mangalorean style veg biryani recipe with step by step photos – a spiced fragrant one pot biryani with mixed veggies.
this is a spicy veg biryani with robust flavors. there is no layering involved in the biryani. like most south indian biryanis this recipe is one pot and cooked in steam or dum. the recipe is inspired and loosely adapted from the book ‘biryani‘ by pratibha karan.
i try different methods of making biryanis and whenever i prepare a biryani recipe which tastes good, i add them on the blog too. so far i have added some biryani recipes ranging from not so easy to easy ones. you can have a look at this collection of biryani varieties.
like most biryani recipes, this biryani goes well with onion-tomato raita. you can also serve some sliced onions or sirke wale pyaaz or a side salad. you can also serve this veg biryani with tomato onion shorba.
if you are looking for more rice recipes then do check:
mangalorean veg biryani
INGREDIENTS FOR mangalorean veg biryani
main ingredients for mangalorean veg biryani
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 medium onions or 100 grams onions or 1 cup thinly sliced onions
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger (adrak)
- 1 sprig curry leaves (kadi patta)
- 1 to 2 green chilies, slit or sliced
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- 1 medium tomato or 75 grams tomatoes or ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 medium to large carrot or 100 grams carrots or ½ cup chopped carrots
- 2 medium potatoes or 150 grams potatoes or ¾ to 1 cup chopped potatoes
- ⅓ cup green peas, fresh or frozen (matar)
- 1 cup heaped basmati rice, or 200 grams basmati rice
- 2 cups water for cooking rice
- salt as required
to be ground to paste
- ¼ cup tightly packed fresh grated coconut
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger (adrak)
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic (lahsun)
- 3 to 4 dry red chilies (sookhi lal mirch)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds (khus khus)
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (sabut dhania)
- 8 to 10 fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
- 2 cloves (lavang)
- 2 green cardamoms (hari elaichi or choti elaichi)
- ½ inch cinnamon (dalchini)
- ¼ to ⅓ cup water for grinding
HOW TO MAKE mangalorean veg biryani
preparation for mangalorean veg biryani
- rinse basmati rice very well in water and then soak for 30 minutes.
- after 30 minutes, strain the rice of all the water and keep aside.
- meanwhile, while the rice is soaking, rinse and chop all the veggies. keep them aside.
preparing the ground paste for biryani
- also take all the ingredients for the masala paste - 1/4 cup tightly packed fresh grated coconut, 1 tsp chopped ginger, 1 tsp chopped garlic, 3 to 4 dry red chilies, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 8 to 10 methi seeds, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms and 1/2 inch cinnamon.
- add these ingredients along with 1/4 to 1/3 cup water in a grinder jar.
- grind to a smooth paste.
making spicy mangalorean biryani recipe
- heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a thick bottomed pot or pan. add 1 cup thinly sliced onions.
- saute the onions on a low to medium flame, stirring often till they turn golden.
- now add 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp finely chopped ginger and 1 sprig curry leaves.
- stir and saute for a minute.
- then add 1 or 2 green chilies (slit or sliced) and add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder.
- mix well and saute on a low to medium flame till the tomatoes soften and become pulpy. you will also see oil releasing from the sides of the onion-tomato masala.
- now add the ground spice paste. stir well and saute for 3 minutes on a low flame.
- add 1.75 to 2 cups chopped veggies. you can add your choice of veggies. i added a mix of carrots, green peas and potatoes.
- stir well and mix the veggies with the rest of the masala.
- now add the rice. gently stir the rice with the veggies and masala.
- add 2 cups water. season with salt as per taste. stir.
- seal the pan with an aluminium foil or a moist kitchen towel or a moist cotton napkin.
- close tightly with a lid.
- on a low flame cook till the rice grains are cooked and all the water is absorbed. it took me 18 minutes for the rice to cook.
- time will vary depending on the size and volume of pan, the thickness of pan, flame intensity etc.
- if the rice grains are still under cooked and all the water has been absorbed then add a few tablespoons of water.
- cover and cook veg biryani for some more minutes.
- allow a standing time of 5 minutes and then open the lid.
- gently fluff and serve mangalore style veg biryani with raita or pickle or papad. you can garnish with some chopped coriander leaves if you want.
preparation to make mangalore style veg biryani
1. rinse basmati rice very well in water and then soak for 30 minutes.
2. after 30 minutes, strain the rice of all the water and keep aside.
3. take all the ingredients for the masala paste – ¼ cup tightly packed fresh grated coconut, 1 tsp chopped ginger, 1 tsp chopped garlic, 3 to 4 dry red chilies, ½ tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 8 to 10 methi seeds (fenugreek seeds), 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms and ½ inch cinnamon.
4. add these ingredients along with ¼ to ⅓ cup water in a grinder jar. grind to a smooth paste.
making mangalore style veg biryani
5. heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a thick bottomed pot or pan. add 1 cup thinly sliced onions.
6. saute the onions on a low to medium flame, stirring often.
7. saute the onions till they turn golden.
8. now add ½ cup chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp finely chopped ginger and 1 sprig curry leaves (10 to 12 curry leaves).
9. stir and saute for a minute.
10. then add 1 or 2 green chilies (slit or sliced).
11. next add ¼ tsp turmeric powder.
12. mix well and saute on a low to medium flame till the tomatoes soften and become pulpy. you will also see oil releasing from the sides of the onion-tomato masala.
13. now add the ground spice paste.
14. stir well and saute for 3 minutes on a low flame.
15. add 1.75 to 2 cups chopped veggies. you can add your choice of veggies. i added a mix of carrots, green peas and potatoes.
16. stir well and mix the veggies with the rest of the masala.
17. now add the rice.
18. gently stir the rice with the veggies and masala.
19. add 2 cups water.
20. season with salt as per taste. check the taste of the water and it should taste slightly salty.
21. seal the pan with an aluminium foil or a moist kitchen towel or a moist cotton napkin.
22. close tightly with a lid.
23. on a low flame cook till the rice grains are cooked, fluffy, soft and all the water is absorbed. it took me 18 minutes for the rice to cook. time will vary depending on the size and volume of pan, the thickness of pan, flame intensity etc. if the rice grains are still under cooked and all the water has been absorbed then sprinkle some tablespoons of water. cover and cook for some more minutes.
24. allow a standing time of 5 minutes and then open the lid. gently fluff and serve mangalore style veg biryani with raita or pickle or papad. you can garnish with some chopped coriander leaves if you want.
I tried this recipe. Resulted in a flavourful and delicious outcome! Another gem from your collection. Thanks for sharing the recipe Dassana. God bless!
welcome np. thanks for your positive feedback on biryani and also for your best wishes.
Dasana, this recipe turned out very good. Just that the water, I think could have been a tad lesser.
heeru, amount of water to be used depends on the quality of rice. so you can add less water keeping in mind the variety of rice you are using. some rice grains cook fast and need less water and some take more time and need more water. hope this helps.
hi dassana! another great tasting biryani recipe.tastes delicious.thanks.
I was wondering if it could be converted to mix veg curry to be served with either paratha or dinner rolls.
thanks meveera and welcome. of course you can use the same masala base to make a mix veg curry.
I made this today using instant pot and it turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
Welcome V
This turned out very nice:) Thanks Dasana.
thanks heeru.
Loved it Loved it Loved it
This will be my goto recipe from now on. Thank youuu 😄
Welcome Shalini. Glad to know that you liked veg biryani recipe.
It’s really awesome everybody in my home really like it it’s flavors it’s taste just yummmmmm
It is such a awesome dish just yummmmmm I made it for first time flavors are very nice in my house everybody just liked it so much but there is a problem my rice brokedall the time
Thanks Naina. Looks like rice got cooked too much. next time you can add less water in the rice.
hi today i made this recipe it came out gooood everybody loved . thank you.
thanks for the feedback usha and nice to know.
wow super tasty recipe
thanks.
Such an awesome recipe!!
I have already made this 3 times!
Thank you dassana for the marvellous recipe!
welcome shanmuga 🙂 thanks for positive views.
wht about replacing coconut oil
you can add any other oil like sunflower oil.
Amit, can we not add poppy seeds. Bcoz the place I stay its either difficult to find it or it is too expensive
pooja, skip adding poppy seeds.
thank you for sharing,i have a problem with adding water for rice.whenever I added water for rice… masala doesn’t stick with rice…what I do???
could be that you are adding more water in the rice. for most indian brands of 1 cup basmati rice, after pre-soaking for 30 minutes need 1.5 to 2 cups water for cooking.
Thanks for the recipe. .that looks soo simple yet delicious. I would like to tell you that your recipes inspire me and I have tried a lot of your dishes from veg makhanwala to veg biryani to egg less muffins. my husband liked egg less apple muffin a lot. thanks once again 🙂 . please keep posting more and more. .
surely would keep posting more and more thankyou.
it looks delicious. I must try this recipe…
Being a Mangalorean myself I dint knew this recipe,.. Actually I love to eat than prepare 😉 ha ha so should blame for my culinary knowledge 😀 Thank you,.. I have bookmarked this.. Next time I will prepare this,..
surely try shilpa and thankyou for your kind words 🙂
wow. will try this for sure.. was looking for an easy biriyani recepie for a long time.. 🙂
thankyou aparna.
nice recipe. will surely try. can we make this is pressure cooker also?
yes sowmya, this veg biryani can be made in the pressure cooker. just add 1.5 to 1.75 cups water and pressure cook for 2 whistles on medium flame.
Hi.. can this be done in a pressure cooker?
yes supritha. just add 1.5 to 1.75 cups water and pressure cook for 2 whistles on medium flame.