Chickpea Biryani is a wholesome one-pot vegetarian dish with protein-rich chickpeas cooked in caramelized onions and spices over fragrant basmati rice. Paired with cooling cucumber raita and a squeeze of fresh lime, this biryani makes a hearty gluten-free meal.
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Inspiration
This chickpea biryani recipe is inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Annika. I love that she uses very few spices that are easy to find: fresh ginger and garlic, turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder, and garam masala.
I am excited to share my version of the Chickpea Biryani using the Instant Pot pressure cooker and a few of my favorite whole spices. This versatile recipe can be easily modified to use the ingredients you have on hand and to your taste preference.
Ingredients
- Chickpeas - Dry chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans or "Kabuli Chana / Chole") are a pantry staple and a good source of plant-based protein. Soak them in warm water overnight and then pressure cook them in the Instant Pot. You can also use canned chickpeas if you are short on time. I have included the reduced pressure cook time and water ratio in the notes section of the recipe card.
- Basmati Rice - white basmati rice has a beautiful aroma and a short cooking time; the grains get long and fluffy when soaked in water before cooking. I have also included how to make chickpea biryani using brown rice in the recipe card notes.
- Spices - This recipe uses basic Indian spices - bay leaves, cumin seeds, whole black peppercorns, turmeric, red chili powder, and garam masala. You can always more spices such as whole cloves, star anise, and cardamom if you like.
How to Make Chickpea(Chana) Biryani
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute (more) mode and heat 2 tablespoons of ghee. Add onions and saute for 10 mins, frequently stirring until the onions are caramelized. Take out half of the onion and reserve for garnishing the biryani (photos 1 - 2).
- Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes. Drain after 20 mins and keep aside (photos 3 - 4). Soak saffron in warm milk or water and reserve for garnish.
- Add the remaining ghee to the Instant Pot with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. Add bay leaves, cumin, and black pepper, and saute for 30 seconds. Add drained chickpeas, ginger, garlic, chilies, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, salt, and water. Mix well (photos 5 - 6).
- Pressure Cook for 20 minutes followed by quick release. Stir the chickpeas well. Spread the chopped mint and cilantro evenly over the chickpeas. Add drained rice, remaining salt, and water. Ensure all the rice is under the water (photos 7 - 10).
- Close the Instant Pot lid with the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 6 mins. Allow 5 mins natural pressure release. Open the Instant Pot and garnish with saffron-infused milk, reserved caramelized onions, and cilantro. Gently fluff the rice.
Serving
Serve with cucumber raita or beetroot raita and a lime wedge. Drizzle over a spoonful of ghee if you like!
Storing
Leftover biryani can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days. As with many Indian foods, the flavors will continue to develop overnight making it a great make-ahead dish. You can also freeze chickpea biryani for up to 2 months.
Variations
- Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes with the chickpeas for a tangy flavor.
- Substitute ghee with oil for a Vegan Chickpea Biryani.
- If using canned chickpeas, rinse and drain the chickpeas and skip the initial pressure cooking step. Add only half a cup of water along with the chickpeas. Layer over soaked white rice and pressure cook for 6 minutes.
- To make chickpea biryani with brown rice, layer rinsed brown rice over the soaked and uncooked chickpeas. Increase the pressure cook time to 25 minutes. The same water proportions will work. Also, no need to soak the brown rice since 25 minutes is a good time for brown rice to cook.
- Instead of caramelizing the onions in the Instant Pot, use the air fryer to make golden-fried onions.
Recipe
Instant Pot Chickpea Biryani
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas soaked overnight in warm water and drained (will be 2 cups soaked)
- 3 tablespoons ghee or oil divided
- 1 large yellow onion thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic grated
- 2 green chillies slit into half (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or any mild red chili powder
- 1½ cups water to pressure cook chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
Rice
- 2 cups long grain basmati rice
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup mint leaves chopped
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute mode and heat half of the ghee.
- Add onions and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently until the onions are caramelized. Take out half of the onion and reserve for garnishing the biryani. Note: You can also use the air fryer for this step to make golden fried onions.
- Add the remaining ghee to the Instant Pot with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. Add bay leaves, cumin seeds, and black pepper, and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add drained chickpeas, ginger, garlic, chilies, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, salt, and water. Mix well.
- Close the Instant pot and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 20 minutes. Quick release the pressure after the pressure cooking cycle completes. Open the Instant Pot and stir the chickpeas well.
- Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes. Drain after 20 minutes and keep aside. Soak saffron in warm milk or water and reserve for garnish.
- Spread the chopped mint and cilantro evenly over the chickpeas.
- Add drained rice, salt, and water. Gently push all the rice under the water. Close the Instant Pot lid with the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 6 minutes. Allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release.
- Open the Instant Pot. Drizzle over milk infused with saffron. Garnish with the reserved caramelized onions and cilantro. Gently fluff the rice.
- Serve with cucumber raita and lime wedges.
Notes
- Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes along with the chickpeas for a tangy flavor.
- Substitute ghee with oil for a Vegan Chickpea Biryani.
- To make chickpea biryani with brown rice, simply layer rinsed brown rice over the soaked and uncooked chickpeas. Increase the pressure cook time to 25 minutes. The same water proportions will work. Also, no need to soak the brown rice since 25 minutes is a good time for brown rice to cook.
- Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas.
- Add only ½ cup of water along with the chickpeas in Step 4
- Skip the initial pressure cooking chickpeas Step 5
- Follow the remaining steps from 6 to 10
Nutrition
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Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in March 2018, and was updated in March 2023 with a new video and variations.
Caitlin says
This recipe looks delicious, and I plan to include it in my arsenal of meatless dishes! However, I'd like to add cauliflower to it. Where would I add that in- just before the rice?
Thanks!!
Archana says
Yes! Add cauliflower just before rice.
Amy says
Hello Archana,
How do you think this recipe would do if it were doubled or tripled? I'd love to make this for my daugher's class for hot lunch. I have an 8 qt IP so space-wise it would be fine. Thank you!
Archana says
Hi Amy, I would double in an 8 QT but not triple. The bottom layer of the rice gets mushy as the Instant Pto takes longer to come to pressure with that much quantity.
Devy says
Looking forward to trying this recipe. If I substitute with canned chickpeas, what quantity should I use for this recipe? Thanks!
Cindy Leigh Johnston says
I tried this recipe with a friend over zoom during a social distancing dinner party. Since then, I've come back to this recipe several times (most recently as a show of support for my coworkers who were breaking Ramadan fast) and it never disappoints... plus you can make any variation you want 🙂
Making dinner for my neighbors tomorrow. one is vegetarian and the other is gluten free. Perfect neutral dish to support all sorts of dietary needs.
Cindy says
yummy. this has become a favorite in my house 🙂
Lydia says
The flavor of this dish was amazing, and the rice turned out perfectly cooked. I added 2 cups diced potatoes just because, and it worked out just fine. My entire family enjoyed this, and I have added this to my rotation of easy, delicious, vegetarian dinner recipes. Thank you!
Archana says
Thank you! Potatoes in Biryani taste amazing.
lisa says
Just made it, used canned chickpeas (last minute). I added 1 cup of water, because 1/2 cup didn't seem to be ebough water for rice. Used extra long basmati. Worked perfectly. Threw some sev and minced red onion, and a bit more fried onion on yop. perfection! I might want to raise the spice level next time, but that's a personal thing.
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback!
Gillian says
I’m afraid I used the canned chickpea method and followed the directions to the letter with the March 2023 amendments- and got the “burn” notification. One half cup of water is not enough for this recipe.
Archana says
You are right! Thank you for pointing this out. I have corrected the notes for canned chickpeas.
Jodie says
I accidentally added canned chickpeas and 2 cups of water to the instant pot and then realized I didn’t need to do this step BUT I ended up adding 1 1/2 cups of water instead of 2 cups to the rice and it turned out perfect! So flavorful and comforting. Would be really great with a tzatziki sauce or sour cream too!
Archana says
I am so glad you enjoyed it. I have a delicious cucumber raita recipe (similar to tzatziki) that goes really well with Chickpea Biryani.
Madhuri Murthy says
One of the best recipes I’ve tried. So effortless and delicious. Liked your step by step instructions and I’ m just getting used to the instant pot.
Ministry of curry is my go to for any of the one pot dishes.
Archana says
Thank you SO much! I hope you try more of my Instant Pot recipes and please feel free to reach out of you have any questions along the way.
MaryKate says
This is my second of your biryani recipes to try, and definitely my favorite. It's so good! I do a lower FODMAPs diet, so I've used garlic oil and leeks + scalions in place of the fresh garlic and onion, and I definitely miss the solidly caramelized onion, but it was still so so tasty. I did use the tomato, and I used fresh turmeric because I have it on hand. This will be in solid rotation this summer, for sure, with whatever produce we have on hand.
Archana says
Love all your substitutions. I am so glad you have this on rotation!
Dan Ciriani says
I tried this recipe and it turned out fantastic! I could not believe how easy and delicious it was. I froze some of the leftovers and even out of the freezer it was delicious. This is definitely a keeper of a recipe!
Daniel says
I'm planning on making this tonight but...MILK AND SAFFRON? Where is this listed in the recipe? It goes by so quickly in the video, and I do love saffron.
Archana says
Hi Daniel, Saffron infused milk is drizzled over rice as a garnish along with caramelized onions and cilantro. I have updated the instructions.
Taylor says
Made this for dinner today with some items we had in the pantry and fridge. I did sub in some dried ingredients in place of fresh ginger for example and cumin instead of cumin seeds and it still turned out well. I also added cardamom to mine. We aren’t vegetarian so I added some diced chicken to the initial mixture and cooked for five minutes before following the remainder of the steps with canned chickpeas. Omitted cilantro because I didn’t have any and grabbed some mint from the garden
Archana says
Love it! Thank you for sharing your feedback. I love that you made it using the ingredients you had on hand.
Shalini says
Could I substitute kala chana and use the same timings?
Archana says
Yes!