Instant Pot Chickpea Biryani

Chickpea Biryani is a wholesome vegetarian Biryani with plump chickpeas cooked in caramelized onions and spices over fragrant basmati rice. Paired with a cooling cucumber raita and a squeeze of fresh lime, this biryani makes a hearty meal.

Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Annika, this satisfying chickpea biryani with warm spices is my version cooked in the Instant Pot. Annika shares amazing family recipes on her blog with gorgeous photography and captivating stories. She uses a lot of seasonal ingredients to make healthy and delicious foods. Do check out her beautiful blog!

I love that the recipe uses very few spices that are easy to find: fresh ginger and garlic, turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder, and garam masala.

Over the last few months, this Chickpea Biryani recipe has evolved to use my favorite kitchen appliance the Instant Pot. Here is an easy recipe that is versatile and can be adapted to suit your taste preference. Serve it with pickles, papad, diced red onions, fresh onions, and cooling raita.

Variations

1. Add a teaspoon of black peppercorn for additional spice.
2. Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes along with the chickpeas for a tangy flavor.
3. Substitute ghee with oil for a Vegan Chickpea Biryani.
4. If using canned chickpeas, rinse and drain the chickpeas and skip the initial pressure cooking step. Add only 1/2 cup of water along with the chickpeas. Layer over soaked white rice and pressure cook for 6 minutes.
5. 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. 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.

Step by step recipe

• Turn the Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode and heat 2 tablespoons of ghee. Add onions and saute for 10 mins, stirring frequently 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).

• Add remaining ghee to the IP with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. Add drained chickpeas, ginger, garlic, chilies, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt and 1-½ cup of water. Mix well (photos 5 – 6).

• Close the Instant pot and turn pressure valve to sealing. 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 2 cups of water. Make sure all the rice is under the water (photos 7 – 10).

• Close the Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 6 mins. Allow 5 mins natural pressure release. Open the Instant Pot and garnish with the reserved caramelized onions and cilantro.

• Gently fluff the rice. Serve with cucumber raita and lime wedges.

Raita

Biryani is traditionally served with a cooling raita. Here is my recipe for Cucumber Raita:

1. Peel 2 Persian cucumbers. Grate or finely dice.
2. Whisk 1 cup of plain yogurt in a small bowl and a sprinkle of salt.
3. Mix cucumbers with yogurt and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Note – Check out this gorgeous beetroot raita recipe that also pairs up well with chickpea biryani.

Love Biryani? Here are more recipes:

• Chicken Biryani
• Vegetable and Paneer Biryani
• Shrimp Biryani
• Brown Rice Chicken Biryani

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4.72 from 42 votes

Instant Pot Chickpea Biryani

An easy and wholesome vegetarian Biryani with plump chickpeas cooked in caramelized onions and spices over fragrant basmati rice

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time50 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 5

Calories: 519kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup dry chickpeas soaked overnight in warm water (will be 2 cups soaked)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons ghee divided
• ▢ 1 large yellow onion thinly sliced
• ▢ 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 + ¼ cup for garnish

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.
• Wash and soak the rice for 20 minutes. Drain after 20 minutes and keep aside.
• Add remaining ghee to the Instant Pot with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. 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 followed by a quick release.
• Stir the chickpeas well. Spread the chopped mint and cilantro evenly over the chickpeas. Add drained rice, salt, and water. Make sure all the rice is under the water. 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 the reserved caramelized onions and cilantro. Gently fluff the rice. 
• Serve with cucumber raita and lime wedges.

Video

Notes

If the top layer of rice looks a bit undercooked, simply fluff the top layer of the rice with a fork and keep the Instant Pot for 5 more minutes. 

Use oil instead of ghee to make the Biryani vegan. 

To make simple cucumber raita, mix 2 peeled and diced Persian cucumbers with 1 cup of plain yogurt and a sprinkle of salt. Garnish with chopped cilantro. 

Variations for Chickpea Biryani:

1. Add a teaspoon of black peppercorn for additional spice.
2. Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes along with the chickpeas for a tangy flavor.
3. Substitute ghee with oil for a Vegan Chickpea Biryani.
4. If using canned chickpeas, rinse and drain the chickpeas and skip the initial pressure cooking step. Add only 1/2 cup of water along with the chickpeas. Layer over soaked white rice and pressure cook for 6 minutes.
5. 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. 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 519kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 1487mg | Potassium: 528mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 4mg

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Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in March 2018, but was updated in May 2019 with step by step recipe as well as new photos and tips.