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?
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?
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.
More Indian Rice Recipes
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Recipe card
