One-Pot Vegetable Biryani

Instructions for making vegetarian biryani in a pot, a pressure cooker, and an Instant pot are included in the recipe. An aromatic rice dish, vegetable biryani is prepared by cooking basmati rice with a selection of vegetables, along with herbs, biryani spices, and other ingredients. It has a flavor that is both unique and distinctly delicious. Even the pickiest eaters are likely to enjoy the flavorful and simple vegetarian biryani presented here. 

That is likely to become one of your go-to dishes for many meals, including weeknights when you're pressed for time and those on special occasions when you're hosting the family. The celebration of distinct flavors, vibrant colors, and enticing aromas known as biryani is a dish prepared by combining several different ingredients into a single pot. Because it is laden with aromatic rice, vegetables, crunchy almonds, and aromatic spices and herbs, this vegetarian meal is ideal for a fantastic and hearty evening because it is suitable for a terrific and robust night. It's the kind of dish that you'll find yourself longing for time and time again!

Veg Biryani

In several different countries, a dish known as biryani is traditionally reserved for consumption on festive occasions. A traditional biryani is built with layers of meat that has been marinated and aromatic rice that has been dum-cooked with caramelized onions, spices, herbs, and milk that has been infused with saffron. These layers are layered on top of one another in an alternating fashion. It takes a lot of time and work to produce an excellent biryani, mainly when you use the traditional method because you have to go through a series of processes, including marination, cooking the biryani gravy, precooking the rice, layering, and lastly, dum cooking.

The outcomes, however, are undoubtedly commensurate with their effort because every bite is delicious and flavorful. The traditionally meat-based dish known as "biryani" has recently been reimagined by vegetarian chefs as a meat-free alternative in response to the dish's immense popularity.

In India, vegetarian biryani is a ubiquitous meal that you can find being cooked regularly in the kitchens of homes belonging to various families. Even at restaurants, there is a diverse selection of vegetarian biryanis from which to pick.

About Veg Biryani Recipe

This simple recipe is an all-in-one solution to your biryani needs because it teaches you how to quickly cook delicious vegetable biryani in 2 different ways: the one-pot method and the dum Phuket method. Both of these methods are easy to follow and produce beautiful results.

Using the one-pot method, the spices are toasted, the vegetables are sautéed, and the rice and water are added all at once. This method is perfect for weeknights when there is a lot of other work to be done, as it only requires one pot to prepare the meal. One potful of labor is all needed to prepare a delicious and fast veggie biryani. You can prepare this recipe in a pressure cooker placed on the stovetop, in an instant pot, or a conventional bank.

I save creating my famous slow-cooked veggie biryani for special occasions such as holidays and the occasional supper on the weekend, as it takes a significant amount of time to prepare. When either of these two strategies is utilized, the amount of time necessary for preparation is the same. On the other hand, the preparation time for the dum biryani is substantially longer due to the fact that we fried the onions before adding them to the dish and that we cooked the word on low heat for a considerable amount of time in order to incorporate the flavors thoroughly.

However, the most significant factor for the vast majority of us is the amount of time we have available. Although both variations of biryani provide tasty results, they do so in somewhat different ways. Because of this, the choice relies solely on your discretion! You ought to proceed with the strategy that provides you with the most significant level of comfort. On the other hand, because our weekday schedules are so jam-packed with work and the extracurricular activities that the children participate in at school, I don't make dum biryani during the week. As a result, put it to the side until you have some time to unwind.

A few schools of thought hold that a dum-cooked biryani must always include meat and that it must also be served with rice. These schools also maintain that you must always prepare biryani with rice. Because it makes sense for the entire process of dum to gradually cook the meats so that the flavors are incorporated into the rice, a lot of people, like myself, prefer to make vegetarian biryani utilizing the method of cooking everything in one pot. That is the approach that seems most straightforward to me as well.

On the other hand, vegetarian dum biryani is an option that will never go out of style. This vegetarian biryani stands head and shoulders above any others in terms of the flavors it evokes and the way it tastes.

You can eat the food known as biryani on its own because it is considered to be a meal in and of itself; however, if you want to make it into a full dinner, you should serve it along with short, Bargara baingan, or Mirchi ka salan in addition to raita. You should do these dishes in addition to raita. Drinking or lassi to wash down the food is essential to the experience.

How To Make Veg Biryani (Recipe 1)

1. Place one cup of basmati rice in a dish and give it a thorough washing several times until the water becomes clear. 2. 1. Give it approximately twenty to thirty minutes to absorb the liquid. While that is taking place, you should wash and chop the herbs and veggies. Following a period of twenty to thirty minutes, You should drain all of the water from the basmati rice, and the rice should then be placed aside.

As a result of the fact that I had multiplied the recipe by two, you will discover that the quantities of each component shown in the images are raised by a factor of one-half.

2. Raise the temperature of an electric pressure cooker and add between 1 1/2 and 2 tablespoons of oil or ghee to the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Include the whole spices in the food that you are preparing.

• 1 bay leaf
• cinnamon measuring one and a half centimeters in length
• 3 green cardamom
• 3 cloves
• ½ teaspoon shahi jeera (or cumin seeds)
• 1-star anise (optional but recommended)
• a solitary mace-filled thread (optional)
• a stone blossom with just a bit of carving done to it (optional)

3. When the spices begin to sizzle and crackle, add one sliced onion (one-half cup) and one green chile that has been diced. To achieve a deep golden hue, sauté the onions over a medium heat setting for around 15 minutes. Maintain a consistent stirring effort to ensure that everything cooks at the same rate.

4. After that, add one teaspoon of ginger garlic paste to the mixture. You should sauté this for one to two minutes or until the smell of raw food is gone, whichever comes first.

5. Transfer an amount equal to one cup of the chopped mixed veggies to the other container. Sautéing should take two to three minutes and should be done over a flame that is anywhere from medium to high. In this dish, I included potatoes, green peas, onions, cauliflower, carrots, and French beans as some of the vegetables.

You also have the choice of including soya chunks in the dish that you're preparing. Soaking the soya chunks in water brought to a boil will make it much simpler to work with them afterward. Squeeze the lemon to extract as much water as you possibly can. You should be able to get rid of all of the water after washing and squeezing the item multiple times. Then you should incorporate it into this area.

Include the Seasonings in the Food that You Are Preparing.

6. After that, add the elements that are on the following list:

• Two tablespoons of mint leaves (pudina)
• Two teaspoons of coriander leaves that have been chopped
• Twelve milliliters of ground red chili peppers have been dried.
• One-eighth of a teaspoon's worth of ground turmeric
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala (or biryani masala powder)
• One small tomato, very finely diced and set aside (optional)
• Three tablespoons of yogurt (curd or dahi).

7. Combine everything by stirring it, then continue cooking it at a moderately high temperature for another two to three minutes or until the tomatoes become pulpy. It would not be wise to set it on fire. After going through the process of frying, the mixture will have acquired an aromatic flavor. You should lower the temperature to a low level, and you should distribute the veggies in a single layer with a thickness that is consistent throughout.

Cooking Vegetable Biryani

8. In a separate bowl, stir in the rice when drained completely. It needs to be distributed uniformly across the subsequent layer.

9. Pour the water into a new container, and then add a quarter of a teaspoon's worth of salt to the water in the new container. After the water has been well agitated, you should give it a taste test. There must be a sprinkling of salt in there somewhere. If you think it's required, add a touch more salt to the dish. It is important to salt the water before pouring it all the way around the stove or the saucepan. Raise or lower the level of the rice as necessary. If you follow this method, you will end up with a vegetable biryani dish layered in tiers. (if you want a better understanding of this idea, I recommend watching the video). OR you might start the cooking process by simply pouring the water over the ingredients, mixing them, and then setting the oven to the desired temperature.

To utilize the slow cooker, you will need 1.34 cups of water, whereas a regular pot would call for 2 cups of water. It is entirely up to you whether or not you want to add one tablespoon of ghee, some fried onions, and one pinch of saffron that has been soaked in two tablespoons of milk to the recipe. Whether or not you do so is entirely optional.

10. Place the lid on top of the pot, whether it's a regular saucepan or a pressure cooker.

If you are using a pressure cooker, turn the heat up to medium-high and keep cooking until you hear the pressure cooker whistle once.

You can cook rice in a pot as long as the heat is kept at a low setting and the rice is continued to be cooked until all of the water has been absorbed and the rice has reached its maximum capacity for cooking. After you have completed everything, turn off the machine and give yourself fifteen minutes to unwind and relax.

11. Following one to two minutes of cooking in a pressure cooker, I use a wooden spoon to assist me in manually releasing any pressure that may still be present in the pot.

Following the completion of the pressure release, you should then open the lid. In conclusion, using a fork, give the vegetable biryani a light stir-fry to incorporate all the ingredients. After it has had some time to cool down, you can add fresh lemon juice to it by squeezing lemons over it after they have been freshly washed. It is essential to avoid vigorously stirring the biryani, as doing so will cause the rice to become mushy.

Recipe 2 – Dum Veg Biryani

When only one course is involved in the meal, this vegetable biryani can serve four people. If the children eating it have huge appetites, this recipe will only make enough for three servings.

Ingredients

• A quantity of two cups of basmati rice that has been stored for some time (400 grams)
• One teaspoon of salt (for cooking rice)
• One tablespoon of oil (for cooking rice)
• Six green cardamoms, of which two and four are split between them
• Six cloves, cut in half and then each half into four pieces (two and four).
• One giant bay leaf (torn into 2)
• Two cinnamon sticks, each measuring 1 inch and sliced in half lengthwise so that each half contains 1
• One teaspoon shahi jeera (divided ½ + ½)
• ¼ cup mint leaves (pudina)
• ¼ cup coriander leaves
• ghee, with the quantity being equal to four tablespoons (or oil)

For Gravy / Curry

• 1 cup of very thinly sliced onion slices, which have been sliced to equal 1 cup (120 grams, one large)
• One green chili slit (optional)
• ¾ cup carrots 1-inch pieces (120 grams, one large)
• ¾ cup green peas (100 grams)
• 1/3 cup beans (50 grams – 5 to 6)

• ½ cup potatoes (85 grams – 1 medium)
• Eight cauliflower florets, chopped into bite-sized pieces and served (100 grams)
• Ginger and garlic paste, one and a half tablespoons
• 1 cup yogurt (fresh, not sour)
• 14 cups of liquid measure (more if it's required)
• 1 milligram of the chili powder that was sourced from Kashmir
• 1½ to 2 teaspoons biryani masala
• One and a quarter milligrams of ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon salt

For Garnish

• This offering comes complete with a total of 22 cashews (35 grams)
• Three tablespoons of raisins (35 grams)

For Saffron Milk

• ¼ cup milk
• Saffron, according to personal preference, has two teeny pinches.
• ½ tbsp. Kewra water or rose water (mixed with saffron milk)

Preparation

1. Rinse two cups of basmati rice thoroughly under running water, and then let it sit in a bowl of water for at least thirty minutes. You are allowed to soak for as long as thirty minutes, but not any longer than that. To get rid of any dirt or debris on the vegetables, give them a quick rinse in a sink full of running water. The onions must be sliced very thinly and uniformly so that you can cook them the same way. Simply applying a moderate amount of pressure is required to successfully split the layers apart. First, you should create a paste consisting of ginger and garlic, and then you should slice one green chili. After the potato has been peeled and cut into pieces that are approximately one and a half inches long, the details should be placed in a bowl that is filled with water to prevent them from turning brown.

2. Chop the beans into pieces that are about an inch long each. It is essential to peel carrots before chopping them into pieces that are exactly one inch long. In addition, wash the peas and set them aside in a separate bowl after you have finished cleaning them. To prepare the cauliflower, chop it into florets slightly larger than the traditionally used ones. After carefully cleaning the sink with the running water, put them to the side. It looks like there should be a total of eight different flowers.

3. Rinse and dry each mint and coriander. Leaves a quarter cup, then finely chop both sets of leaves. After giving the yogurt a thorough stir with a whisk or fork, you should then put it to the side. Verify that the flavor does not have an overly prominent acidic quality.

4. In a cup or saucepan, bring one-fourth of a cup of milk up to a simmer, and then stir in one generous pinch of saffron strands. In addition to that, add half a tablespoon's worth of kewra or rose water to the mixture, and then set it aside.

5. Place the ghee in a skillet that can be placed in the oven and has a heavy bottom. After it has melted, add the cashews, and continue to fry them until they turn a color between light brown and light gold. After that, add the raisins and keep cooking them until they have puffed up to the desired consistency. After you have removed them, arrange them on a plate for serving.

Make Fried Onions

6. Add the sliced onions to the pan and spread them out so that they form an even layer throughout the pan. You should start the cooking process over a medium heat setting to get off to a good start. Keep stirring often. After a few more minutes of frying, reduce the heat to its lowest possible setting and proceed with the cooking process.

7. While the onions are being fried, start a pot with 7 to 8 cups of water, 114 teaspoons of salt, one teaspoon of oil, one tablespoon of lemon juice, two green cardamoms, two cloves, 12 teaspoons of shahi jeera, 1 inch of cinnamon, and one bay leaf. Bring this mixture to a rapid boil on a separate burner. 

8. When the water has reached a full boil, remove the water from the rice, then add it to the pot of water that is already boiling. You should do this as soon as the water has reached a full boil. While cooking over high heat, you should keep a close eye on the water level to ensure that it does not overflow. Rice should be cooked until it is almost entirely done but should still have a bit of bite to it. In order to achieve the desired texture, the rice should have a bit of an edge to it and be slightly undercooked. For additional information, be sure to take a look at the helpful hints from industry professionals that have been provided below. In spite of the fact that I had allowed the rice to soak for an hour beforehand, the cooking time for mine was only three minutes. After it is finished, pour the liquid into a colander and allow it to drain for a while. Before we can begin to layer the rice, you must first cook it all the way through. Keep this in mind.

9. After seven to eight minutes, the onions will begin to take on a flavor similar to caramelization. At this point, turn the heat down to its lowest setting to avoid charring any of the ingredients. If you are using a dutch oven, you need to ensure that the heat is turned off. Sauté the onions over medium heat until they reach a state in which they have become caramelized and an even deep golden color throughout. At this point, you can't afford to let your guard down because it only takes a few seconds for them to burst into flames. Pay close attention. You can obtain a sour taste from onions that have been charred to a crisp. Ten minutes was the amount of time I needed to finish this activity in its entirety. It is recommended that you cook the food for 7 minutes: 5 minutes on medium heat, 3 minutes on low heat, and 2 minutes with the stove turned off. Put them on a plate, and then move the container to the side of the room.

Make Veg Biryani Gravy

10: Make sure to use the whole spice flakes in your dish.

• One bay leaf
• 1-star anise
• Four cloves
• Four cardamoms
• cinnamon measuring one and a half centimeters in length
• ½ teaspoon shahi jeera

11. Reduce the burner's temperature to a low setting and quickly sauté the ginger and garlic until they begin to take on a fragrant quality. Take care, as this can catch fire at a moment's notice.

12. Drain the potatoes and add them to the pan after taking them out of the water. Include some cauliflower, carrots, peas, and green chilies in the mix. You should spend three minutes sautéing the ingredients over medium heat.

13. Pour a quarter cup of water into the mixture and stir. Cook the potatoes, covered, over a heat setting somewhere between low and medium until they are easily pierced with a fork but are not mushy. Make sure that they are cooked before moving on to the next step, as the yogurt may prevent the potatoes from cooking correctly in some instances. After completing this step, there will be no water remaining in the pot.

14. After that, add half a teaspoon of salt, one and a half teaspoon of garam masala, one teaspoon of red chili powder, and one half of a teaspoon of turmeric powder. Saute for 2 minutes until aromatic.

15. Turn off the heat entirely, and then add two tablespoons of water to the pan. The following step is to add one cup of yogurt that has been whisked.

The Step-By-Step Guide To Preparing Dum Vegetable Biryani

16. After thoroughly combining the ingredients, cook them for four minutes while covered over low heat. The next step is adding three-quarters of the fried onions and two tablespoons each of mint and coriander leaves. Put the pot(s) on their lowest setting. You should give your gravy a taste and add more salt if it seems missing something. Start preheating a grill or a pan for the dum process on an additional burner over a heat setting of the medium. Steer clear of using anything that doesn't stick.

17 While this happens, layer hot rice on top of the curry. The milk that has been infused with rose and saffron should be poured. You should sprinkle the remaining mint leaves, fried onions, raisins, and nuts over the top. Keep a quarter of the nuts and raisins aside to use as a garnish when the dish is served.

18. Cover the top of the pot with aluminum foil and press it carefully against the sides of the hot pot to ensure that the edges will adhere to the bank and that no steam will escape. You could also try using a thick and wet cloth as an alternative (with no excess water dripping) (with no extra water dripping). Cover the pot with a lid that can withstand a lot of weight to prevent the steam from escaping.

19. Place the mixture on the preheated grill and continue to cook it for another 22 minutes over low heat. You could also cook this over a direct flame at the lowest possible heat for twelve minutes. After the cooking has been completed, remove the pot from the heat and allow it to sit for at least 20 minutes.

You can also bake it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) for about twenty minutes. After that, let it rest for another 15 to 20 minutes inside the oven.

Serve the vegetable biryani with a flat serving spoon, starting from the bottom of the pot, so that each serving gets a portion of the curry as well as the rice.

What To Serve With Veg Biryani

Papads, raita, shorba, and Mirchi ka salan are the most mouthwatering accompaniments. Shorba is also a popular option.

Ingredients

It is crucial to use aged basmati rice while preparing biryani because this variety of rice is widely recognized as the absolute best. Alternatively, you might use sella basmati rice, a type of basmati rice that has already been parboiled. Sella basmati rice is available at some grocery stores. Even though it does not have the authentic flavor of basmati, sella basmati rice is great for beginners because it stays firmer after cooking and does not become mushy like other basmati rice. That makes it an excellent choice for people just starting out using basmati rice.

Sometimes I also use jeerakasala / Kaima rice. Due to the fact that karma rice requires a particular cooking method, please refer to this post I wrote on Malabar biryani for additional information about how to prepare Kaima rice.

Ghee or oil: Ghee is the primary fat used in biryani since it imparts a delightful flavor to the dish and helps it taste sweeter. Oil is also an option, and in addition to it, there is oil. On the other hand, you could use oil instead, or you might combine oil and ghee.

The flavor of your biryani will take on the qualities of the veggies you use to make it if you make it from scratch. Therefore, make use of fresh vegetables, particularly those that appeal to you. The vegetables that I find myself reaching for most frequently in the kitchen are potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, and cauliflower. It is essential to keep the cauliflower florets somewhat large, so they do not become floppy and mushy while cooking.

When making biryani, it's best to use whole spices so that you may incorporate the taste into the dish more gradually. You are not permitted to exclude them as they are required for the preparation of the plate. Please use a quality garam masala or biryani masala. I use a homemade garam masala. (the link is located in the recipe card farther down on this page.)

Yogurt: I make my yogurt at home using whole milk that has not been processed. Be careful to select plain yogurt with the total amount of fat and not overly tart. To keep the yogurt from becoming separated into its parts, give it a thorough stirring before using it.

To prepare biryani successfully, it is necessary to use both mint and coriander leaves. If you do not have coriander leaves on hand, you are free to leave them out of the recipe.

You can make the drink with either kewra water or rose water; either one will do. Kewra water, also known as kewda, is produced by pressing the leaves of the Pandanus odoratissimus tree. This process is also referred to as kewda. You are required to have at least one of these, but if you do not wish to, you are free to ignore the requirement. Because there are many people who find it offensive when a scent is present in their food, you shouldn't put it there unless you specifically wish to do so. You should be able to find these in any shop that specializes in Asian or Indian products.

Pro Tips

For the most satisfactory results, while creating biryani, I've found that a ratio of one vegetable for every 1.25 grains of rice produces the most delicious dish (Rice: vegetables). You could use a slightly more significant amount, but if you used a less amount, the biryani could not have enough vegetables. You could also use a slightly higher amount. It is likely that your gravy has an excessive amount of liquid, which would result in the rice being sticky as it absorbed the additional moisture that was present in the sauce. For this illustration, except for onions, 400 grams of rice and 500 grams of mixed veggies were utilized.

When cutting vegetables, ensure that the potatoes are chopped into tiny pieces, approximately 1 x 1/2 inches, and that the cauliflower florets are cut into large pieces so that they do not get mushy. To prepare the beans and carrots, cut each into roughly 1-inch pieces.

Slicing onions: When slicing onions, do it traditionally and slice them as thinly as possible to ensure that they fry evenly. When frying, onions that have been sliced unevenly do not perform as well, and as a result, they either become overdone or burnt.

To properly prepare rice, the basmati rice must first be rinsed and then soaked in water, as specified in the recipe. Doing so assures that the rice grains will not become sticky and will cook to perfection. Rinsing the rice several times will eliminate the starch that accumulates on the surface of the grain and may cause it to become sticky. If the rice has been soaked beforehand, it will be able to absorb the water more effectively. As a result, expand more effectively after it is cooked. If you follow these two steps, you will ensure that the rice grains are cooked to the perfect level!

In this recipe, the rice is cooked until it achieves 90% doneness, which indicates that it has a firm texture and is cooked to an al dente level of doneness. It does not have a uniformly cooked texture throughout. This step is significant to the overall process. It will preserve its firm texture in the completed dish if you allow it to become undercooked at this point. After going through the due process, the grains will get mushy if they are overdone.

Saffron-flavored milk to drink or bake with The biryani gets its delicate and comforting flavor from milk infused with saffron. The milk also helps keep the rice in the biryani moist, another benefit. So please do not skip it.

Prepare Vegetable Biryani ahead of time: You can prepare it ahead of time, and the leftovers are excellent! Reheat it quickly by either steaming it in a pot, putting it under high pressure in an Instant pot for 0 minutes, or placing it in the microwave.