Instant Pot makes everything easy and it is especially the case for a recipe such as vegetable biryani because there are a lot of ingredients to saute and cook. Having one pot to saute and cook the rice makes it incredibly easy! Look for my step-by-step instructions in the directions. I used 6-quart duo Instant pot for this recipe.
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After a long hiatus, I am glad to be back and to share this wonderful Instant Pot recipe with you, just in time for the holidays. As common as the Biryani is, in Indian cuisine, it is surprising that there are not many Instant Pot recipes out there and I have received quite a few requests for this recipe.
If you are not familiar with the Vegetable Biryani, it is one of the authentic and aromatic rice dishes prepared with a rich creamy base and vegetables.
Today’s recipe will feature the gluten-free, vegan version of the dish prepared using the Instant Pot. Apart from slight variations from cooking with the Instant Pot, the procedure is fairly simple and the vegan version is as flavorful as the original version.
Best of all, it is a one-pot recipe! So it comes in handy as a weekday meal option too!
Ingredients note
- Vegetables: Choose your favorite vegetables like green beans, corn, frozen peas, potato, and carrots. Apart from nutrients, they also bring color to the dish.
- Spices: I used fresh ground cumin, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and red chili powder. To get a vibrant red color, you could use Kashmiri red chili powder.
- Whole spices: whole spices like mace, cardamom, cloves, star anise are the main ingredients here. This is what brings the authentic biryani flavor.
- Basmati rice: New crops or rice that has not been on the shelf for a long time is the best way to get aromatic and tender rice. I used extra long kind of basmati rice for this recipe.
- Coconut milk yogurt: I used homemade coconut milk yogurt but you can get other varieties of plain yogurt from stores like cashew yogurt, almond yogurt, and oat milk yogurt. They are all good options for this recipe. Be sure to use the plain variety and not any flavored yogurt.
- Nutritional yeast: Nutritional yeast gives a rich and cheesy flavor to the dish in addition to VItamin B12 that it brings.
- Oil or vegan butter: The oil or vegan butter is the medium that blends all the spice flavors together. Any choice of vegetable oil or vegan butter works well for this recipe.
How to make this recipe
Soak the basmati rice for 10- 15 mins after a good rinse.
Press ‘SAUTE’ mode on the Instant Pot and add vegan butter or oil to the inner pan.
As the oil heats up add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, mace, cloves, bay leaf, and star anise.
As the cumin seeds fry, add sliced onions and ginger-garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes with regular stirring until they turn light brown in color.
Now add salt and mixed vegetables of your choice and cook for 20-30 seconds.
Add coconut yogurt, chopped mint leaves, and the spice mix (Turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin, and garam masala powder).
Stir well and continue to cook for about 30 seconds.
Add nutritional yeast, rinsed Basmati rice, and water then give a good stir for an even mix.
Press the CANCEL button on Instant Pot.
Close the lid on the pot, and turn the valve from VENTING to SEALING position.
Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set a timer to 5 minutes.
Let it cook for 5 minutes and let it cook with the NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE(NPR) option. For that, you would wait for the silver button on the lid to drop before opening the lid.
Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani is ready! Serve it hot paired with raita and cucumber.
Vegan version
Apart from being gluten-free, this recipe is also vegan. The traditional method involves using yogurt as a base for the spices and vegetables. I used coconut milk yogurt and it turned out very good. In addition, I also added nutritional yeast to bring the right consistency that is required for biryani.
How to serve veg biryani?
Biryani is typically served with raita and cucumber at most restaurants. Raita is one of my family favorites and I use vegan yogurt for this too. Cucumbers are a good pair if your biryani turns out too spicy!
Rice used for biryani
Basmati rice is the most popular option for Biryani and for the right reasons. Since they are not too sticky, the flavors from the biryani masala are spread out well when you cook with Basmati rice. I used the extra-long version of basmati rice for this recipe. In order to get a better texture to try soaking the rice for 10 - 15 mins prior to cooking the rice.
Expert tips
- This veg biryani is a vegan version with dairy-free yogurt and nutritional yeast.
- Try soaking the basmati rice for 10 - 15 mins prior to cooking the rice.
- The vegetables you pick for the recipe are really up to you as long as they are not cut too big. It is typical to use green beans, carrots, peas, and bell peppers. You could also add fried cashews and raisins for an authentic taste.
- Be sure to vary the chili powder to your liking. I like to get it a little on the spicy side. I also made a few subtle changes to pack in better flavor.
- Nutritional yeast is optional for this biryani. You can use either vegan yogurt or else use 2 teaspoon of lemon.
- Remove bay leaf at the end. You could take it out all the whole spices, even though it's edible.
Related recipes
You could also check out some of my other biryani recipes like Vegetable Dum Biryani.
Try my other Instant Pot rice recipes like Instant Pot vegetable rice, Instant pot mushroom rice.
If you’ve tried this recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! Follow me on social media Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Just subscribe to my newsletter for more delicious vegan recipes such as this sent directly to your inbox.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil
Whole spices
- 2 green cardamom
- 4 cloves
- 2 maces
- 1 bay leaf
- 3- star anise
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Ground spices
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ - 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
Other ingredients
- 1 cup cubed potatoes
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- ½ cup chopped beans
- ½ cup of frozen corn or peas
- 1 Onion sliced lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ¾ cup water
- ½ cup vegan yogurt or use yogurt
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast - optional
- Cilantro leaves chopped
- Mint leaves chopped
Instructions
- Soak the basmati rice for 10- 15 mins after a good rinse.
- Press ‘SAUTE’ mode on the Instant Pot and add vegan butter or oil to the inner pan.
- As the oil heats up add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, mace, cloves, bay leaf, and star anise.
- As the cumin seeds fry, add sliced onions and ginger-garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes with regular stirring until they turn light brown in color.
- Now add salt and mixed vegetables of your choice and cook for 20-30 seconds.
- Add coconut yogurt, chopped cilantro, mint leaves, and the spice mix (Turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin, and garam masala powder).
- Stir well and continue to cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add nutritional yeast, rinsed Basmati Rice, and water then give a good stir for an even mix.
- Press the CANCEL button on Instant Pot.
- Close the lid on the pot, and turn the valve from VENTING to SEALING position.
- Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set a timer to 5 minutes.
- Let it cook for 5 minutes and let it cook with the NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE(NPR) option. For that, you would wait for the silver button on the lid to drop before opening the lid.
- Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani is ready! Serve it hot paired with raita and cucumber.
Video
Notes
- This veg biryani is a vegan version with dairy-free yogurt and nutritional yeast.
- Try soaking the basmati rice for 10 - 15 mins prior to cooking the rice.
- The vegetables you pick for the recipe are really up to you as long as they are not cut too big. It is typical to use green beans, carrots, peas, and bell peppers. You could also add fried cashews and raisins for an authentic taste.
- Be sure to vary the chili powder to your liking. I like to get it a little on the spicy side. I also made a few subtle changes to pack in better flavor.
- Nutritional yeast is optional for this biryani. You can use either vegan yogurt or else use 2 teaspoon of lemon.
- Remove bay leaf at the end. You could take it out all the whole spices, even though it's edible.
Nutrition
Pin this recipe for later
Moti Mahal Delux OMR
I tried this recipe. It's wonderful and awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Uma Srinivas
Thank you, Moti.
Maya
I made this recipe with a few minor alterations. I roughly doubled the spices, because we like very fragrant food in our house, and added 1/3rd cup cashews at the same time as the vegetables. I also replaced the yogurt with soy milk as I didn't have any yogurt in the house, which worked fine. I made it in a Breville fast-slow cooker with the same instructions and found all the cooking times etc to work perfectly.
It was literally jaw-droppingly good (a bit of rice fell out of my partners mouth when he tried it).
This recipe is delicious and I highly recommend it!
Uma Srinivas
Thank you Maya ❤️ Very happy to hear that you and your family loved it.
Sondra
I have all of these ingredients and spices except for star anise and nutritional yeast. Can I just omit them or if there is a substitute, what is it? This looks yummy and I want to make it and serve naan with it. I enjoy Indian food.
Uma Srinivas
Hi Sondra. You can skip the star anise. I added nutritional yeast to get the original biryani taste. If you are not vegan add yogurt. Otherwise simply skip the nutritional yeast and coconut milk and add lemon juice.
Kushi
Made this tonight. Came out really good! I love your idea of adding nutritional yeast tasty and vegan biryani is really a good recipe. Pinned it for future also. Thank you Uma!
Uma Srinivas
Thank Kushi for making this recipe and your feedback. Yes Nutritional yeast makes really a good differences.
Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey
Although I own an Instant pot, never made Biryani in it. This fluffy and flavourful vegan biryani sounds so delicious and the addition of NY brings so many good flavours.
Jayashree T.Rao
Love biryani and this instant pot version looks easy to make and tasty. I will make it sometime Uma.