Vegetable Biryani
A delicious, aromatic vegetable biryani is the ultimate Indian comfort food. This easy, tasty, restaurant-style Vegetable Biryani has long, aromatic grains of rice and it's loaded with healthful veggies.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 336kcal
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
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 336kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Potassium: 650mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 6263IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 3mg