This restaurant-style vegetable biryani is so aromatic and delicious, but it is also so easy to make! Dig through layers of long-grain basmati rice and a flavor-loaded masala sauce with biryani spices, crunchy nuts and tons of vegetables. It's the ultimate Indian comfort food!
Over the years I've shared with you countless recipes for biryani, including vegan keema biryani, vegan dum aloo biryani, and mushroom biryani. All are easy to make, but today I have for you the best vegetable biryani you will ever make and eat. Better, you can take it from scratch to done in about 45 minutes.
My family loves vegetable biryani but for a long time I believed, as many cooks do, that one needs to set aside a lot of time to make an authentic vegetable biryani. By some accounts, as much as a full day.
But who has a whole day or even half a day to cook a single dish? After years of taking the slow approach, I came up with a few techniques that cut down on the time while keeping the dish authentic and delicious.
To make this veg biryani recipe we will use all of the same spices and ingredients and all of the same techniques that are used to make a traditional biryani, including cooking it over "dum" or a low flame to help the flavors mingle. We will get the same, true taste of a veg biryani, but in a fraction of the time.
The finished biryani is as spectacular as one would expect an authentic Hyderabadi biryani to be: aromatic, long-grain basmati rice is layered over a spicy masala curry, chunky vegetables and (optional) tofu cubes (as a stand-in for paneer) for protein.
It is hearty and cozy and an absolute winner. And it's amazingly healthy as well.
Table of Contents
What is biryani?
A biryani is a layered rice dish that's eaten across parts of the Indian subcontinent. The original recipe is believed to have been brought to India by the Mughals -- central Asian invaders -- who went on to rule parts of the subcontinent. Among the other gems they contributed to Indian cuisine are samosa, phirni and naan (try this fluffy, homemade vegan naan!).
There are versions of biryani made with chicken, mutton (goat), beef, eggs and even fish. But in India, where vegetarians form a sizeable portion of the population, you can easily find vegetarian biryani, called veg biryani, at most restaurants.
There are two kinds of biryani: kuchchi (raw) biryani or pakki (cooked) biryani. For a kuchchi biryani the raw rice and marinated meat are cooked together over a slow flame. For a pakki biryani, the rice and meat (or vegetables) are cooked separately, then layered and allowed to steam together for the flavors and aromas to merge.
The vegetable biryani recipe we are making is a pakki biryani, because we will cook the rice and the veggies separately, then layer them and continue cooking them together.
Why you will love this recipe
- Authentic but easy. It bears repeating that as easy as this recipe is, it tastes like the real thing and it is, in fact, the real thing. But you need a fraction of the time to make it.
- So, so delicious. Indian cuisine is spectacular, but even so few foods can match up to the allure of a biryani. The contrasting flavors and textures of saffron-soaked basmati rice grains and a spicy masala sauce packed with chunky veggies is fantastic.
- Vegan, gluten-free, and can be soy-free and nut-free. You can easily skip the tofu or the cashews if you are soy-free or nut-free.
Expert tips
- Do a bit of simple multitasking. This is not complicated multitasking by any means. Wash and soak the rice and the saffron in the milk before you begin cooking, then proceed with chopping the veggies and herbs. Start the pot of water for the rice when you begin sauteing the veggies, so the rice and the sauce cook up simultaneously.
- Season the rice water. You do this just as you would pasta water, only you'll add a few spices here along with the salt, including cardamom, cloves, shah jeera and bay leaves.
- Undercook the rice. According to Indian lore, perfectly cooked grains of basmati rice should be like brothers: close, but not stuck together. This is especially important in a biryani, and to get such a result make sure that the rice is no more than 80 percent done when it is layered over the sauce. Remember, overcooked rice = sticky rice. And sticky rice is simply not okay in a biryani.
- Season the layer of cooked rice. This adds tons of flavor and more aroma to the biryani. Sprinkle a bit of biryani masala on top of the rice after layering it over the sauce, and a bit of mint. Also add a handful of fried onions and saffron soaked in milk. You can sprinkle edible kewra water or rose water over the rice for an even more tantalizing aroma.
Ingredients
- Basmati rice: This is the only rice you should use for a biryani. Aged basmati rice is wonderful and will give you the best results, because rice, like wine, gets better the longer it stands. However, you don't have to go looking for aged basmati rice. Just use what you can find.
- Neutral oil. This is not the dish to use coconut oil or olive oil. Use a neutral, flavorless oil like avocado oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil or safflower oil.
- Spices: Saffron, bay leaves, cloves, green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon sticks, ground coriander, caraway seeds (shahi jeera) and biryani masala. You can use garam masala instead of biryani masala but it won't give you the same aroma. Biryani masala is easily found in Indian grocery stores and online. You can skip the black cardamom if you don't have it and use cumin seeds instead of the caraway seeds.
- Herbs: ginger garlic paste, cilantro, dried mint and dried dill. In summer use fresh mint leaves and fresh dill leaves, if possible.
- Vegetables: carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, mushrooms and green bell peppers. I used about six cups of these vegetables. You can change them up. Green peas, cauliflower, green beans, summer squash and sweet potatoes would all be great additions to this biryani.
- Vegan yogurt. I use my homemade cashew yogurt but any nondairy yogurt is fine. Make sure it is unflavored and unsweetened.
- Non-dairy milk. This is for soaking the saffron.
- Raw cashews. These add nice crunch and nuttiness.
- Super firm or extra firm tofu (optional). I like adding the tofu for protein and it adds yet another layer of texture. Super firm tofu holds its shape nicely in the biryani sauce, but you can use extra firm tofu with water pressed out. You can add the tofu as is, but I sometimes coat the tofu cubes in a bit of turmeric and salt and roast it in the air fryer to make it chewier. If you do this, follow the instructions in my air fryer tofu recipe.
- Fried onions. You can make your own by deep-frying slivers of onion, but I just use store-bought fried onions like French's or a similar product available for a much lower price at Aldi.
Variations for special diets
- Soy-free: Skip the tofu and use a soy-free yogurt.
- Nut-free: Skip the cashews and use pumpkin seeds instead, or skip them altogether. Use a nut-free yogurt.
- Low-carb. Skip the potatoes, carrots and squash and use cauliflower, mushrooms, bell peppers, and summer squash like zucchini or yellow squash. Also replace the rice with cauliflower rice (or check out this keto-friendly cauliflower rice biryani). You don't need to cook the cauliflower rice first.
How to make vegetable biryani
Skip to the recipe card for detailed instructions. The recipe card includes a video recorded when I first posted this recipe. I've tweaked the recipe since but you can still follow the video for technique and instructions.
1. Place basmati rice in a colander and wash it under running water.
2. Place the rice in a bowl covered with an inch of water. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain.
3. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add bay leaves, half the cloves, half the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and half the caraway seeds (shahi jeera).
4. When the water comes to a rolling boil add the soaked basmati rice (make sure you've drained out the water). Cook 6-7 minutes until the rice is about 80 percent done--tender but with a good bite to it still.
5. Strain the rice in a colander, wash under cold, running water, and set aside.
6. Soak the saffron in nondairy milk of choice. Set aside.
7. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the remaining spices--caraway seeds, cloves and cardamom.
8. Add to the pot the carrots, potatoes and squash. Add ginger garlic paste and salt and mix. Cover and cook the veggies for 5 minutes or until they are almost cooked. Stir frequently to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
9. Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and mix. Cover and continue cooking another five minutes.
10. Add the herbs--cilantro, dried mint and dried dill. Mix well.
11. Add the vegan yogurt and mix.
12. Follow by adding the ground coriander and cayenne or paprika. Mix them in.
15. Stir in half the fried onions, raw cashews and biryani masala spice mix. Mix.
16. Finally add in the tofu, if using, and mix it in. Add about a cup of water or non-dairy milk at this time to the pot and stir it in.
17. Once the masala comes to a boil, check for salt and add more if needed. Turn off the heat. Pour the rice over the masala and spread it in an even layer.
18. Sprinkle the saffron soaked in milk over the rice followed by some dried mint, a few pinches of biryani masala and the remaining fried onions. Cover and cook over high heat for five minutes, then lower the heat and continue cooking 10 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, uncovered, before serving.
Recipe FAQs
The veggies and spices make this an extremely nutritious, one-dish meal, with tons of vitamins and minerals. Rice, nuts and cashews add a healthy wallop of protein. Each serving of the biryani has 336 calories, 11 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fiber.
Yes. Use brown basmati rice and keep in mind that brown rice will take longer to cook than white basmati rice, so factor in additional time for that. Also the brown rice should be cooked almost all the way when you layer it over the veggie masala.
I will post for you a vegetable biryani made entirely in the Instant Pot in coming weeks. You can, however, adapt this recipe to the Instant Pot, but you will need to cook the rice separately. Cook the masala curry (steps 5-11) in the Instant Pot liner set to the saute mode. Layer the cooked rice and other ingredients (steps 12 and 13), cover, and set to cook on the manual pressure mode for five minutes. Force-release after 10 minutes. To make biryani in a pressure cooker, check out this recipe for pressure cooker vegetable biryani.
Sure, you can, but the fried onions add a special flavor. However, for a healthier version, you can use onions sauteed in a small amount of oil. Cut a large onion in thin slices and add salt while sauteeing to help the onions caramelize.
Serving suggestions
- This biryani is perfect eaten by itself, but I love it with vegan cucumber raita.
- In Hyderabad, where some of India's best biryani is made, this rice dish would be served with a spicy mirch ka salan.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days.
- Freeze: Freeze the biryani in an airtight container or freezer-safe container for up to three months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat in the microwave or in a covered, oven-safe pot or bowl in an oven set to 350 degrees.
More yummy Indian rice recipes
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Vegetable Biryani
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large pot with a tight fitting lid
Ingredients
- 1½ cups basmati rice (uncooked, washed in running water)
- 2 dry bay leaves
- 10 cloves
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 1-inch piece cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon caraway seeds (shahjeera). You can sub this with cumin seeds but try to use it if possible. It adds great flavor to biryanis.
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
- ¼ teaspoon saffron strands
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 2 medium carrots (finely diced -- you want the pieces to be fairly small, about ½-inch square, to cook fast)
- 2 medium potatoes (finely diced)
- ½ butternut squash (finely diced)
- 8 oz button mushrooms (or cremini mushrooms, quartered or halved)
- 2 green bell peppers (diced)
- 1 heaping tsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (coriander leaves)
- 2 teaspoon dried mint (or 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves)
- 2 teaspoon dried dill (or 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves)
- 1 cup vegan yogurt
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cayenne (or paprika or any red chilli powder. Add less or skip if sensitive to heat, because store-bought biryani masala often has red chili powder added to it).
- 4 heaping tbsp biryani masala
- ½ cup raw cashew pieces
- 14 oz tofu (or use one recipe of my air-fryer tofu. Optional but nice.)
- 1 cup fried onions (divided)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place basmati rice in a colander and wash it under running water until the water runs clear. Place the rice in a bowl covered with an inch of water. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and add bay leaves, half the cloves, half the cardamom pods, the cinnamon stick, and half the caraway seeds (shahi jeera). Add a couple of teaspoons of salt (you won't eat most of it because you'll drain out the water). When the water comes to a rolling boil add the drained rice. Cook 6-7 minutes until the rice is about 80 percent done--tender but with a good bite to it still.
- Strain the rice in a colander, wash under cold, running water, and set aside.
- Soak the saffron in nondairy milk of choice. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the remaining spices--caraway seeds, cloves and cardamom.
- Add to the pot the carrots, potatoes and squash. Add the ginger garlic paste, salt and mix. Cover and cook the veggies for 5 minutes or until they are almost cooked. Stir frequently to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and mix. Cover and continue cooking another five minutes.
- Add the herbs--cilantro, dried mint and dried dill. Mix well.
- Add the vegan yogurt and mix. Follow by adding the ground coriander and cayenne or paprika. Mix them in.
- Stir in half the fried onions, raw cashews and biryani masala spice mix. Mix.
- Finally add in the tofu, if using, and mix it in. Add about a cup of water or non-dairy milk at this time to the pot and stir it in.
- Once the masala comes to a boil, check for salt and add more if needed. Turn off the heat. Pour the cooked rice over the masala and spread it in an even layer.
- Sprinkle the saffron milk over the rice followed by some dried mint, a few pinches of biryani masala and the remaining fried onions. Cover and cook over high heat for five minutes, then lower the heat and continue cooking 10 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, uncovered, before serving.
Video
Recipe notes
- The recipe card includes a video recorded when I first posted this recipe. This updated recipe has a few tweaks and changes, but you can follow the video to familiarize yourself with the techniques used.
- Do a bit of simple multitasking. This is not complicated multitasking by any means. Wash and soak the rice before you begin cooking, then proceed with chopping the veggies and herbs. Start the pot of water for the rice when you begin sauteing the veggies, so the rice and the sauce cook up simultaneously.
- Season the rice water. You do this just as you would pasta water, only you'll add a few spices here along with the salt, including cardamom, cloves, shah jeera and bay leaves.
- Undercook the rice. According to Indian lore, perfectly cooked grains of basmati rice should be like brothers: close, but not stuck together. This is especially important in a biryani, and to get such a result make sure that the rice is no more than 80 percent done when it is layered over the sauce. Remember, overcooked rice = sticky rice. And sticky rice is simply not okay in a biryani.
- Season the layer of cooked rice. This adds tons of flavor and more aroma to the biryani. Sprinkle a bit of biryani masala on top of the rice after layering it over the sauce, and a bit of mint. Also add a handful of fried onions and saffron soaked in milk. You can sprinkle kewra water over the rice for an even more tantalizing aroma but I find it difficult to source edible kewra water here in the United States.
- Know what not to use. A true veg biryani doesn't contain usual Indian staples like tomatoes and turmeric. While some Indian cooks will use turmeric to marinate non-veg ingredients like chicken for chicken biryani, you don't need to do that here. Saffron will add the perfect color.
- Soy-free: Skip the tofu and use a soy-free yogurt.
- Nut-free: Skip the cashews and use pumpkin seeds instead, or skip them altogether. Use a nut-free yogurt.
- Low-carb. Skip the potatoes, carrots and squash and use cauliflower, mushrooms, bell peppers, and summer squash like zucchini or yellow squash. Also replace the rice with cauliflower rice. You don't need to cook the cauliflower rice first.
- Refrigerate: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days.
- Freeze: Freeze the biryani in an airtight container or freezer-safe container for up to three months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat in the microwave or in a covered, oven-safe pot or bowl in an oven set to 350 degrees.
Penny
Thank you for your vegan biryani. We enjoyed it.
Vaishali
Hi Penny, that's wonderful to hear. So happy you loved the biryani. 🙂
Sujata
We can't get enough of this vegetable biryani. It's restaurant quality and absolutely wonderful. I make it every week and usually it's gone at the dinner table with no leftovers! Thanks for sharing this delicious biryani Vaishali.
Lori
Hi! I made this and really enjoyed it. I have also made the instant pot version you created. Excellent! I did use brown basmati rice and liked it very well. I do not see where the cinnamon stick goes in. I put it in with the rice. You mentioned that the ginger garlic paste goes with step 4 but that step says "soak the saffron in...." I am thinking the ginger garlic paste goes in with the potatoes and squash. I do not have access to garlic ginger paste so I used grated fresh ginger and minced garlic. The whole spice to ground spice conversions is very helpful. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Vaishali
Hi Lori, so happy you loved the biryani. Sorry, that advise was from 2020, and I've revised the recipe since. The ginger garlic paste is now in step 6 and cinnamon in step 1. Thanks for pointing out.
Harrison Bergeron
Delicious. Came out wonderful
Lola
Made this for dinner last night. It was perfect, like something from a restaurant only better because I made it! Awesome recipe and thanks for posting with such clear instructions. I will be adding this to my rotation.
Vaishali
So thrilled you made it, Lola!
Mark
I wasn't sure whether to use or throw away the rice water. I used a little to cook the vegetables.
Vaishali
Hi Mark, it's in step 5-- strain the rice and discard all the water. Rice water is starchy and you don't want to add it to veggies because it will add more starch and stickiness to the recipe. Biryani rice needs to remain separate.
Maria
My favorite biryani recipe ever! Can't say enough about it.
Vaishali
Awesome, so happy you love it Maria! 💕