Rice is an ingredient with the potential to become so much more than a plain, boring accompaniment to a main dish. How you cook it and the ingredients you add can make it into an exciting accompaniment or even a delicious main meal. Our vegetable biryani recipe is a dish we love, as it is easy to make and something everyone can enjoy.
What Is Vegetable Biryani?
Like many Indian dishes, there are many variations of biryani, although the basics of the dish remain the same. It is a baked rice dish featuring rice, vegetables, and an array of herbs and spices to develop a delicious flavour. Several regions of Pakistan and India have a unique variety of the dish, such as Hyderabadi biryani and Bombay biryani. If you are a meat eater, you might also like to try our recipe for lamb biryani.
Developing Flavour in a Vegetable Biryani Recipe
Like many Indian dishes, a biryani has layers of flavour that tantalise the tongue. These flavours do not develop independently, and the lack of meat flavours in the dish means it is even more important to spend time developing the flavour with other ingredients. The choice of ingredients and the methods you use all play a part in making a tasty biryani. Cooking the vegetables in the same pan as the spices is an essential step in flavour development, and the baking process will enhance these flavours further. Adding herbs at the end of cooking will turn the dish into a flavour bomb.
Here is our easy and delicious vegetable biryani recipe.
Vegetable Biryani Recipe: An Easy Vegan Indian Rice Dish
Course: International Recipes, Recipes, Vegetarian and Vegan RecipesCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes40
minutesYES
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An easy vegetable biryani recipe, which is a flavoursome vegetarian Indian dish of rice, vegetables, and spices.
Ingredients for the Vegetable Biryani Recipe
•t2 cups (400g) basmati rice
•t6 medium garlic cloves, grated
• A 2–inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
•t1.5 teaspoons of salt
•t7 tbsp of olive oil or ghee
•t2 large white onions sliced thinly
•t1 large carrot, peeled and julienned (cut into thin sticks)
•t20 green beans (approx.) trimmed and sliced
•t1 red pepper, finely sliced
•t200g baby spinach leaves
•t1 can coconut milk
•t5 green cardamom pods
•t4 cloves
•t1 cinnamon stick
•t2 dried bay leaves
•t1 teaspoon garam masala
•t1 dried red chilli
•t0.5 teaspoon ground turmeric
•t0.5 teaspoon ground mace
•t250 ml of vegetable stock
•tJuice of two fresh lemons
•t1 bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped
•t1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
• 2 fresh green chillies, such as bird’s eye chilli, minced
•t20 strands of saffron, divided
Directions: How to Make the Vegetable Biryani Recipe
- Rinse the rice, then put it into a bowl and cover it with cold water. Leave it to stand for 30 minutes.
- Strain the rice, then put it in a saucepan with a little salt, lemon juice, two cardamom pods, a little oil or ghee, and 950 ml of cold water.
- Put the pan over medium heat and simmer for five minutes, then strain the rice. The rice is only partially cooked at this stage of the recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F.
- Add the oil or ghee to a large pan and put over medium heat on the hob.
- Then, add the onions and a little salt to the pan and cook for approximately three minutes.
- Add the sliced peppers, carrots, and green beans to the pan and continue to cook for another eight minutes while stirring occasionally or until both the onions and peppers are browning. Be careful not to allow them to burn too much, or it will add a bitter taste to the biryani.
- Reduce the hob heat to low, then add the cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, garlic, ginger, chilli, garam masala, cardamon pods, turmeric, and mace. Sautee the ingredients for around four minutes until the spices are fragrant.
- Transfer the vegetable and spice mixture to a deep baking tin or an ovenproof casserole dish, then cover with the rice.
- Use a pestle and mortar to grind half the saffron.
- Put the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium heat on the hob and add both the ground saffron and the remaining whole saffron strands. Let the mixture bubble for a minute, then remove from the heat. Leave the saffron to steep in the milk for five minutes.
- Sprinkle the saffron and coconut milk over the rice, then cover the dish with aluminium foil. Make sure you create a good seal around the edge.
- Put the dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and take off the foil. Add the spinach, mint, and coriander to the dish, as they will cook quickly from the heat of the other ingredients. Gently stir through to combine the ingredients and loosen the rice.
- Serve immediately and garnish with more fresh coriander (optional).
Additional Tips
- Add more or less chillies to alter the spice level to suit your own tastes.
- If you are not vegan, the dish is delicious with a side serving of yoghurt and cucumber raita.
A Cheat’s Method
Looking for an easy recipe that is quicker to make than a traditional biryani? There is a quicker way to make a vegetable biryani recipe if you are in a rush. Cook the vegetables and spices, add premade pilau rice, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Add the spinach and fresh herbs, then serve.
[…] lamb and an array of herbs and spices to develop a delicious flavour. We also have a recipe for vegetable biryani, a vegetarian version of the recipe. Several regions of India and Pakistan have a unique variety of […]