Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani Recipe

About this recipe

Veg Biryani is an aromatic Indian rice dish made by cooking basmati rice with vegetables, biryani spices, and herbs. It is a wholesome rice meal on its own and you can make it with vegetables or paneer/tofu or soya chunks. Restaurant-style Veg Biryani is a labor of love and the process is elaborate. Over a period of time, I love to simplify recipes without any compromise on flavors. That’s exactly how I landed into my perfect Veg Biryani recipe. I started cooking this Biryani exactly the same way in an open pot, but it was taking longer and required a lot of hands-on. Instead of cooking separately, we cook all in just one pot ( pressure cooker) and in one go. Moreover, by doing so, we can cut the cooking time and absolutely no babysitting needed. Once your Pressure Cooker Biryani is ready, serve with raita or side dish of your choice.
PRO TIP - I can highly recommend using Extra Long Basmati Rice. Wash the rice well to remove starch and dirt. Once cooked, each grain separates well and the rice dish looks so amazing.

What is Vegetable biryani?

Biryani is the Hindustani version of the Persian word Birinj which means rice. Looking at the way it is prepared, this word derives its origin from the Persian word Biriyan. In the Persian language, Biriyan means to roast. Add your favorite veggies, whole spices, flavorsome herbs, aromatic masala, long grain basmati rice, and your mouth-watering biryani is ready.

Why make biryani in instant pot?

The traditional method of cooking biryani is the dum method or slow cooking. Original idea was to cook this one-pot dish in a sealed pot using steam. The idea of sealing the utensil is to not let the steam escape the container. This process would take a very long time but the veg biryani is totally amazing. However, the traditional style of cooking uses a lot of dishes. At the end of the day, you can see a lot of dishes piled up in your kitchen sink. If you cook this biryani in an instant pot, you can save time, and it is as yummy as the traditional version. With the pressure cooker method, prep time is only 10 minutes, and cooking time is less than 30 minutes in total. Your delish Veg Biryani is ready in under an hour from start to finish. The method of cooking this One Pot Biryani is just like the Pulao - but you can have all the flavors of Biryani in this rice! .What an easy way to make weekends relaxing and impressive! Your family would love it for sure.

Difference between Pulao and Biryani?

Let me tell you one thing - Pulao / Pilau is not Biryani. They are two different rice dishes. Pulao is a one-pot dish, prepared using the absorption method where rice is cooked along with desired veggies and whole spices. Whereas, traditional biryani is prepared using the draining method. First, we cook plain rice flavored with whole spices and the vegetables with masala separately. Then layer it with alternate layers of veggies and rice. Finally, garnish with coriander leaves or fried onion on the top of the dish. The primary difference between both the popular Indian rice dishes is the Spice. Biryani has a lot more spices used in the dish than the Pilau.
Pilau is typically served as a side dish or as a part meal alongside curry or dals and naan bread. On the other hand, biryani is a whole meal in itself and generally served with raita, mirch ka saalan and chutney. So what are you waiting for? Try this easy one-pot Veg Biyani recipe and it will never disappoint you at any point in time.

Best Biryani pairings:

Since biryani is a complete meal itself that’s spicy, aromatic, and flavorsome - you can serve something light along with it. Usually, raita or Dahi chutney goes really well with biryani. I love serving Cucumber Raita or Boondi raita with my Veg Biryani. A Vegetable salad can complement this vegetable biryani well. Mirchi ka salan is a popular hyderbadi side dish that is also served with Biryani. Salan refers to the thin gravy, made with green chilies, desiccated coconut, peanuts, tamarind.

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