ramyaramesh3007This restaurant-style aromatic Oyster Mushroom Biryani is loaded with veggies, warm spices, lots of mint and fragrant basmati rice flavoured with saffron oat milk and crispy onions.
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 the restaurant 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 and mushrooms with a generous amount of spiciness so the rice is moist and aromatic.
It’s a multi-step process preparing this dish and it’s definitely worth the effort. It can also make you several portions, perfect for a family or friends’ gathering. You can also meal prep this as it’s packed with veggies and is versatile enough if you want to switch up ingredients to add more vegetables or protein to the dish.
Biryani is a rice dish made with layers of spiced sautéed vegetables, rice, and lots of herbs. The flavours infused in the layering and steaming process. It’s also a naturally gluten free dish but most you find at restaurants are probably not vegan due to the heavy usage of ghee.
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 use green beans, carrots, baby corn, green peas and oyster mushrooms for this recipe. You can also use tofu or chickpeas.
- 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!
- 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!
Vegan Mushroom Biryani
Ingredients
Briyani Rice
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 4 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 3 cardamoms
- 1 star anise
- 1 lime
Vegetable Masala
- 2 red onions
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 1 medium carrot
- 2 small potatoes
- 2 cups oyster mushrooms
- 8 green beans
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp briyani masala optional
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 green chili
- 200 ml coconut cream
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup mint leaves
Saffron Oat Milk
- pinch saffron
- 1/3 cup oat milk
Garnish
- 2 tbsp mint leaves
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves
Instructions
- Chop vegetables into 1 inch lengths – long beans, carrots and baby corn. Chop oyster mushrooms and potatoes into smaller pieces.
- Mix together saffron and oat milk.
- Mix the vegetables with chopped chili, spices, coconut cream and give them all a good mix until combined.
- In a large tawa (pot), add enough oil to cover the base of the pot. Add your diced onions and saute for a few minutes until caramelised. Keep 3/4 of them aside.
- To that same pan, add cumin seeds, garlic and ginger pastes and saute until fragrant. Then add your vegetable and coconut cream mixture. Saute for a few minutes and cover with a lid to let them slow cook on a low flame.
- Prepare your rice: wash and drain basmati rice until the water runs clear. Boil a pot with water and add in your whole spices, salt and lime. Bring to a boil, remove the whole spices except bay leaves and cinnamon. Add washed rice and boil for 8 minutes.
- Drain and keep aside. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon.
- Ensure the vegetables on the stove have almost cooked, with no raw smell of the spices. You should see some of the previous oil floating up. Add in your frozen peas, 1/2 cup mint leaves and give a good stir.
- Take out some of the mixture. Layer with some rice, saffron oat milk and fried onions. Add back the vegetable mixture and layer with rice again. Top with saffron oat milk, mint leaves, coriander leaves and crispy onions.
- Cover the pot with an aluminium foil and close the lid. Let the briyani cook for 15 minutes on a low flame. Switch off the stove and let it remain on the heat for 10-15 more minutes.
- Give it a good mix and serve with more mint leaves and my raita. Enjoy!