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two bowls of chickpea biryani and raita on the side
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4.73 from 72 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 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 5
Calories: 522kcal
Author: Archana Mundhe

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

Optional 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.
  • 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.

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. 
Variations
  1. Add 1 to 2 diced tomatoes along with the chickpeas for a tangy flavor.
  2. Substitute ghee with oil for a Vegan Chickpea Biryani.
  3. 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.
 
Chickpea Biryani Using Canned Chickpeas
  1. Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas.
  2. Add only ½ cup of water along with the chickpeas in Step 4
  3. Skip the initial pressure cooking chickpeas Step 5
  4. Follow the remaining steps from 6 to 10

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 1488mg | Potassium: 541mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 455IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 4mg
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