Recipe for making Vegetable Biryani in Pressure Cooker / Rice Cooker. South Indian Tamilnadu style biryani using seeraga samba rice. Step by step method.
This is a very easy to do vegetable biryani recipe that is made using the pressure cooker. I have used Seeraga Samba Rice to make this biryani. If you do not have Seeraga Samba Rice, you can substitute Basmati Rice. The whole recipe can be put together in less than an hour. Here is how to do an easy and quick vegetable biryani.
Soak the Seeraga samba / Basmati rice in water and set aside.
Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add in 2-3 cloves. Add in the sliced onions and fry till the onions are soft. No need to brown the onions. When the onions are soft, add in the chopped tomatoes.
Fry till the tomatoes are cooked and oil floats on top. Make a paste out of the ingredients listed under biryani masala. Add it to the pan and cook for a minute. Add in the turmeric powder and salt and saute for a minute more.
Add in the chopped veggies. For every cup of rice, use two cup of vegetables ( I used carrots, beans, potatoes and peas) and fry for 2-3 minutes. . Add in the chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. Fry for a minute more. Now we need to add water. Add 1.5 cups of water for one cup of rice. Add in the water and let it come to a roaring boil.
Once the water is boiling, add in the rice and let the mixture come to a boil again. Once the mixture boils, cover the pressure pan with a lid and leave it exactly for 2 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and let the pressure from the cooker release naturally.
Vegetable Biryani is ready. Serve hot with kurma or raita.

Vegetable Biryani in Pressure Cooker
Recipe for making Vegetable Biryani in Pressure Cooker / Rice Cooker. South Indian Tamilnadu style biryani using seeraga samba rice. Step by step method.
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
For Rice
- 1 cup (250 ml) Seeraga Samba / Basmati Rice
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water
For Biryani Masala Paste
- 1 medium sized onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 3 green chillies (Add more if you want it really spicy)
- 2” piece cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 1 cardamom
- 1/3 cup water to grind
Other Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 3 cloves
- 1 medium sized onion, sliced
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 15 mint leaves
- 3–4 stalks coriander leaves
Vegetables for the biryani
- 2 Carrots
- 1 potato
- 1/2 cup peas
- 7–8 Beans
Instructions
- Soak the Seeraga samba / Basmati rice in water and set aside.
- Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add in 2-3 cloves. Add in the sliced onions and fry till the onions are soft. No need to brown the onions.
- When the onions are soft, add in the chopped tomatoes. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked and oil floats on top.
- Make a paste out of the ingredients listed under biryani masala. Add it to the pan and cook for a minute. Add in the turmeric powder and salt and saute for a minute more.
- Add in the chopped veggies and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add in the chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. Fry for a minute more.
- Add 1.5 cups of water for one cup of rice. Add in the water and let it come to a roaring boil.
- Once the water is boiling, add in the rice and let the mixture come to a boil again. Once the mixture boils, cover the pressure pan with a lid and leave it exactly for 2 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and let the pressure from the cooker release naturally.
- Vegetable Biryani is ready. Serve hot with kurma or raita.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Rice, Main Dish
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
Hi can make this in a rice cooker instead of a pressure cooker ?
Yes. you can make it in a rice cooker.
Always your recipes rocks ma’am 🥰 simple and tasty biriyani 😋😋 thank you ma’am
Thank you!
Hi, I soaked the rice when I started cooking. I cooked the rice for 2 whistles. My briyani wasn’t cooked and was soggy. I did dum for 10 mins on a tawa and it came out pola pola nu. Do you have any other solution for this issue? Briyani measurements are awesome and came out so tasty. Simple and quick recipe. I loved it.😍
Thank you!
The size of the cooker also matters. What size did you use.
Also, you can adjust and may be keep for 3 whistles next time.
thank you…easy n tasty
Thank you!
Hi suguna, biryani came out very well except for a part that I always mess up with. My biryani always gets burnt at the bottom and I when I open the cooker, there is water is on the top but no water in mid or end part of the cooker. Taste was awesome though. Pls help me with this ! 🥰
What size cooker do you use?
I used 5L cooker
This is strange. The burner may be a little different. I am not sure. Maybe try reducing the flame and do for just one whistle. Open after the pressure settles completely.
Ur recipes are super easy and yummy… Keep posting…
Thank you
Absolutely finger licking.. Your recipes never go wrong..U are simply superb
Thank you so much. Glad you liked the recipe.
Tried and it was finger licking good. Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you so much!
Such an easy and delicious recipe. I loved it.
Thank you so much. Glad you liked the vegetable biryani.
Wow Semmaya irundhuchu.. Thank you so much 🥰
Thank you. Happy you liked the vegetable biryani.
Hi, Suguna,
I made this Biryani today. The whole house smelled like a veg restaurant on a busy afternoon! Came out super good and delicious.
I tried and it came out so well..thank you so much
Hi Kannamma, how can I make this without using a pressure cooker? Thank you
Hi mam,1st time my veg biryani came out very well..my Daughter enjoyed.Recently I started to tried ur recipes.All recipe r very tasty.thank u so much…keep going mam.
Hi Suguna,
I follow your recepies regularly and I can’t thank you enough. They are all very simple and easy to follow. They are tasty too and that is testament of your receipies.
Thank You for doing this!!
Truly,
Krish.
Thank you!
Hi, I came across your site (it’s awesome) and found this recipe just as I was planning to use seeraga samba for the first time. I have a doubt, though. Do you dry roast the ingredients for biryani masala?
For this recipe, no need to dry roast spices.
I’m so intrigued by this recipe. Sounds really really yummm. I’m planning to make it for my mom soon. Plz guide me, should I be frying the biriyani paste or just grind it raw and use it? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Sahiba, You can saute the masala for a few minutes so it gets cooked.
Can we add meal maker with the vegetables?
Sure you can Ashok.
Thank you mam.. I tried last week and first time in history veg biriyani came out well for me 😊 my friends appreciated.. but I personally felt like garlic taste went high..so to avoid that in future can i use ginger garlic paste and if yes what should be the quantity 1.5 tsp ?
Thank you so much! Sure you can use the paste. 1.5 – 2 tsp will work.
Veg biryani came out superb. Also tried veg kuruma. Was really delicious. My son loved having his lunch. Thank you so much for this recipe. Please post more such recipes
Thank you so much
Mam shall i add coconut along with a ginger garlic paste
Hi Suguna..I made this Briyani and it was so tasty and also very easy to cook..Thanks for the recipe..
Thank you!
To make for 2 or 3 times the quantity. Can we just increase the ingredients?. Any other changes needs to adapted. Please let me know
Sure. you can increase the ingredients . If bigger batch, do in a bigger cooker and reduce the water quantity a little.
Hi kannama mam…blog name s juz amazing.. Glad found ur website.. Im a beginner at cooking..ur website helps me a lot.. Plzz tel me d water quantity fr briyani rice?
Hi Suguna
I tried your veg biryani and it was so yummy. I do do this for all party’s and every time people say it is so yummy. Thanks a lot for this receipe. It comes so perfect.
Thank you so much.
Tried this recipe with Seeraga samba rice and it tasted great 🙂 Thank you 🙂
Thanks Dhivya.
Hi I’m Reni.. today was the happiest day because I tried your veg biryani recipe and it came out really well.. Being a beginner in cooking I am so happy that it was a success.. If it was a Chicken biryani , could u pls tell me in which step I should include ?
Thanks
please check http://www.kannammacooks.com/pressure-cooker-chicken-biryani-easy-cooker-biryani-recipe/
It came very well mam.. everybody appreciated mam..thanks mam
So nice Gayathri. Thank you!
Just tried ur biriyani…. came out superb
Thank you!
Can I use normal rice instead of basmati rice.
Sure, but increase water qty. for sona masuri, 1 cup rice : 2 to 2.5 cups water.
I tried this – taste was good but lot of rice were burnt – i followed the steps exactly – and used 1 and half cup of water for 1 cup rice…wat could be the issue? dont we add additonal 1/4 to 1/2 water for veggies to cook?
This recipe has been tested by many of our readers to good results.
The problem might be in the following areas
# did you soak the rice
# cook for 2 whistles in medium flame and not high
# hope you did not use a cooker that was more than 3 or 4 litres for this quantity. That is one cup rice. Big cookers tend to burn if small quantity is cooked.
Hai Kannamma Ma’m,Sema super recepie.I was thinking that without curd how it’ll be.but it’seems yummy. ….. thank u so. ..much.all my hubby’so friends loved it.thanks.
Thank you Kavita.
Such a awesomatic mouth watering recipe. Thanks a ton kannama.. came out very well… i loved it to the core… the ingredients measurement are pakka…. i felt as if i was a great chef today…
Thank you so much Sangeetha. Glad you liked the recipe. You are a great chef everyday!
Hey,
thank you for this awesome recipe. Whichever way i used to prepare, the masala either went way too overboard or too mellow. this time i followed your recipe and my husband couldnt help taking those extra serves and was all praises. Finally got in niche with the dish. Thank you once again! ??
Thats so nice to know Vaishnavi. Really glad that you liked the recipe.
Hi Kannamma. Thanks once again for an awesome recipe. Made it for my wedding anniversary and my whole family loved it. My hubby kept taking extra serves that he had to skip dinner 😉
wow! that’s so nice Noreen. Belated anniversary wishes. Hope you guys had fun. Really glad you made this recipe for a special occasion. Happy Cooking.
How long should we soak the rice?
About 15-20 minutes is fine.
I got lot of appreciation from my husband when I tried this briyani. My 2yr old girl loved this food. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Hi kannamma,
This has become our regular Saturday lunch ! On a mission to try every single recipie from your blog ?.
Lots of love ???,
Lucky.
???
What is kurma and raita? If I can not get fresh spices, can I use dry? Also, what is ghee?
Thank you for your time
Hi Dawn, kurma is a vegetable gravy and raita is a yogurt salad made with mixing yogurt, cucumber, onion and carrots and salt. Ghee is clarified butter.
Here is a simple kurma recipe
http://www.kannammacooks.com/vellai-kurma-restaurant-style-south-indian-white-vegetable-korma/
Yes. you can use dry spices.
Hi Suguna,
This recipe turned out so flavorful and yummy. I always had hard time making rice recipes in a cooker. Your recipe helped me get perfectly cooked rice. Thanks a lot for the recipe. My mother liked it too 🙂 I am going to pass her the recipe too.
Thank you so much Manjula!
Very useful thank you ka
Glad you liked it:)
Awesome..first time ever I got to cook really delicious vegetable biryani. I am a vegetarian. I always used to envy the flavour of chicken biryani. I have tried different ways to bring about at least half of that in veg biryani but in vain. This recipe almost nailed it. My husband and myself loved this recipe. Thank you so much kannama. Count me in as your ardent fanot.
Thats really really nice Madhumathi. Your message made my day! Hi5 from here for the vegetable biryani!
U haven’t mentioned the veggies used n qty…request u to plz add
Thank you so much Kavita for letting me know. Have updated the recipe. Thanks again dear!
Hi, tried this veg biriyani this afternoon. It’s very easy and tastes good. Thank you for posting this recipe. Keep writing.
Thank you so much!