A delicious, seasonal and gorgeously orange pumpkin biryani garnished with pumpkin seeds and tart-sweet cranberries. A vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free recipe.
I have for you today a delicately spiced, absolutely stunning Pumpkin Biryani topped with candied cranberries and pumpkin seeds. Try it and, I promise you, it will be a hit at your Thanksgiving dinner table.
Something magical happens when you marry pumpkin with spices, as anyone who's eaten a vegan pumpkin pie knows. Here's a vegetable that, without the magic of spices, would be -- at best -- bland and boring. But sprinkle on some spice -- usually cinnamon and nutmeg -- and it turns into something delightful and delicious.
For my Pumpkin Biryani I used spices more typical to a biryani, of course, but this combination is just as unbeatable as the cinnamon and nutmeg. The creamy, sweet pumpkin is perfectly enhanced by the biryani spices, and it gives the rice a richness and satisfying heft.
This is also a healthy recipe, as most recipes here at Holy Cow! are. There are just 169 calories in each serving, which means you can save plenty of room for the vegan gravy and the pie.
Here's the recipe.
More vegan biryani recipes
Pumpkin Biryani
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups basmati rice (soaked in water for 30 minutes)
- 1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup cashews (soaked in ½ cup water and blitzed into a smooth paste)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 1 medium bell pepper (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoon mint (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon shahjeera caraway seeds
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 2 dry bay leaves
- 2 serrano peppers or jalapeno peppers, finely diced (remove the seeds if you're very sensitive to heat)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon biryani masala
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
- A generous pinch saffron threads
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt to taste
For garnish
- 3 spring onions green and white parts finely chopped
- 1 cup candied cranberries or ½ cup dry cranberries
- ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds roasted or sauteed in a smidgen of oil until they start to turn golden
For candied cranberries
- ½ cup cranberries
- 2 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- In a pan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add the drained, soaked rice to it along with the bay leaves and enough salt to flavor the rice.
- Bring the mixture back to a boil, cover with a tight lid, and let the rice steam on the lowest heat setting for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand.
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the shahjeera or caraway seeds, cardamom pods, and cloves. When they begin to turn color, add the onions and bell peppers.
- Saute the onions and the peppers until the onions start to brown.
- Add the ginger and garlic paste along with the green chilies, mint and coriander leaves. Saute for 30 seconds.
- Add the pumpkin puree and mix well. Cook the pumpkin puree, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cashew paste and lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Cook for another two to three minutes, stirring frequently.
- Fluff the cooked rice with a fork and add i to the pumpkin mixture in the large pan.
- Carefully, taking care not to break the grains of rice, stir them with the pumpkin mixture to coat evenly.
- Sprinkle on the non-dairy milk mixed with saffron threads.
- Cover the pot with a very tight lid and let the biryani steam on a very low heat setting for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let it stand for another 10 minutes before opening.
- Sprinkle on some candied or dry cranberries and sauteed pumpkin seeds, as well as the spring onions.
- Serve hot.
Make candied cranberries
- In a small baking pan, place the cranberries and sprinkle sugar over them.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour. Stir the cranberries occasionally.
- Let them cool and preferably chill before using.
Molly
Hi Vaishali! Molly here in New York. I see this post is from 2015, so I don’t know if it is still being monitored or not, but I thought I’d try!
Two questions: in step #3, it mentions adding “the cloves,” but I don’t see cloves in the ingredients list. What would the quantity be, please?
Second, unless I’m mistaken, the biryani masala in the ingredients list is not mentioned later on in the cooking steps. When would be the appropriate time to add that in, please?
I hope I’m not missing something in the text!
Thanks so much - I was very excited to find this today, as I still have a bit of pumpkin left to use up from Thanksgiving!
Ratna
Hello Vishali,
I tried this today - it was brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!! The entire household loved it - absolutely delicious!
I couldn't taste the pumpkin though, is that how it's supposed to be?
Thank you so much for such a wonderful creation!
All the way from Malaysia,
Ratna
Vaishali
Thanks, Ratna, so happy you liked it! 🙂
Anonymous
Hi is it ok to make this with butternut squash - v hard to get pumpkin in Ireland after Halloween
Vaishali
Absolutely!
Meena
Belated thanksgiving to you, Jay and Desi. Love to hear about Jay and his food experiences here..:-)
I made your pumpkin biryani for thanksgiving yesterday and boy, it was a HUGE hit. Most picky eaters and adults alike enjoyed the dish. I avoided the cranberries; rest I followed your recipe to the T. It is a treat to watch friends and family enjoy new food and this dish is something I'll keep making for a long time...
Thanks for this yummy rice dish.
God Bless
Meena.
Vaishali
Hi Meena, so happy you enjoyed the biryani. A belated happy Thanksgiving to you, and happy holidays!
Vaishali Honawar
Hi Pallavi, Diwali was rather lackluster around here too, but that's no different from usual. There are not many Indians around where we live and try as we might we don't find the time to travel to places like northern Virginia where the Indian communities get together for celebrations.
That box of goodies from your parents sounds like such a treat! 🙂
Hasita
Hi Vaishali, that's one biryani recipe I've never seen before! I was wondering if there's some way to make the pumpkin puree from scratch, and if so, how.
Vaishali Honawar
HI Hasita, follow the same procedure with pumpkin as for butternut squash in this recipe.
pallavykP
Now that, is stunning! I like pumpkin in all its avatars. The current favorite in our household is pumpkin with panch phoron. mm-mm-mmmm!
How was your Diwali?
We had a lack luster one, we were in the middle of a move and it was just too much to handle. But my parents saved the day! Sent us Diwali goodies 🙂 <3