As long as I can remember, our Sunday lunch was standard. Amma’s special coconut-mint based vegetable biryani and onion raita. The preparations would start as early as 10 in the morning. Amma starts with peeling garlic and chopping ginger for the ginger-garlic paste which was otherwise seldom used in our household. At times, I helped her in chopping vegetables. And when we were in the mood to get creative, we cut the vegetables in different shapes and sizes. The coconut-mint based masala paste is first prepared and amma started the rice preparation in our big old pressure cooker. Now this cooker’s weight never worked and hence perfect for the best biriyani. My most favorite from this vegetable biryani used to be the meal-maker (soya chunks) followed by potato pieces. As a kid, I used to eat all of the rice, sneaking in bits of carrot and beans – working my way around the potato and meal maker chunks which were reserved for the last. Even today, I continue to do this even after getting weird looks from people around me 😀 Last weekend, I asked amma to prepare her special Coconut Mint Based Vegetable Biryani before she left to Chennai and she was super sweet to make it for me. Its not spicy and is loading with vegetables. The coconut and mint based paste gives this dish rich taste and aroma. Usually, there will be no left-overs but in my opinion, it tastes even better when left over for few hours making it popular lunchbox treat 🙂 Check out other Biriyani recipes on my blog!
How to make Coconut Mint Based Vegetable Biryani
📖 Recipe
Detailed Recipe to Make Coconut Mint Based Vegetable Biryani
Recipe Notes
You can make this in a pot/fry pan/thick bottomed kadai too. Cooking time remains the same, close the pan with a lid while the rice is cooking. You can make this with Sona Masoori rice too, in fact that’s how Amma still makes it today. Adjust spices as per preference.
I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂 This post was first published in June 2015 and updated in May 2020.
