Vegetable Biryani Recipe (Restaurant Style)

None of us, especially we Indians, can even have enough of a biryani. Biryani is my most favorite rice-based dish. Even if I have to have biryani every day, I won’t mind it at all. So, here’s my chosen recipe of a Restaurant Style Vegetable Biryani that will help you dish out a vegetarian biryani, elaborately at home. Just follow the steps well, and you won’t have any problems in making a lovely hearty biryani at home. The process is a bit lengthy and takes efforts, but the end result is absolutely worth that time.

About This Vegetable Biryani Recipe

This restaurant style Vegetable Biryani was first posted more than a decade back. That time, I would always make the Hyderabadi Veg Biryani or my mom’s version of the biryani at home. But since the time I’ve started making this particular recipe too, I haven’t stopped.

Usually in most restaurants, they do not make biryanis the way it is traditionally made, that is assembling the rice and gravy layers and cooking these in a tightly sealed pot.

The vegetable gravy is prepped ahead and then lightly mixed with seasoned basmati rice and served.

But some restaurants do serve the real traditional biryani. This particular recipe has similar tastes and flavors with the biryanis served in such restaurants where authentic conventional food is served.

I have experimented and tried many variations of a Vegetable Biryani. After I came across this recipe in Nita Mehta’s cookbook, ‘Taste of Amritsar – Vegetarian’.

I gave it a try and loosely adapted the recipe to suit our taste buds. What I liked in the recipe was the use of freshly ground biryani masala.

Also, there were no tomatoes, chilies or turmeric in this version. Three ingredients that I always end up using in my cooking.

I was of the thought process that a biryani without the inclusion of these three ingredients is not possible. But I had an incorrect assumption and this recipe proved it wrong.

One of the most delicious biryanis I’ve made is this truly restaurant-style version. The vegetable gravy isn’t as moist as homemade biryanis tend to be, but rather slightly dry like what you’d find in restaurants.

Additionally, this biryani isn’t very spicy; instead, it carries a gentle touch of sweetness.

The flavors of the freshly ground biryani masala as well as the caramelized/browned onions are a hallmark of this Vegetable Biryani and bring out the best in the whole dish. Yes, birista or caramelized browned onions is used in this recipe.

More On The Recipe

By now, I have made this Vegetable Biryani many times. I’ve tried the recipe with both dairy curd (yogurt) as well as a plant-based one like cashew yogurt.

When made with cashew yogurt, no one, including me, could make out the difference that whether a regular dairy or plant based yogurt was used in the dish.

Like I said in the beginning, it is a long process of making the restaurant-style biryani but worth it. Apart from a few, rest of the ingredients are simple and easily available in the kitchen.

For saffron substitute, you can add a pinch of turmeric in some milk or water and then add it on the rice layers.

I cannot imagine my food without green chilies or red chili powder. So, I had to add a little red chili powder in this Vegetable Biryani too.

This biryani with veggies and made with freshly ground masala tastes awesome and I had to share it with all of you. I usually serve this biryani with a fresh onion tomato raita.

How to make Vegetable Biryani

Preparation

1. Rinse 1½ cups (200 grams) basmati rice very well in water. Soak the rice in enough water for 30 minutes. When the rice is soaking, chop all the vegetables and keep aside.

2. Prepare the biryani masala. For it, the spices that we use are – 1 inch cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 4 green cardamoms and a single strand of mace (not the whole mace as it is a strong spice).

3. Add these in a small grinder or spice grinder and grind to a powder. Keep aside.

4. After 30 minutes, drain all the water from the rice and set the soaked rice aside.

Prepare Rice

5. Heat 5 cups water. When hot, add 3 to 4 green cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf), 2 star anise and 1 black cardamom.

6. On high heat, bring the water to a boil. Then, add the rice. Also, add ¾ teaspoon salt or as per taste.

7. Cook the rice on high heat till it is 75% cooked.

8. There should be some bite in the rice.

9. Drain all the water from the rice thoroughly in a colander. Set aside. You can also check how to cook Basmati Rice For Biryani.

10. Whisk 1 cup fresh curd or yogurt (200 grams) until smooth. Set aside.

Fry Onions

11. Heat 3 to 4 tablespoons oil or ghee in a pan. Add 2 cups thinly sliced onions.

12. Stir and sauté the onions on medium-low to medium heat.

13. Sauté the onions, with frequent stirring, till they turn golden brown.

14. Keep heat to low, then, remove ¼ cup fried onions from this and set aside.

Make Vegetable Mixture

15. Then, add 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste to the fried onions in the pan. Stir and sauté until the raw aroma of ginger-garlic fades away.

16. Then, add the prepared biryani masala. Stir and mix on low heat.

17. Add the chopped vegetables including the green peas.

18. Stir and mix very well.

Make Vegetable Gravy

19. Then, add the whisked curd.

20. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon red chili powder.

21. Stir the gravy mixture very well.

22. Add ½ cup of water.

23. Add salt as per taste.

24. Pressure cook on medium heat for 1 whistle. If cooking in a pot, then cook till the vegetables are fork tender and done. Don’t over cook. 

When the pressure settles down and drops naturally in the cooker, remove the lid and check the gravy. If vegetables are undercooked, keep the cooker on the stovetop and simmer the gravy without the lid till the vegetables are tender.

If there is too much water in the gravy, simmer till some water dries up. The gravy should have a medium-thick or slightly thick consistency and should not be very watery or runny.

Assemble Veg Biryani

25. In a small bowl, take 2 tablespoons warm milk. Add a few saffron strands and mix well. Keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

26. In another thick-bottomed pan, add half of the prepared vegetable gravy.

27. Layer with half of the rice.

28. Sprinkle half of the fried onions along with chopped mint leaves. Also, add half of the saffron dissolved milk. Top with 1 tablespoon oil or butter or ghee on this layer.

29. Layer with the rest of the vegetable gravy.

30. Lastly, add the remaining fried onions, chopped mint leaves and saffron milk. Top with 1 tablespoon oil or butter or ghee on this layer.

Cook Biryani

31. Cover the pan with a damp muslin or cotton cloth. You can also seal and secure the pan with aluminum foil.

If using a damp or wet cotton napkin, bring together the edges on top of the lid and stick it on the lid. Since the cloth is wet it clings onto the lid.

32. Place a lid on top.

33. Now, place the pan on a hot tawa or griddle. Cook the biryani on low heat for 25 to 30 minutes or until all the liquids have been absorbed and the rice grains look more fluffier and tender.

The tawa should be heated for 4 to 5 minutes on low to medium flame before you place the pan on it.

Remember to allow a resting time of 5 to 7 minutes after you turn off the heat.

Baking: Bake the biryani at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Remember to use an ovenproof glass utensil like Pyrex bowl for baking in the oven. Assemble the biryani as mentioned above in the ovenproof utensil. Cover with aluminum foil or the Pyrex bowl’s lid and then bake.

34.  Serve Restaurant Style Vegetable Biryani with your favorite raita or biryani shorba or mirchi ka salan and with sliced onions and lemon wedges.

Expert Tips

1. Use aged basmati rice for the best cooked rice texture in the biryani – tender, longer, non-sticky and fluffier.
2. For a plant based version, make the vegetable gravy with cashew yogurt and a neutral tasting oil.
3. Add your choice of vegetables or mushrooms. For softer vegetables like brinjals, capsicum, zucchini or other gourds, I suggest to cook the vegetable gravy in a pot or a pan and not in a pressure cooker.
4. You could also make this recipe with unripe jackfruit.
5. Remember to parcook the rice. There should be some bite in the rice. Do not cook the rice grains all the way through. Doing so would make your biryani a mush.
6. The vegetable gravy should have a medium-thick to thick consistency. A watery or runny consistency will make the rice get overcooked and pasty.

This Veg Biryani recipe from the archives was first published on November 2012. It has been updated on December 2024.