ramyaramesh3007The ultimate star of all biryanis – this vegan biryani is packed with aromatics, spices, herbs and vegan ‘paneer’ made with tofu paired with a refreshing raita.
This is the one dish that I grew up eating and loved: Biryani. I remember the times my family and I would hunt high and low for restaurants serving the best biryani (though I used to eat meat then). I was able to recreate the flavours of a dum biryani with simple steps like flavouring the vegetables, mushrooms and protein with a generous amount of spiciness so the rice is moist and aromatic.
Bamboo Biryani involves another method of preparing it, where the flavoured rice and layers and served on a banana leaf. The first time I tried it was at an Indian Bamboo Biryani Restaurant in Malaysia. They had such an unique way it serving biryani that was pretty eye catching.
However, after some digging I found that Bamboo biryani is actually a traditional dish that originated in the northeastern region of India, particularly among the tribes of Assam and Nagaland. It features rice cooked inside a bamboo tube, often with meat, spices, and sometimes vegetables. The cooking process allows the flavours to infuse, making a super flavourful dish!
If you’d like to make regular biryani, find my Vegan Oyster Mushroom Biryani.
What You Need
- Rice – I usually use long grain basmati rice when making briyani and that’s how it is traditionally prepared. You can use short grain as well (though some times it’s prepared in another method).
- Vegetables – I didn’t use much vegetables here but if you’d like to add them to the masala, you can! I would recommend green beans, carrots, potatoes, baby corn or even mushrooms.
- Protein – I used tofu as a substitute for ‘paneer’ but you can also use other meat-y alternatives like seitan, plant-based chicken, jackfruit etc!
- Spices – Both whole and ground spices are important for this recipe. You can find the whole list of spices on my recipe card below.
- Herbs – Fresh herbs like mint and coriander are essential. I also used saffron, but if you can’t find it you can totally skip that!
- Plant Based Yogurt – a lot of times, yogurt is a popular addition when mixing the vegetables, you can easily substitute that with coconut cream!
You can pair this biryani with my easy 5-minute Vegan Carrot & Cucumber Raita!
Generally, vegetable biryani also tends to be naturally gluten free and vegetarian but most options you find at restaurants are probably not vegan due to the heavy usage of ghee.
Allium free substitutions: Omit onions and garlic. Instead substitute with a pinch of hing (asafoetida).
Vegan Bamboo Biryani
Equipment
- 1 Bamboo Steamer
- 1 Pot for cooking masala and frying onions
- 1 Baking Tray
- 1 Pressure cooker
Ingredients
Biryani Rice
- 1.5 cups uncooked long grain basmati rice
- 3.5 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cardamoms
- squeeze lime
Tofu 'Paneer'
- 300 g extra firm tofu
- olive oil for baking
Masala
- 2 small red onions for frying
- olive oil for frying
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 1 green chili
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp briyani masala optional
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
- 3/4 cup plant based yogurt or coconut cream
- 1 cup mint leaves chopped
- 1 cup coriander chopped
Saffron Oat Milk
- 1/3 cup oat milk
- pinch saffron
Garnish
- 2 tbsp mint leaves chopped
- coriander leaves from above
Bamboo Cooking Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup plain flour 1/4 cup+ water
- aluminium foil
- banana leaves
Instructions
- Cut tofu into cubes and boil in water for 5 minutes. Drain water and pat dry.
- Drizzle some olive oil on the cubes and bake at 220C on a baking tray for about 15 minutes until browned.
- In a large tawa (pot), add enough oil to cover the base of the pot. Slice onions and fry them until they are browned. This would take around 8-10 minutes. Once done, keep 3/4 of them aside.
- Mix together saffron and oat milk. Prepare an easy dough – to 1 cup of flour, add water, little by little. As you add water, mix the dough with your hands and bring the dough together. Once the dough comes together, start kneading the dough with pressure. The dough should be smooth.
- Wash the basmati rice until the water runs clear and set aside.
- Boil a pot with water and add in your whole spices, salt and lime. Bring to a boil. Add washed rice and boil for 8 minutes. Drain excess water and remove the rest of the whole spices.
- With the oil used to fry onions, take around 3-4 tbsp of that and add to pan. Add cumin and fennel seeds and saute, followed by garlic and ginger paste.
- Add chopped green chili. Once fragrant, add in your dry spices. Once they are cooked (when the oil separates), add plant based yogurt. Mix well together.
- Add some salt to taste then, add back in your baked tofu, 1/2 cup chopped mint, and stir well until the oil separates and the masala is bubbling.
- To a pressure cooker, add water, cinnamon and bay leaves. Close the lid.
- Now it's time to prepare the bamboo biryani – start with the base. There should be a small hole in the middle. Cover the hole from the outside with a banana leaf.
- Layering: Rice, crispy onions, mint, coriander, masala mixture. Repeat this until the bamboo is half full.
- Fill up with more rice, crispy onions and pour saffron oat milk. Layer with banana leaf, followed by a dough encasing the top of the bamboo pole. Cover with more aluminium foil and secure.
- Place the end of the bamboo with the hole on top of the steaming hole of the pressure cooker. Let the briyani cook for 15 minutes on a medium flame. Switch off the stove and let it remain on the heat for 10-15 more minutes.
- Once done, remove the foil and plain dough. Invert the bamboo to pour rice mixture onto plate. Mix slightly to get even parts of rice and masala.
- Serve with chopped coriander and raita. Enjoy!