping all the ingredients, marinating, par-cooking rice, making biryani masala (gravy), creating layers, and then finally, dum cooking.
The traditional style of biryani will have layers of biryani rice, marinated meat, or veggies, which are dum-cooked on low heat with herbs, saffron-infused milk, caramelized onions, and spices.
But today's post is about making the best and most healthy vegetable, dum biryani or dum Phuket biryani, with minimal ingredients and spices without compromising the taste. Believe me, no saffron-infused milk, no caramelized fried onions, any biryani masala powder, or special biryani pot, yet it tastes good and will be the most frequent item in your kitchen.
You can make this vegetable biryani for lunch or dinner, for potlucks, picnics, and even for lunchbox. My kids have biryani as their lunchbox item once every week.
Ingredients
Rice: I highly recommend using biryani rice or basmati rice to make the biryani.
Ghee or oil: You can add one or combine the two for more flavors.
Vegetables: The more veggies better the taste and nutritious your biryani will be. Some veggies that go well with biryani are mushrooms, baby corn, cauliflower (gobi), carrot, potato, french beans, capsicum, and green peas.
Spices: Don't overdo as well as don't skip, as the whole spices and spice powders give a beautiful flavor to your biryani rice.
Mint and coriander leaves: The key ingredient or the aroma of the biryani is mint (pudina). You may skip coriander leaves but not the mint.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step by Step instructions
How to cook rice for biryani?
- Nicely wash the rice in water 2 to 3 times and soak it for atleast 30 minutes.
- You can start cooking the rice while you prep for the biryani. Bring 3 to 4 cups of water to boil in a pot with salt. Once the water starts boiling, add the rice, cook until it is 80 % cooked.
- Drain the rice, uncover the pot, or spread it on a plate to cool down and remain fluffy.
How to make simple and easy vegetable biryani?
Step 1: Heat oil and ghee in a pot. Add bay leaf, cardamom pods, cumin seeds, and cashews, and saute it for a minute.
Step 2: Now add the onions, garlic, and ginger and continue to saute for another 5 minutes.
Step 3: Add mushroom and baby corn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 4: To this, add yogurt, turmeric, salt, chile powder, and garam masala powder.
Step 5: Cook this for 2 minutes.
Step 6: Now add all the veggies.
Step 7: Mix and cover, and cook vegetables for 5 minutes.
Step 8: To this, add mint, coriander leaves, and green chilies and mix. Cover again and cook for 2 minutes.
Step 9: Add the par-cooked rice and spread it gently in the pot.
Step 10: Add fresh herbs on top and drizzle 1 tablespoon ghee or butter for extra flavor.
Step 11: Cover and dum cook for 10 to 15 minutes on a low flame until the rice is completely cooked.
Step 12: Fluff the rice and serve as needed.
Pro Tips
- Always use basmati rice for the best results.
- Make sure you use fresh spices, garlic, ginger, and vegetables.
- You can increase or reduce the spice powders to adjust to your taste buds.
- Add ½ cup of paneer cubes or soya chunks to make it protein packed.
- There is no exact ratio of rice to vegetables while making biryani. If you like more rice, then reduce the amount of veggies, but if you want it to be nutritious or want to include biryani in your weight loss meal plan, then increase the number of veggies.
- I have not added any water while dum cooking as the water released from vegetables was sufficient for me. If you feel the masala is dry, before adding rice, make sure to splash some water.
- If the rice is uncooked after dum cooking for 15 minutes, splash some water or drizzle ghee and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
How to prevent the biryani from burning?
- Choose the right pot: Use a flat, heavy-bottomed pan as you are slow-cooking this dish. Flat bottom also helps for even cooking. Because the pot is exposed to heat low, quality pot or kadai may not be a good choice.
- Cook on low flame: Cook the biryani on your lowest flame setting so that the flavors are well combined.
- To avoid steam from escaping while making biryani seal the pot using aluminum foil or wet cloth.
Make ahead instructions
- You can make the entire biryani ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- To reduce the task, you can prep the ingredients and keep them in a refrigerator.
- Until you add the rice, the masala can be made ahead, cooled, and stored in an airtight conatiner for up to 2 days. Make sure you warm this before adding the par-cooked rice and dum cook for the best results.
Storage instructions
- Leftover biryani can be stored in an airtight conatiner in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- You can store them in a freezer bag or zip lock bag and freeze them for up to two months.
- Add a splash of water and reheat in the microwave or stovetop until heated through.
Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani
- Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes and drain them.
- Turn on the SAUTE mode of your Ip. Heat ghee and oil. Add bay leaf, cardamom seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and cashews, and saute for a minute.
- Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add mushroom and baby corn and cook for 2 minutes.
- Press cancel and turn off the saute mode.
- Add yogurt, turmeric, salt, chile powder, garam masala powder, all the veggies, mint, coriander leaves, and green chilies, and mix. Scrape anything stuck to the bottom of your IP.
- Nicely spread vegetables at the bottom of the pot and nicely spread the rice over it. Do not mix.
- Add 1 ½ cups of water around the pot's sides so the rice is just immersed. Again do not mix.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro and mint, and drizzle 1 tablespoon of ghee if needed.
- Close the lid with a vent in the sealing position.
- Select the manual or Pressure cook at low for 6 minutes. After the instant pot beeps, quickly release any pressure.
- Open the pot, and fluff the rice. Serve and enjoy.
Recipe FAQs
A single serving of biryani contains 411 calories with 12g of protein.
Biryani is so aromatic and flavorful that it can be served on its own. But most restaurants serve it with raita, flavored yogurt or curds, pickle or mirchi ka salan, or biryani gravy and a glass of sweet lassi or fruit-based lassi.
Biryani is known for its aromatic blend of spices, meat or vegetable flavors, and fragrant basmati rice. Biryani rice can be mildly spicy to moderately spicy, and it depends on regional variations and personal preferences.
Since biryani is made with rice, healthy fat, and lots of vegetables, it is nutritious and healthy.
Yes, simply use oil instead of ghee and non-diary yogurt instead of regular yogurt in the recipe to make vegan biryani at home.
Pulao is one pot Indian rice dish where the rice is combined with meat or veggies and cooked together along with spices. But while making biryani, rice is par-cooked and layered over meat or vegetables and then dum-cooked on low flame.
More Indian Rice Recipes
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Recipe card
Vegetable Biryani | Easy Veg Biryani
Equipment
- Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 tablespoon Ghee (add oil for vegan biryani)
- 1 Bay leaf
- 3 Cardamom pods
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 5 Cashews, halved
- 3 Onions, medium size thinly sliced.
- 1 inch Ginger, chopped
- 5 Garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ cup Yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Red chile powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- 2 to 3 Green chilies slit
- 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves chopped, more for garnish
- 2 tablespoon Mint leaves chopped, more for garnish
Vegetables used
- 5 Mushroom sliced
- 4 Babycorn sliced
- 1 Carrot chopped
- 10 Cauliflower florets
- 10 French beans chopped
- 1 Potato peeled and cubed
- 1 Capsicum cubed
- 1 Tomato chopped
Instructions
How to cook rice for biryani?
- Nicely wash the rice in water 2 to 3 times and soak it for atleast 30 minutes.1 cup Basmati rice
- You can start cooking the rice while you prep for the biryani. Bring 3 to 4 cups of water to boil in a pot with salt. Once the water starts boiling, add the rice, cook until it is 80 % cooked.
- Drain the rice and uncover the pot, or spread it on a plate to cool down and remain fluffy.
How to make simple and easy vegetable biryani?
- Heat oil and ghee in a pot. Add bay leaf, cardamom pods, cumin seeds, and cashews, and saute it for a minute.1 tablespoon Oil, 1 tablespoon Ghee, 1 Bay leaf, 3 Cardamom pods, 1 inch Cinnamon stick, 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 5 Cashews, halved
- Now add the onions, garlic, and ginger and continue to saute for another 5 minutes.3 Onions, medium size thinly sliced., 1 inch Ginger, chopped, 5 Garlic cloves, chopped
- Add mushroom and baby corn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.5 Mushroom, 4 Babycorn
- To this, add yogurt, turmeric, salt, chile powder, and garam masala powder and mix for 2 minutes.½ cup Yogurt, ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon Salt, 1 ½ teaspoon Red chile powder, 1 ½ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- Now add all the veggies, mix and cover, and cook for 5 minutes.1 Carrot, 10 Cauliflower florets, 10 French beans, 1 Potato, 1 Capsicum, 1 Tomato
- To this, add mint, coriander leaves, and green chilies and mix. Cover again and cook for 2 minutes.2 to 3 Green chilies, 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves, 2 tablespoon Mint leaves
- Add the par-cooked rice and spread it gently in the pot. Add fresh herbs on top and drizzle 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter for extra flavor. Cover and dum cook for 10 to 15 minutes on a low flame until the rice is completely cooked. Serve and enjoy.
Instant Pot Veg Biryani
- Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes and drain them.
- Turn on the SAUTE mode of your IP. Heat ghee and oil. Add bay leaf, cardamom seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and cashews, and saute for a minute.
- Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add mushroom and baby corn and cook for 2 minutes.
- Press cancel and turn off the saute mode.
- Add yogurt, turmeric, salt, chile powder, garam masala powder, all the veggies, mint, coriander leaves, and green chilies, and mix. Scrape anything stuck to the bottom of your IP.
- Nicely spread vegetables at the bottom of the pot and nicely spread the rice over it. Do not mix.
- Add 1 ½ cups of water around the pot's sides so the rice is just immersed. Again do not mix.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro and mint, and drizzle 1 tablespoon of ghee if needed.
- Close the lid with a vent in the sealing position.
- Select the manual or Pressure cook at low for 6 minutes. After the instant pot beeps, quickly release any pressure to avoid overcooking.
- Open the pot, and fluff the rice. Serve and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Always use basmati rice for the best results.
- Make sure you use fresh spices, garlic, ginger, and vegetables.
- You can increase or reduce the spice powders to adjust to your taste buds.
- Add ½ cup of paneer cubes or soya chunks to make it protein packed.
- There is no exact ratio of rice to vegetables while making biryani. If you like more rice, then reduce the amount of veggies, but if you want it to be nutritious or want to include biryani in your weight loss meal plan, then increase the number of veggies.
- I have not added any water while dum cooking as the water released from vegetables was sufficient for me. If you feel the masala is dry, before adding rice, make sure to splash some water.
- If the rice is uncooked after dum cooking for 15 minutes, splash some water or drizzle ghee and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Biryani is so aromatic and flavorful that it can be served on its own. But most restaurants serve it with raita, flavored yogurt or curds, pickle or mirchi ka salan, or biryani gravy and a glass of sweet lassi or fruit-based lassi.
Nutrition
Note: We originally posted this recipe in April 2015. It has now been modified in July 2023 with Expert Chef Tips, FAQs, Storage Instructions, Step by step pictures, calorie information, video, etc.
nikita mehta
so deliciouse....yummy...mouth watering
Kushi
Thank you Nikita 🙂
marriasharma
I love biryani,this looks delicious ....
Kushi
Thank you Marriasharma 🙂
Melanie
I used this recipe however additionally sauteed diced red and green peppers with a diced red onion along with the flavors together with the additional ingredients was really yummy. Thank you
Kushi
Thank you so much. I am glad you liked it.
Kushi
Thank you so much. I am glad you liked it.
Spicy Rocking Chair
This looks really delicious...I love all of the vegetables involved!
nancy
thanks for sharing this healthy indian rice dish ! I'm exited to try this biryani