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    Home » Recipes » Biryani Recipes

    Spicy Pulao recipe

    June 23, 2011 by Raks Anand 82 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Spicy vegetable pulao with masala ground together, so that you will never get any whole spices in your bite. What a relief!

    Spicy veg pulao

    We call this “Vegetable Biryani” in our home. As far as I know, my mom makes rarely biryani and my mom in law never makes biryani!

    They don't use cinnamon, cloves, fennel, bay leaves in their cooking. Till now my they don't like those masalas if I use in my cooking.

    But after I came here to SG I started experimenting and started using these masalas and my kid loves it!

    My kid started eating biryani at the age of 2 and he used to eat only biryani most of the days that time!! I too am used in handling all these masalas now a days.

    And coming to this vegetable biryani recipe, I always make each time a different way or follow a recipe for a while and then get bored of that and keep changing the recipe now and then.

    So once when I had this biryani in Jeyashri’s home, me and my kid loved it a lot.

    Being food bloggers, I asked for the recipe and she too shared, then for a while now I am hooked to this recipe.

    I made this last week when my SIL visited us and the kids enjoyed this a lot. So I thought of sharing the recipe too. Thank you for the wonderful recipe Jeyashri.

    spicy vegetable pulao

    How to make

    1. Soak the rice for at least ½ an hour. Grind the items given under ‘to grind’ table with little water to a smooth paste.
    2. Chop the veggies to your desired size. Slice the onion. Heat a cooker with oil/ghee and add the items given under ‘To Temper’ table in order.
    3. Add onions and fry just transparent. Add the ground masala.
    4. Add sambar powder and fry in medium flame for 2 minutes.Add the veggies except cauliflower.
    5. Fry for 2 minutes and add the drained,soaked rice. Give it a stir.
    6. Add 1 and ½ cups water,salt and mix well. Check for salt and bring to boil.Add the cauliflower at this stage and mix well and cover with the lid.
    7. Keep the flame in lowest possible. Cook for 8-10 minutes,give a gentle stir in between. If you want to pressure cook with whistle,then give 2 whistles in medium flame.
    8. Top with ghee and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita!

    Variations you can make

    • Add chopped tomatoes or a teaspoon of lemon juice along with the veggies.
    • Fry cashews and bread squares in ghee and top the Biryani.
    • The water quantity varies with the quality of the basmati rice.
    • Soaking the rice for more time gives moist rice and gets cooked easily. So soak as much as possible.
    • You can add vegetables of your choice.
    • You can cook in thin coconut milk instead of water.
    • You can also grind ¼ cup of coconut along with the ingredients to grind.
    • Add oil or ghee generously to get rich taste.
    spicy vegetable pulao
    spicy vegetable pulao
    Print Pin
    5 from 1 vote

    Spicy vegetable pulao

    Spicy vegetable pulao with masala ground together, so that you will never get any whole spices in your bite. What a relief!
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Indian
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Servings 3 people
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • 1 Onion
    • 1 Carrot
    • 1 Potato
    • 8 Beans
    • ¼ Frozen peas
    • 10 Cauliflower florets
    • ½ teaspoon Sambar powder Red chilli powder
    • Salt
    • 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves
    • 1 tablespoon Ghee
    • 1 cup Basmati Rice

    To grind

    • 10 Mint leaves
    • 4 Green chillies
    • 4 Garlic big variety
    • ¾ teaspoon Fennel seeds
    • 1 Cardamom
    • 1 cloves
    • ½ Star anise

    To Temper

    • 3 tablespoon Oil
    • 1 teaspoon Cumin
    • 1 Bay leaves
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Soak the rice for at least ½ an hour.
    • Grind the items given under ‘to grind’ table with little water to a smooth paste.
    • Chop the veggies to your desired size.
    • Slice the onion. Heat a cooker with oil/ghee and add the items given under ‘To Temper’ table in order.
    • Add onions and fry just transparent. Add the ground masala.
    • Add sambar powder and fry in medium flame for 2 minutes.
    • Add the veggies except cauliflower.
    • Fry for 2 minutes and add the drained, soaked rice. Give it a stir.
    • Add 1 and ½ cups water,salt and mix well. Check for salt and bring to boil.
    • Add the cauliflower at this stage and mix well and cover with the lid.
    • Keep the flame in lowest possible. Cook for 12-13 minutes, give a gentle stir in between if needed.
    • If you want to pressure cook with whistle, then give 2 whistles in medium flame.
    • Top with ghee and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita!

    Notes

    • I added cauliflower in the end because, the cauliflower we get here in Singapore gets mushy soon. If you are using Indian variety cauliflower you can use it along with other veggies.
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    InstagramMention @rakskitchen or tag #rakskitchen if you have tried this recipe.

    Other Biryani recipes

    • Instant pot Vegetable Biryani, One pot method
    • Paneer biryani recipe, paneer layer biryani
    • Vegetable brinji rice recipe, seeraga samba brinji
    • Kathal biryani recipe, Jackfruit biryani

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Radhika

      June 23, 2011 at 7:21 am

      I make it the same way. U r right Raji my kids demand it to pack this for their lunch very often. clicks are awesome.

      Reply
    2. Sharmilee! :)

      June 23, 2011 at 7:22 am

      U know what?! my lunch is the same veg biriyani with curd raita...:) and now seeing ur post I feel very hungry. Mittu luves biriyani so much so often its biryani at home atleast for her sake.... Ur pulav/biriyani looks very flavourful and tempting clicks.

      Reply
    3. jeyashrisuresh

      June 23, 2011 at 7:43 am

      That came out pretty well. I too have the same vessel which u have kept the biryani and its almost a year u tasted this at my place. Glad that ur SIL liked this

      Reply
    4. rev

      June 23, 2011 at 8:11 am

      Different version...hope wil taste great...wil try this version soon...neat clicks...

      Reply
    5. Priya

      June 23, 2011 at 8:14 am

      Makes me hungry, been a while i havent prepared them, delicious and irresistible..

      Reply
    6. simply.food

      June 23, 2011 at 8:44 am

      Aonderful one pot meal .Tasty and delicious.

      Reply
    7. kaveri

      June 23, 2011 at 8:50 am

      Mmmmm...I'm a lover of such kind of rice recipes...looks so delicious...nice clicks

      Reply
    8. Lavi

      June 23, 2011 at 8:52 am

      uthiri uthiri ya superb a irukku. can u plz let me know which brand basmati rice u used. i always end up in breaking or kozha kozha rice!

      Reply
    9. Hari Chandana

      June 23, 2011 at 8:55 am

      Looks absolutely perfect and delicious.. awesome clicks !!..
      Indian Cuisine

      Reply
    10. Divya Kudua

      June 23, 2011 at 9:00 am

      One pot meals are always a hit.Veg pulao/biryani is my favorite too.Most of the times,I chop the veggies and refrigerate so that when I am preparing the rice,everything gets done in a jiffy.No wonder the kids enjoyed the meal,pulao looks delicious!

      Reply
    11. Rinku Naveen

      June 23, 2011 at 9:02 am

      Love this version of Veg Biriyani. Cooking in pressure cooker is very easy isn't it. Lovely clicks!

      Reply
    12. Rekha shoban

      June 23, 2011 at 9:13 am

      wow!!tempting n delicious biryani...even my daughter likes biryani rice....i also make it often....but this is very differnet....will try dis for her...nice click raji!

      Reply
    13. Annapoorani

      June 23, 2011 at 9:27 am

      Mouth watering Raksha and my MIl prepares vegetable briyani often almost on all sundays.When I was at my mom's place I hardly tasted briyani coz all at my mom's place seldom use masalas except cloves but after marriage I have also started to taste masalas 🙂

      Reply
    14. Jay

      June 23, 2011 at 9:43 am

      this souns very sensational...yummy clicks..:)
      Tasty Appetite

      Reply
    15. RAKS KITCHEN

      June 23, 2011 at 9:54 am

      Lavi,its Lal Qilla..

      Reply
    16. Ramya

      June 23, 2011 at 9:54 am

      Feel sooo hungry after seeing the step by step clicks..!! Looks soo yummy

      Reply
    17. GEETHA ACHAL

      June 23, 2011 at 10:18 am

      ரொம்ப நல்லா இருக்கு...இங்கேயும் அக்‌ஷதாவிற்கும் பிரியாணி மட்டும் தான் மிகவும் பிடிக்கும்...அது மட்டும் கொஞ்சம் ஸ்பைசியாக இருந்தாலும் கூட சாப்பிடுவா...ஆனா வேற எதையும் சாப்பிடுவதில்லை...

      சரி...போ...என்று நானும் விட்டுவிட்டேன்...எனக்கு ரொம்ப் பிடித்த பிரியாணி...

      Reply
    18. Ms.Chitchat

      June 23, 2011 at 10:53 am

      Superb vegetable pulao, ur clicks amaze me.

      Reply
    19. Santosh Bangar

      June 23, 2011 at 11:31 am

      super and perfect pulav with so manyveggies

      Reply
    20. divya

      June 23, 2011 at 12:03 pm

      Looks absolutely perfect and delicious.. awesome clicks !!..

      Reply
    21. DEESHA

      June 23, 2011 at 12:07 pm

      This is awesome .. looks mildly spiced .. perfect homemade food 🙂

      Reply
    22. Ramya Bala

      June 23, 2011 at 1:50 pm

      Looks very yummy raji...:)

      Reply
    23. Nitha

      June 23, 2011 at 2:02 pm

      Perfect bowl... Ohh yeah.. I meant the pulav in the bowl 🙂

      Reply
    24. Reshmi Mahesh

      June 23, 2011 at 2:07 pm

      Yummy looking pulao...loved the clicks...

      Reply
    25. Suja

      June 23, 2011 at 2:15 pm

      Makes me hungry,looks super yum.

      Reply
    26. Prathima Rao

      June 23, 2011 at 2:38 pm

      Fantastic recipe!!! Nice touch by way of sambhar pow...:)
      Prathima Rao
      Prats Corner

      Reply
    27. SpicyTasty

      June 23, 2011 at 2:49 pm

      awesome presentation and delicious pulao..

      Reply
    28. Shanavi

      June 23, 2011 at 3:37 pm

      Really the taste would be double cos of the freshly ground wet paste u've added, I most of the time add wet paste to my pulao n biriyani's..But I don grind star anise..I should try adding them once...Pics are appealing and what more can i say !!! Superb

      Reply
    29. Hamaree Rasoi

      June 23, 2011 at 4:14 pm

      Biriyani looks wonderfully prepared. can't stop drooling over it.

      Deepa
      Hamaree Rasoi

      Reply
    30. Anonymous

      June 23, 2011 at 4:49 pm

      Woww.. looks yumm 😀

      Reply
    31. Aarthi

      June 23, 2011 at 5:21 pm

      wow..that looks perfect will try soon

      Reply
    32. sangee vijay

      June 23, 2011 at 5:45 pm

      very tempting recipe...looks so inviting n you made me hungry now 🙂

      Reply
    33. Nithya

      June 23, 2011 at 5:50 pm

      I can smell the briyani right here 😉 looks damn delicious and flavorful 🙂 Like that serving bowl a lot 🙂

      Love your new banner 🙂 Looks fresh and cool 🙂

      Reply
    34. Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal

      June 23, 2011 at 6:36 pm

      Well presented, like the idea of adding sambar powder instead of chili powder 🙂

      Reply
    35. the foodie

      June 23, 2011 at 7:10 pm

      Wonderful biryani Raji...I can almost feel the aroma coming thru the screen. Till date my mom and my MIL never use garam masalas in their cooking but my husband and my daughter do like their biryanis.

      Reply
    36. Madhavi

      June 23, 2011 at 7:32 pm

      Yumm yumm pulao, perfect with Gujarati kadhi...

      http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/

      Reply
    37. Sobha Shyam

      June 23, 2011 at 7:50 pm

      Very delicious n excellent pulao, great explanations..lovely recipe..

      Event:COOK IT HEALTHY:PROTEINicious

      Reply
    38. swapna

      June 23, 2011 at 9:48 pm

      You made it perfect.....Delicious and yummy pulav!!

      Reply
    39. sowmya's creative saga

      June 24, 2011 at 12:17 am

      looks yumm..will try your version sometime..

      Reply
    40. Torviewtoronto

      June 24, 2011 at 1:02 am

      flavourful delicious pulao

      Reply
    41. Cilantro

      June 24, 2011 at 3:31 am

      I am a Briyani lover and any type of Biriyani is always my favorite. Looks delicious!

      Reply
    42. Anonymous

      June 24, 2011 at 3:32 am

      Wow, those briyani pictures makes me hungry...love the way you have presented the dish...this preparation of grinding some of the spices is new to me...I am definitely going to try this...thanks for sharing this Raji 🙂

      Reply
    43. lata raja

      June 24, 2011 at 4:46 am

      That is certainly a different variety for the usual biriyani.I guess you have added the sambhar powder so the spices do not over power the tast!

      Reply
    44. jayasree

      June 24, 2011 at 5:32 am

      Perfect biryani...Looks very inviting and liked the pot too.

      Reply
    45. jayasree

      June 24, 2011 at 5:35 am

      Declious biryani..Mouthwatering clicks and I liked the pot too.

      Reply
    46. Prathibha

      June 24, 2011 at 6:16 am

      Nice biriani/pulav..first time seeing d addition of sambar powder in biriyani..I love gobi n babycorn in pulavs,it definitely adds a taste to it..looks yummy..this is our family favorite anytime..:)

      Reply
    47. Happy Cook / Finla

      June 24, 2011 at 11:44 am

      I was really surprised to read you MIL doesn't like masalas. Love rice dishes like this,just wish I made them often than my plain rice.

      Reply
    48. Shobha Kamath

      June 24, 2011 at 12:38 pm

      Nice one ! A favourite in our home too !

      Reply
    49. Sushma Mallya

      June 24, 2011 at 12:51 pm

      Looks delicious Raji , Jaishree has lovely collection of recipes in her space:)

      Reply
    50. A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine

      June 24, 2011 at 2:01 pm

      Just love this wonderful version of pulav...very nice

      Reply
    51. vidhas

      June 24, 2011 at 4:07 pm

      yummy Biriyani!!! awesome clicks and nice presnetation.

      Reply
    52. Angie's Recipes

      June 24, 2011 at 7:52 pm

      The veggie biriyani looks fabulous!

      Reply
    53. Mahi

      June 25, 2011 at 3:39 am

      Biriyani is my hubby's favourite! I make it almost all sundays with different combination..veggies/soya chunk/mashrooms/tomato!! 🙂

      Sambar powder in Briyani???! quite new..i have only MTR sambar powder..will that do? 😉

      Reply
    54. Aruna Manikandan

      June 25, 2011 at 6:16 am

      biryani looks perfect dear 🙂

      I also make the same way, but add little coconut in the grinding part.

      Nice clicks....

      Reply
    55. Archana

      June 25, 2011 at 3:57 pm

      Awesome dear looks absolutely delicious.

      Reply
    56. Now Serving

      June 26, 2011 at 1:09 pm

      Like you Raks, my Amma never used any of those masala and not even poondu except the occasional poondu rasam - but after marriage, I came over to the Canada and then the US and my MIL used these things, but I never developed a taste for it - But then I started cooking in earnest about 5 years ago and have been experimenting a lot with other spices - it was a hard 1 month for me when my family was visiting in the sense some of them are still not the Masala types and I had to even avoid onions and garlic :))!!!! Your biryani, as always takes my breath away - YUM!

      Reply
    57. aipi

      June 27, 2011 at 3:45 am

      Love this ~ a staple in our household! Will definitely try your version 🙂
      US Masala

      Reply
    58. CinnamonNChillies

      June 27, 2011 at 5:46 am

      Hello Raks...I have seen ur comments in few of my fellow bloggers sites and I think I cam over to ur space once or twice but forgot to follow 🙁 Today came thro savitha's blog. You have a lovely space. Glad to go through ur eggless bakes recipes and even gladder to follow 🙂 DO drop by my space whenever time permits.

      http://www.cinnamonnchillies.com/

      Reply
    59. Chitra

      June 27, 2011 at 10:36 am

      Hmm..looks and sounds yummy. I've got another yummier version of briyani.Thanks. will try 🙂

      Reply
    60. Plateful

      June 29, 2011 at 10:07 pm

      Rice is such a comfort food, I love it in any form. This looks yummy!

      Reply
    61. Aarthi

      June 30, 2011 at 4:20 am

      yummy looking dish..I have send request in facebook for you.you din accept yet..Check taht dear.

      Reply
    62. Athma

      January 23, 2012 at 1:03 am

      Rak's ur recepies are wat i was searching for... Great job rak's for it is of great help for beginners like me... keep updating ur kitchen with new recepies n we r here to give a try to all of it.. Today im gonna try veg pulao... next try is for veg fried rice... raks update us with more gravies(kulambu) to have with rice for lunch time. C u...

      Reply
    63. sushmeetha

      February 29, 2012 at 4:48 am

      hi! your blog is amazing...nice presentation...i tried your spicy pulao...it came out very tasty..thank you so mch...keep the good work going...good luck!

      Reply
    64. Beena.stephy

      June 17, 2012 at 2:50 pm

      Oo nice pulao i tried your pulao and add my blog too. thank u http://www.cookingatmayflower.blogspot.com

      Reply
    65. karthik

      July 20, 2012 at 11:45 pm

      Excellent recipe
      had a great lunch thanks

      Reply
    66. Salasa Raman

      January 20, 2013 at 3:49 pm

      I made this today and it was a big hit. I also added fresh coriander, ginger and cinnamon when grinding. Thank you.

      Reply
    67. Archana

      June 23, 2013 at 10:04 am

      Hiiii......i made this today and it came out so well but little moisture was there...rest it was awesome. Thanks a lot for the recipe dear:)
      Archana

      Reply
    68. sanjan

      August 06, 2013 at 1:51 am

      HI Raks
      I have made veg biriyani in the past but never comes out good. This time it was awesome after following your recipe. I always pick one of your recipes on a Sunday evening and prepare it. My family loved it. I roasted the "to grind" list and then grinded. I also added some shredded coconut and daniya with it.
      Very flavorful and tasty. Thanks a lot. As usual "Kalakureenga raks"

      Reply
    69. Sangeetha

      December 19, 2013 at 11:03 am

      Hi Raks,

      I just tried this recipe. It turned out to be really good. While my family loves any type of vegetable rice, I wanted to try this type of pulao. I did the pressure cooker version.

      I tried with regular sona masoori today, as I ran out of basmati and didn't bother to buy in this cold weather here.

      the only thing was for 2 cups of rice, just 2 green chillies became extremely spicy.. me and my husband enjoyed with raitha and had to give it with sugar for my son.

      nevertheless, i enjoyed the recipe and now that I know how to do it, I can adjust flavors next time.

      Thank you so much..

      Love, SV

      Reply
    70. Pravina Parikh

      December 31, 2013 at 6:43 am

      easy, quick recipe thank you for posting

      Reply
    71. Unknown

      March 15, 2014 at 12:19 am

      I tried your recipe it turned out so well. As you said, I added coconut to grind and i added some onion too. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe...

      Reply
    72. KRISHNANAN BAKTHAVACHALAM

      April 20, 2014 at 10:41 am

      I tried your recipe.superb

      Reply
    73. Linz

      August 07, 2014 at 3:19 am

      Just tried your recipe! Came out so well.. I have tried Masala Bhindi also. Too good!! Thank you for such easy recipes.. I am so glued to your blog now.. 🙂 Thank You!!

      Reply
    74. renuka

      September 23, 2014 at 9:35 am

      Taste is yummy. .nice

      Reply
    75. Sowmya Venugopal

      May 14, 2015 at 10:30 am

      Hi,
      Nice one. I'll definitely try this. Can I use the regular rice instead of basmati? Coz I have not used it till now. Plz telme the water quantity and no. of whistles.

      Reply
    76. Raks anand

      May 14, 2015 at 10:57 am

      If you have not tried basmati rice, you should try it . It gives a great flavor and result.
      Anyways if using regular, for 1 cup rice, 2 cups water is enough. 2 whistles in medium flame

      Reply
    77. annu

      September 29, 2015 at 3:34 am

      hi raks
      please tell me how to avoid burning....i dont know why but my biryani is getting burnt at the bottom even when i am keeping the cooker on simmer

      Reply
    78. Raks anand

      September 29, 2015 at 3:38 am

      you have to let it boil until the rice is 3/4th done. Then put the flame to lowest. Otherwise if putting in lowest flame is not possible, slightly increase the water quantity and give two whistles as mentioned in the post. Indolium metal cooker is best option to avoid burning at the bottom. Try to invest in one such small cooker. It will be handy for many things.

      Reply
    79. Badrinath Arj

      October 30, 2015 at 10:52 am

      Which one will be good sambhar powder or chilli powder....

      Reply
    80. Raks anand

      October 30, 2015 at 10:57 am

      I recommend sambar powder.

      Reply
    81. raji

      January 16, 2016 at 9:02 am

      Hi Raks
      I tried out the recipe today and came out well..Happy for that..Tried with little variations..Added marati mokku and thin coconut milk.
      one thing I felt was a little spice domination..may be I took only 3/4 cup of rice..next time I would try minimizing the spices.

      Reply
    82. Anima

      February 10, 2020 at 12:41 pm

      Hi i tried out your veh biriyani and was so yummy... Thanks for your wonderful recipe

      Reply

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    Raks anand

    Hi, I'm Rajeswari Vijayanand! I am the person behind Rakskitchen, sharing recipes with pictures & videos.

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