Vegan Bamboo Biryani at Home

The 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).