Name: Brinjal Dum Biryani
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 8-10 cups water; 1 ½ cups Basmati rice; 1 tablespoon oil; 5-6 cloves; 2 bay leaves; Cinnamon sticks; 2 green cardamoms; 3-4 teaspoons of salt; Few saffron strands (soaked in ¼ cup milk); 6 small brinjals/eggplants/baingan ((or 1 large)); 1 large potato; ¼ cup oil (plus some more if needed); 1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds; 1 large black cardamom; 2 cloves; 2 green cardamoms; 1 small piece of mace (or you can use 1 star anise); 1 ½ cups sliced onions; 1 tablespoon grated ginger; 1 tablespoon grated garlic; 1 cup chopped tomatoes; 1 tbsp coriander powder; 1 teaspoon cumin powder; 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder; 1 tsp garam masala powder; ½ tsp haldi/turmeric powder; Dash of black pepper powder; ½ cup Barista/deep fried onions (make fresh or use store bought); Handful of chopped mint leaves; 1 tablespoon dried mint powder (optional)

This BRINJAL DUM BIRYANI is my version of a mouthwatering homemade vegetarian biryani (with step-by-step pictures).

Brinjal/eggplant/baingan and potatoes are cooked in an onion and yogurt based gravy, layered with almost cooked rice and then cooked on a “Dum” until all the flavors and aromas merge into this delectable one dish meal!

All you will need is a side of Indian pickled onions and/or raita to complete your restaurant like biryani experience.

Sounds exciting?

Detailed step-wise instructions with recipe card is given below.

Jump to Recipe

With just some basic pantry ingredients you may already have, making a good homemade biryani is so easy.

No Biryani masala or any special spice mixture needed here.

During my recent visit to the popular grocery store H Mart (an Asian grocery store) in San Diego to stock up on fresh veggies, along with fresh bundles of asparagus which turned into this quick stir fry, some fresh green onions, lots of varieties of greens and of course all the regular veggies I use in my everyday cooking, I came across some small Thai eggplants which looked similar to the eggplants we use in Indian cooking.

While pondering what to make for lunch today, being biryani or basically rice lovers, I decided to use half of the eggplant stash to make a delectable homemade Brinjal or Eggplant Biryani; a wholesome meal which needed only some yogurt raita on the side!

I am sure everyone enjoys a good biryani and most of us end up doing takeout or delivery from a restaurant.

After making and tasting this homemade Brinjal Dum Biryani, you will hesitate to order takeout as yours would be not only easy to make, but super delicious and with ingredients you know are in them.

So, let’s get to making this, shall we?

BRINJAL or EGGPLANT DUM BIRYANI:

Briyani, although originally a Persian rice dish, Indians have made it their own, be it with meat, chicken, eggs etc. or Mixed vegetable biryani for the vegetarians.

The term “Biryani” basically refers to a layered meat, chicken or vegetable curry/masala and rice dish, cooked in “dum” style (a Persian phrase for slow cooking in a sealed container, also called “dum phukt”), the technique which goes back hundreds of years to prevent steam from escaping and let all the flavors mingle and aromatize the whole dish.

Here, I have used small Thai eggplants along with some potatoes to make an Indian flavored vegetarian curry, layered it with almost cooked Basmati rice (about 80% cooked), using some whole and powderd spices in both, some fried onions (the key ingredient in any good biryani), chopped cilantro, saffron milk and a drizzle of melted ghee.

This then is slow cooked (cooked on very low heat) in a large pot, sealed with aluminum foil (or some flour dough) and a tight lid to prevent steam from escaping and letting all the emanating flavors and aromas seep into every pore of the dish!

You will notice this when you remove the foil and lid. You will be hit with a mouthwatering aroma of homemade biryani using Basmati rice and all the spices you have added to the dish.

An absolute vegetarian’s delight; this recipe is so good, if you do not have brinjals, you can use any vegetable you have or a mix of vegetables and make it a Mixed Vegetable Biryani too.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE MY VERISON OF BRINJAL DUM BIRYANI:

Basmati rice – perfect to make any biryani, make sure to use aged and aromatic basmati rice; this needs to be cooked almost 75 to 80% and then layered with the vegetable gravy.
Brinjals –also called eggplants or baingan (in India), you will need small sized eggplants. If you cannot find the small variety, chop the larger ones into cubes and then use. For people who hate brinjal, use any mix of vegetables you have like carrots, green beans, cauliflower, green peas etc. instead
Potatoes – I have added it for texture and to give a bite in the dish.
Onions – there are 2 varieties used here – fresh sliced onions to thicken and flavor the gravy and the fried onions called “Barista” which are nothing but deep fried and caramelized sliced onions which you can make at home by deep frying sliced onions until brown and crisp (or use store bought). I have used store bought here.
Other aromatics like ginger and garlic.
Whole spices and spice powders – this is what flavors the whole dish. You will need whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms, black cardamom, bay leaves, mace or star anise, cumin seeds, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder etc. You can easily substitute with whole spices like star anise here instead of mace or omit it altogether and if you do not have any of the spices, feel free to omit it.
For a shortcut method, use store bought garam masala powder and biryani masala powder instead.
Plain yogurt to make the gravy/curry
Fresh herbs – handful of mint leaves and coriander leaves/cilantro; I did not have enough mint leaves so; I added a tablespoon of dried mint leaves to enhance the flavor of mint in the dish.
Tomatoes – you will need just about 1 to 1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
Saffron strands – these are so aromatic and give such an exotic floral aroma as well as tinges any curry or dish to such a heavenly orange or saffron color, you will need just a few strands.
Milk to soak saffron
Melted ghee and cooking oil
Of course salt as usual
Adding ghee roasted nuts and raisins is optional but adds a lovely exotic feel to the biryani not to mention the texture profile.

BASIC STEPS IN MAKING BRINJAL DUM BIRYANI:

Washing and soaking of Basmati rice
Cooking the rice with spices, draining and setting aside to cool
Frying or sautéing brinjals and potatoes until slightly soft and crisp
Making the gravy using onions, tomatoes, spices, spice powders and yogurt and then stirring in the fried vegetables
Layering of brinjal masala with rice
Topping with fresh herbs, fried onions, saffron milk, ghee etc.
Cooking this on dum or in a sealed pan
Opening the sealed pan
Final garnish of ghee roasted nuts and raisins (this is optional) and serving hot

Detailed steps are given below along with the printable recipe card.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Any biryani is an absolutely complete meal so is this one.

Just serve with just a side of plain yogurt raita (yogurt based sauce with veggies etc.) and/or Indian styled pickled onion called "laccha pyaz" (recipes shared below).

Hope you make this soon and if you do, I would love to hear about it.

Leave your thoughts and comments in the box below (do not forget to give it a star rating) and/or share your version on instagram using #curryandvanilla16 and @curryandvanilla16 and also on my Facebook page.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking/Eating!

If you are huge biryani or rice lover, you must try these easy biryani or rice dishes too, some of which are:

Brinjal Dum Biryani

A mouthwatering homemade biryani made with layered rice and a delicious brinjal and potato curry infused with aromatics and exotic spices. It is a complete one dish meal

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 6

Author Vanitha Bhat

Ingredients

FOR THE BIRYANI RICE:

8-10 cups water
1 ½ cups Basmati rice
1 tablespoon oil
5-6 cloves
2 bay leaves
Cinnamon sticks
2 green cardamoms
3-4 teaspoons of salt
Few saffron strands soaked in ¼ cup milk

TO MAKE THE BAINGAN CURRY:

6 small brinjals/eggplants/baingan (or 1 large)
1 large potato
¼ cup oil plus some more if needed
1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds
1 large black cardamom
2 cloves
2 green cardamoms
1 small piece of mace or you can use 1 star anise
1 ½ cups sliced onions
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon grated garlic
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
½ tsp haldi/turmeric powder
Dash of black pepper powder
½ cup Barista/deep fried onions make fresh or use store bought
Handful of chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon dried mint powder optional
½ cup curd/yogurt plain
Salt to taste
½ - 1 cup freshly chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
2-3 tablespoons melted ghee/clarified butter

FOR GARNISH:

Handful of halved cashew nuts
Handful of raisins
2 teaspoons ghee

TO SERVE:

Boondi Raita recipe below
Instant Indian style pickled onions recipe below

Instructions

TO MAKE RICE FOR BIRYANI:

Wash 1 ½ cups basmati rice well until water is clear and then soak in water for 30 minutes.
In a large pot, bring 8-10 cups of water to boil. Add the dry spices (5-6 cloves, 2 bay leaves, 2 green cardamoms, few cinnamon sticks and 3-4 teaspoons salt) and oil.
The water should be salty enough to flavor the rice.
When the water comes to a boil, add drained rice and cook for 7-9 minutes until almost 80% cooked. Do not cook completely.
Drain immediately, rinse with cold water and let cool, spread out in a wide pan.
If you do not like getting whole spices in your mouth, remove the whole spices now.

TO PREP BRINJALS AND POTATOES:

Wash brinjals/eggplants and slit it into four or 6 without cutting all the way to the bottom.
Slightly open the cut sides outwards to check for any worms, if any..
If using a large eggplant, chop into cubes.
Peel and cube potatoes.
Place both in a bowl of water until ready to use to avoid browning effect.

TO MAKE BRINJAL-POTATO GRAVY OR CURRY:

In a wide saucepan (or in the same pan you will be making the biryani), heat ¼ cup oil and when hot, add the brinjals and potato chunks.
Sprinkle some salt and fry on medium heat, stirring often until slightly charred and almost cooked. You can cover with a pan if needed.
Remove from pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.
In the same pan, add more oil if needed and sprinkle the whole spices (1 teaspoon jeera, 2 cloves, 1 large black cardamom, 2 green cardamoms, 1 small mace); sauté for a few seconds on medium heat to flavor the oil.
Add 1 large or 1 ½ cups sliced onions; fry on medium heat until slightly softened; couple of minutes.
Stir in 1 tablespoon each grated garlic and ginger and fry again until the raw smell of garlic goes and the onions are lightly browned.
Stir n 1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes along with a pinch of salt.
Fry for a couple of minutes.
Sprinkle spice powders: 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, ½ tsp haldi and dash of black pepper powder.
Fry on medium heat until spice powders are fried well; about 1 to 2 minutes on medium heat until you can almost see oil separating.
Stir in ¼ cup barista/fried onions and mix well.
Add 1 tbsp of chopped mint leaves and 1 tbsp dried mint powder. Mix well.
Lower the heat and stir in 1 cup of thick yogurt. Stir on very low heat or the curd could split.
Add salt to taste and the fried eggplants and potatoes.
If preferred, add 1/3 cup water, mix and cook on medium low heat, covered for 8-10 minutes until the eggplants are almost cooked.

TO ASSEMBLE THE BRINJAL DUM BIRYANI:

You can use the same pan for making dum biryani or use another less wide one and alternately layer the curry and rice in it.
I have used the same pan.
When the curry is ready, sprinkle the cooked rice on top evenly.
Top with some more barista/fried onions, chopped coriander leaves, couple of tablespoons of melted ghee and the saffron milk.
Cover the pan with a foil, put the lid back tightly so as not to let the steam escape and cook on very low heat for 20 minutes.

TO MAKE BOONDI RAITA AND PICKLED ONIONS:

While the dum biryani is cooking, you can make the raita and pickled onions.
Beat some creamy yogurt well until smooth, stir in powdered sugar, pink salt and roasted jeera/cumin powder to make a savory yet mildly sweet raita.
Either stir in boondi (deep fried chickpea batter balls or drops) or even some veggies and onion to make the raita.
To make Indian style pickled onions, slice red onions, sprinkle red chili powder (I prefer using Kashmrir red chili powder; more for color than heat), salt and lemon juice; mix well and set aside at least 1 hour to mellow the sharpness of the onions.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

After 20 minutes, remove the lid and foil from the biryani pot, garnish with ghee fried nuts and raisins.
Gently mix and serve hot with boondi raita or any raita or even plain yogurt and some pickled onions or even raw salad on the side.
Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Recipe Notes

Adjust the amount of spices according to personal taste.
If you do not like bits of whole spices while eating, feel free to remove them from the cooked rice as well as the curry/gravy before layering and dum cooking.
Do not overcook the rice. Overcooked rice will result in a mushy biryani.
Instead of brinjal/eggplant, you can use any mix of veggies to make vegetable dum biryani.
Addition of paneer cubes, tofu cubes or even some cooked chickpeas/red kidney beans etc. will add to the nutritional value of this biryani.
If you find you do not have all or some of these spices/spice powders, you can use a combination of store bought or homemade garam masala powder and biryani masala powder instead.
Enjoy and Happy Cooking/Eating!

Step-wise Instructions to make Brinjal/Eggplant/Baingan Dum Biryani:

TO MAKE RICE FOR BIRYANI:

Wash 1 ½ cups basmati rice well until water is clear and then soak in water for 30 minutes.

In a large pot, keep 8-10 cups of water to boil. Add the dry spices (5-6 cloves, 2 bay leaves, 2 green cardamoms, few cinnamon sticks and 3-4 teaspoons salt).

The water should be salty enough to flavor the rice.

When the water comes to a boil, add drained rice and cook for 7-9 minutes until almost 80% cooked. Do not cook completely.

Drain/strain immediately, rinse with cold water and let cool, spread out in a wide pan.

If you do not like getting whole spices in your mouth, remove the whole spices at this stage.

TO PREP BRINJALS AND POTATOES:

Wash brinjals/eggplants and slit it into four or 6 without cutting all the way to the bottom.

Slightly open the cut sides outwards to check for any worms, if any.

Whole larger eggplants can be chopped into large cubes.

Wash and peel and cube potatoes.

Place both in a bowl of water until ready to use to avoid browning effect.

TO SOAK SAFFRON:

Soak saffron strands in a little milk and set aside.

TO MAKE BRINJAL-POTATO GRAVY OR CURRY:

In a wide saucepan (or in the same pan you will be making the biryani), heat ¼ cup oil and when hot, add the brinjals and potato chunks.

Sprinkle some salt and fry on medium heat, stirring often until slightly charred and almost cooked. You can cover with a pan if needed.

Remove from pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the same pan, add more oil if needed and sprinkle the whole spices (1 teaspoon jeera, 2 cloves, 1 large black cardamom, 2 green cardamoms, 1 small mace or 1 star anise if you cannot have mace).

Sauté for a few seconds on medium heat to flavor the oil.

Add 1 large or 1 ½ cups sliced onions; fry on medium heat until slightly softened; couple of minutes.

Stir in 1 tablespoon each grated garlic and ginger and fry again until the raw smell of garlic goes and the onions are lightly browned.

Stir n 1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes along with a pinch of salt.

Fry for a couple of minutes until slightly softened.

Sprinkle spice powders: 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder/paprika powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, ½ tsp haldi and dash of black pepper powder.

Add fresh mint leaves and dried mint leaves (1 tablespoon each).

Stir in ¼ cup barista/fried onions (homemade or store bought) and mix well.

Fry on medium heat until spice powders are fried well with the tomatoes; about 1 to 2 minutes on medium heat until you can almost see oil separating.

Lower the heat and stir in 1 cup of thick yogurt. Stir on very low heat or the curd/yogurt could split.

Add salt to taste and the fried eggplants and potatoes.

If preferred, add 1/3 cup water, mix and cook on medium low heat, covered for 8-10 minutes until the eggplants are almost cooked.

TO ASSEMBLE THE BRINJAL DUM BIRYANI:

You can use the same pan for making dum biryani or use another less wide one and alternately layer the curry and rice in it.

I have used the same pan.

When the curry is ready, sprinkle the cooked rice on top evenly.

Top with some more barista/fried onions, chopped coriander leaves, couple of tablespoons of melted ghee and the saffron milk.

Cover the pan with a foil, put the lid back tightly so as not to let the steam escape and cook on very low heat for 20 minutes.

TO MAKE BOONDI RAITA and LACCHA INDIAN STYLE PYAZ/ONIONS:

While the dum biryani is cooking, you can make the raita and pickled onions.

Beat some creamy yogurt well until smooth, stir in powdered sugar, pink salt and roasted jeera/cumin powder to make a savory yet mildly sweet raita.

Either stir in boondi (deep fried chickpea batter balls or drops) or even some veggies and onion to make the raita.

To make Indian style pickled onions or as we call it "laccha pyaz", slice red onions, sprinkle red chili powder (I prefer using Kashmri red chili powder; more for color than heat), salt and lemon juice; mix well and set aside at least 1 hour to mellow the sharpness of the onions.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

After 20 minutes, remove the lid and foil from the biryani pot, garnish with ghee fried nuts and raisins.

Gently mix and serve hot with boondi raita or any raita or even plain yogurt and some pickled onions or even raw salad on the side.