Chickpea Biryani is a wholesome vegetarian Biryani with plump 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 meal.

Jump to:
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
- Add a teaspoon of black peppercorn for additional spice.
- Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes along 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 ½ 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, 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.
- Instead of caramelizing the onions in the Instant Pot, use the air fryer to make golden fried onions.
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.
Serving
Biryani is traditionally served with a cooling raita. Here is my recipe for Cucumber Raita:
- Peel 2 Persian cucumbers. Grate or finely dice.
- Whisk 1 cup of plain yogurt in a small bowl and a sprinkle of salt.
- 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.
More Biryani Recipes:
- Chicken Biryani
- Vegetable and Paneer Biryani
- Shrimp Biryani
- Brown Rice Chicken Biryani
- Low Carb Biryani
- Fish Biryani
★ Have you tried this recipe? We love your feedback, Please click on the stars in the recipe card below to rate.
Recipe
Instant Pot Chickpea Biryani
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. Note: You can also use the air fryer for this step to make golden fried onions.
- 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
Variations for Chickpea Biryani:
- Add a teaspoon of black peppercorn for additional spice.
- Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes along 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 ½ 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, 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
♥ We LOVE to hear from you! Did you try this recipe? Please share your food photo with hashtag #ministryofcurry on Facebook or Instagram, so we can see it and our followers can enjoy it too! Thank you and Happy Cooking ♥ Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for tasty and easy video recipes. Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Check out our delicious Instant Pot Recipe board on Pinterest.
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.
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.