This easy vegetable biryani in pressure cooker is a quick, flavorful one-pot meal made with fragrant basmati rice, mixed veggies and everyday spices. With no grinding required, this simple bachelors veg biryani comes together in just 15 minutes for a comforting lunch box.
When I was working, my colleague who is a bachelor used to bring this simple veg biryani in a pressure cooker at least twice in a week. It looks like a plain colored rice with vegetables here and there. Whenever we ask for the recipe, he says it is a 10 minutes biryani using masala powder.
When I was planning for this week’s Sunday Lunch recipes, this biryani flashed in my mind. I thought this recipe may be helpful for bachelors and working women to make a chatpat, simple and no grinding biryani recipe for lunch box. Actually I wanted to make this biryani in rice cooker but finally I used pressure cooker.
Soon I will share a biryani recipe using electric rice cooker. I don’t want to create a hype by saying this biryani tastes awesome, rich, flavourful and all. Rather I would say, it is a good biryani recipe with least spices. The result would be worthy for it and I am sure you will love the simplicity of this recipe. Just give a try. I have updated this recipe with a video. Please check it below.
Check out my other Biryani and Pulao Recipes!
Quick Notes for US & Abroad Kitchens
- Basmati Rice & Soaking: Aged basmati rice like Royal, Daawat or India Gate is readily available at Patel Brothers, Costco and local supermarkets. Soaking the rice for 20 to 30 minutes helps the grains cook elongated and tender without turning mushy in the pressure cooker.
- Vegetable Prep: Bags of frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, green beans, corn and green peas) from Trader Joe’s or Costco work wonderfully and cut down prep time to almost zero. Thaw them in warm water for 5 minutes and drain completely before sauteing.
- Stove Heat Management: For electric coil or glass-top stoves, keep the burner on medium-low once the cooker comes to pressure so the bottom layer does not scorch. Turn off the heat right after one whistle and allow the steam to release naturally.
- Masala Powder: Any standard store-bought biryani masala (such as Everest, MDH, Eastern or Sakthi) gives great aroma and flavor for this simple bachelor-style biryani.
Easy biryani recipe for Bachelors
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice (approx. 200 g / 7 oz – I used India Gate)
- 1 ¾ cups Water (approx. 420 ml / 14 fl oz)
- ½ cup Mixed vegetables (1 carrot, 5 green beans, 1 potato and fistful green peas – approx. 75 g / 2.6 oz)
- 1 Whole garam masala (cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf – optional)
- 1 Big onion (sliced – approx. 100 g / 3.5 oz)
- 1 Tomato (chopped – approx. 80 g / 2.8 oz)
- 1 Green chilli (slit)
- 1 inch Ginger (finely chopped)
- 8 cloves Garlic (minced – approx. 8 cloves or 1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste)
- 1 handful Mint and coriander leaves (use more mint than coriander)
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- ¾ tsp Red chilli powder
- ½ tsp Dhania powder (coriander powder)
- 1 ½ tsp Biryani masala powder or Garam masala powder
- Salt as needed
- 2 tbsp Ghee (approx. 30 ml / 1 fl oz – you can also use cooking oil)
Instructions
- Wash and soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes in 1.5 cups of water. If you don’t have time to soak, use 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. I used 1.75 cups of water as per my family’s taste.
- Wash and chop all the vegetables into small cubes. Chop onions, tomato, ginger, garlic and green leaves. Slit chilli into two.
- In a pressure cooker base, heat ghee and add the whole garam masala if using. Add sliced onions, chilli, ginger, garlic, mint and coriander leaves. Saute everything well for a minute. Now add the tomato along with the chopped vegetables. Saute till tomato turns mushy. Add the required salt to quicken the process.
- After the tomato turns mushy, add red chilli powder, dhania powder, biryani masala powder and turmeric powder. Mix well for a minute. Lastly add the washed and drained rice and saute well for a minute. Now add the required water and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle.
- Open the cooker after the steam is released. Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve it hot with raita. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Adjust the quantity of biryani masala powder as per your taste.
- You can also add 2 tbsp of curd or 1 tsp of lemon juice at the end, before closing the cooker.
- Mint leaves and coriander leaves give a nice flavor to this biryani, so don’t skip them.
- You can replace finely chopped ginger and garlic with ginger-garlic paste.
- You can also prepare the same using an electric rice cooker too. In that case, use 2.5 cups of water for one cup of rice.
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Try this easy peasy biryani recipe for your lunch box and enjoy with simple onion raita! I served it with caramal-nuts payasam and raita!
wow biriyani, i love it to the core. And this pressure cooker version is super simple and i always prefer to do for lunch box….
Thanks Gayu :)
Hi Pl post caramel nuts payasam
Sure esther.I will post it tonite or tomorow :)
Yummy and flavourful biryani!!
Simple and easy recipe..
Yummy recipe. Really great one.
I tried biryani, taste is so good
Thank you for the feedback :)
Thanks for the recipe. Tried out and came very well. I could have sent image but no link to upload!!
Thank u so much. You can mail the picture or share in my facebook page timeline.