You are here: Home / Brunch / Methi Matar Biryani Recipe~ A Vegetarian Biryani with a Difference
by [Archana Potdar] · This post may contain affiliate links · 52 Comments
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Make biryani with fresh fenugreek leaves and green peas and be prepared for a burst of flavours and exquisite taste!!
Methi Mattar is a combo that is common in vegetable side dishes in my books. Now methi and green peas are not appreciated by the family so I did not expect anyone to like this biryani. Was I wrong??
Yes, not once but two times or 3 times if today's dish is to be added to the list. It is one amazing biryani!
If you have tender green peas and need a curry try making some Matar Ka Nimona.
So do read on this easy healthy recipe that I am sharing with options to make it vegan. But to get all my posts do subscribe and join my newsletter. You will not miss a single post and I promise not to spam you.
Contents:
- So what is biryani?
- What is a Vegetarian Biryani?
- Ingredients to make Methi Matar Biryani
- How to make Vegetarian Methi Matar Biryani RecipeH
- How to assemble Biryani?
- Frequently asked questions
- Recipe Card
- Some other Biryanis you may like
- Pin for Later
So what is biryani?
"A rich flavourful rice dish that is layered."
Spruce Eats
Definitely sums up Biryani! Making the delicious biryani needs a little preparation and time. When you are making a dish that is renowned around the world you will need to put in some effort.
Indian biryani is generally made with generally long-grained basmatirice, but you can use short grain rice called Seeraga Samba too. The rice is fragrant and flavoured with spices like cumin, cardamom, bay leaves and the royal saffron. Between the rice layers, you lay chicken, lamb, goat, fish and vegetables in thick gravy. Now cover the dish with a lid and secure the lid with dough and cook on low flame this takes time to cook. Definitely needs patience no wonder Biryani calls for a special occasion.
Biryani the much loved Indian dish has its origins shrouded in mystery.
Biryani’s origins are generally attributed to Mughals and Muslim traders. But there is one theory that says that there are references to a “fried rice ´aromatic with spices in the ancient texts such as Yagnavalkya Smriti and was enjoyed by the ruling class. Traditional Bengali cuisine also steams fish in the method that is now known as “dum “in an earthen pot.
What is a Vegetarian Biryani?
Though Biryani is generally assumed to be non-vegetarian rice you can make it vegetarian too.
How? With mixed vegetables and herbs like coriander, mint and spices like cumin, cinnamon, bay leaves etc. vegetables like cauliflower carrots potatoes an Ova-vegetarian with eggs.
Like the meat version, you can marinate the vegetables too. A marinated vegetable biryani tastes great but marinating veggies is not compulsory.
'Though it is more common to link upany biryani with meat or chicken, it is a great revelation that Indian vegrecipes or Indianbiryani vegrecipesare not uncommon at all."
CHEF SANJEEV KAPOOR
Who am I to disagree with chef Sanjeev Kapoor when he says, "Vegetables add their beautiful flavour to aromatic riceand with a variety of spices and sometimes with a drizzle of fragrant ghee, alovely dish is turned out. There are many variations and we will very quicklygo through a simple one here.”
Ingredients to make Methi Matar Biryani:
The ingredients in a biryani vary from region,season and availibilty.Let us start with the obvious
- Rice: though most biryani will be with the long-grained basmati rice generally there are excellent biryanis made with short-grain rice too like Seeraga Samba. Like my daughter said rice is rice you just need to treat it right.
- Vegetables: Vegetarian biryanis, of course, you need vegetables like corn, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, peas are a few that are common. However, to make this Methi Muttar Biryani you will need methi or fresh fenugreek leaves and green peas. The peas you can use fresh or frozen but I recommend using fresh methi leaves. The original recipe used corn kernels in place of peas so feel free to use corn
- Spices: used in this biryani are generally ghee(clarified butter), cumin, garlic ginger, onions, masala cardamom called bada elicihi,cinnamon,bay leaves, coconut, green chillies, saunf/fennel, khus khus/poppy seeds, cloves, pepper,coriander seeds and shah jeera.
- Other Ingredients: are oiltomato, curd, saltto taste.
How to make Vegetarian Methi Matar Biryani Recipe:
Here are the steps to make Biryani with Green Peas and fresh Methi leaves
- Wash and drain the rice. Heat ghee and add jeera, bay leaf, masala elichi. Stir fry the rice till fragrant. Add water, salt and cook the rice. Spread the rice once cooked to cool down.
- Meanwhile, fry sliced onions till they caramelize. Set aside.
- Grind to paste onions, coconut, ginger,garlic, green chilli, saunf, khus khus/ poppyseeds, cloves, pepper, coriander powder, jeera powder and shahi jeera.
- Saute' the ground paste and sauté till golden brown. Add the tomato puree andsauté till the oil oozes out.
- Add yoghurt, salt, ½ cup chopped fenugreek leavesand peas and mix well. Cook a bit.
How to assemble Biryani?
- Spread some of the half-cooked ricein a layer in a thick-bottomed pan.
- Spread some of the fenugreek-peas mixture. Add some of the fried onions.
- Repeat the layers finish with rice and top with thefried onions.
- Cover the pan withaluminium foil and place it on a hot tawa/skillet.
- Cook over low heat for aboutten minutes.
- Let it sit for about another 10 minutes for the flavours to marinate and mingle. Serve with raita.
Frequently asked questions:
-
What is the difference between pulao and biryani?
Pulao and Biryani are as different as chalk and cheese( Maybe not chalk but you get the idea).
Biryani is made by draining the water out of the rice method. You could also parboil the rice and layer it up with your meat or the vegetables. Then the layers are cooked on low flame maybe in a sealed container .
The amount of spices used also differs generally biryani use a little more. The marinade add to the gravy in a biryani than a pulao. That is why your biryani is more aromatic and richer. Since the Biryani is slow cooked it takes time to cook.
A pulao, on the other hand you add your vegetables, meats and rice cook it all in stock or water.This is called absorption method. Since pulao can be cooked on medium flame you have a faster cooked delicious rice dish. -
What is Dum Biryani?
Dum Biryani is the method of cooking a biryani. A pot of rice and meats and vegetables are layered in a pot. This pot is sealed generally with wheat dough and cooked on low heat. The steam generated in the pot cooks the ingredients beautifully.
-
What are the varieties in biryani?
Biryanis differs from region to region and ingredients used also differ a bit. So there are varieties in Biryani.
However, Biryani is classified as Kacchi or raw Biryani andPakki or cooked Biryani!In the Kacchi Biryani raw marinated meat is layered with rawrice before being cooked together. The pot is usually sealed (typically withwheat dough) to allow cooking in its own steam and not opened till ready toserve.
InPakkiBiryani thepartially cooked meat and partially cooked rice are layered and cooked.
Then we have Navratan biryani which is sweeter, richer and uses cashews nuts,raisins and fruits like apples and pineapples.
Biryani based on the ingredients like Beef biryani or Kalyani Biryani.
Or the region in which they were developed, for example, Sindhi biryani developed in the Sindh region of what is now Pakistan, and Hyderabadi biryani developed in the city of Hyderabad in South India.
One such dish is Tehri which was developed for the Hindu Bookkeepers in the Muslim Courts. -
What are the accompaniments with Biryani?
Given a choice I will relish biryani plain and eat my raita as a mouth cleanser last. But the general accompaniments are korma, chutney, dahi/yogurt, salan, salad of onion tomato sliced fine.
Recipe Card:
Methi Matar Biryani Recipe
A Vegetarian Biryani with a difference where the flavours of fresh fenugreek leaves and green peas blend to make the rice in the Biryani so very flavourful! You always run short of Biryani 😀
5 from 18 votes
Print Pin Rate Save Recipe
Course: Brunch, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Festive Cooking, Methi matar biryani, Rice Recipes, Special occasion, Winter Special
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Resting time:: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 150kcal
Author: ArchanaPotdar
Equipment
Kadhai/wok
chutney jar of mixer/blender
Spoons and Ladles
Bowls
Thick bottomed pan
Ingredients
For the rice:
- 1 cup long-grained rice like basmati rice
- ½ tablespoon ghee/ clarified butter
- ¼ teaspoon jeera/cumin
- 1 tej patta/bay leaf
- 1 masala elichi/black cardamom
- 1 ½ cup water
- Salt to taste
- 2 onions sliced fine
- Oil to fry
To make a paste:
- 2 onions diced
- ½ cup coconut grated, fresh or frozen
- 1 inch ginger
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 green chilli
- 1 teaspoon saunf/ fennel
- 1 teaspoon khus khus/poppy seeds
- 2 laung/ cloves
- 3-4 kali Mirich/ pepper
- ½ teaspoon dhania powder/ coriander seed powder
- ½ teaspoon jeera powder/cumin powder
- A pinch of shahi jeera
Other ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 masala elichi/black cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon jeera/cumin
- 1 tomato pureed
- ¼ cup curd/yoghurt whipped
- 1 cup green peas
- ½ cup methi/fenugreek leaves
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Cooking the rice:
Wash and drain the rice on a kitchen towel.
Heat the ghee in a thickbottomed pan and sauté till fragrant the jeera, bay leaf, masala elichi.
Stir fry the washed ricetill you get a nice aroma.
Add the water and the salt. Cook the rice needs to be half cooked.
Frying the onions and the paste:
Deep fry two sliced onions till well caramelised and set aside.
Make a paste of ingredients onions, coconut, ginger,garlic, green chilli, saunf, khus khus/ poppyseeds, cloves, pepper, coriander powder, jeera powder and shahi jeera.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil and in a thick-bottomed kadhai/wok, add the ground paste and sautétill fragrant and golden brown.
Add the tomato puree andsauté till the oil oozes out.
Add yogurt, salt, ½ cup chopped fenugreek leavesand peasand mix well. Cool.
To assemble the biryani:
Spread some of the half-cooked ricein a layer in a thick-bottomed pan.
Spread half the fenugreek-peas mixture. Add some of the fried onions.
Repeat the layers finish with rice and top with thefried onions
Cover the pan withaluminium foil and place it on a hot tawa.
Cook over low heat for aboutten minutes.
Let it sit for about another 10 minutes for the flavours to marinate and mingle. Serve with raita.
Nutrition Facts
Methi Matar Biryani Recipe
Serving Size
1 bowl
Amount per Serving
Calories
150
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Some other Biryanis you may like:
- Masoor Biryani,
- Zatpat Corn Biryani,
- Mutta Biryani or Egg Biryani,
- Biryani,
- Egg Biryani,
- Hydrabadi Dum Biryani
- Raw Jackfruit Biryani Rice (Green/Tender/Unripe Jackfruit Biryani)
Pin for Later:
Web Stories:
You can follow the sequence of making Matar Methi Biryani here on my Web Stories.
More Brunch Recipes
- Upwas chi Suran chi Bhaji Recipe
- Easy Fara Recipe
- Easy Bok Choy Stir-fry Recipe
- Kanda Bhajjiya Recipe
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Such a detailed explanation and love the aromatic biriyani! That is a very cute carves tomato flower on the top 🙂
Reply
vaishali sabnani says
Sounds very interesting. .I normally make methi mattar combo ..and I guess I really don't have to work much for trying this delicious recipe.
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Varadas Kitchen says
That is a unique combination of vegetables for a biryani. The masala sounds flavorful.
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Harini-Jaya R says
Lovely Biryani..Love the tomato rose in the picture!
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Chef Mireille says
what an informative post
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sneha datar says
This Briyani looks yum. The methi will add more flavor and taste to it.
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Srividhya says
Methi mattar sounds interesting. Great way add greens in our food
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Nalini's Kitchen says
Nice and flavorful biriyani....
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Priya Srinivasan says
Scrumptious biryani archana!!! I can almost feel the aroma of that ground masalahere!! Lip-smacking!! 😉
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Srivalli says
Archana, I enjoyed your intro and looking fwd to read the vegetarian biryanis..I love making Biryanis and love the fact that you are going to bring so many version to the table..
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Sapana Behl says
Biryani looks tempting.
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Priya Suresh says
That tomato rose gives a beautiful touch toi this very flavourful briyani, inviting dish definitely.
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Suma Gandlur says
That seems like one aromatic biryani, going by the list of ingredients.
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Jayanthi Sindhiya says
Delicious biryani....Beautiful presentation!!!
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Padmajha PJ says
Lovely combo-methi and mattar! And the dish sounds so delicious Archana....
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Pavani N says
Delicious biryani Archana. Love all the flavors in there.
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Mayuri Patel says
Vegetarian Methi Matar Biryani looks so welcoming. What attracts me to this recipe is the use of fresh fenugreek or methi. I'd probably add a bit more as I simply love the flavor. This biryani is definitely a lazy Sunday meal.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
When you make it call me Mayuri. I adore methi too.
Reply
Jayashree T.Rao says
Biryani looks and sounds flavoursome. My son is a big fan of biryani, I must make this version of it sometime. Good information about biryani.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
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Chef Mireille says
I usually go for meat based biryani but this veggie version was so good for a quick and easy version. I added some paneer and it was the perfect one pot meal.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Mir will remember to add paneer next time.
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Maria says
I'm actually a huge fan of both peas and fenugreek so I'm really excited to try this biryani with a difference. Looking at your clicks and the ingredients list, I know it will be an instant hit.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 I don't know what to say other than smile, Maria.
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Azlin Bloor says
Haven't met a biryani I didn't like and I absolutely love this vegetarian biryani! All those spices and flavours going in there - what a treat!Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 Thanks, Azlin. Bon Appetit.
Reply
Uma Srinivas says
Biryani with methi leaves sounds amazing! We must incorporate methi leaves during wintertime as much as possible. This idea of using methi leaves in biryani is so interesting!Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Uma.
Reply
Lata Lala says
Methi matar biryani looks awesome and intresting as well. We love methi malai matar and would love to try this yours combo as well. The clicks are making me drool.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Lata.
Reply
Poonam bachhav says
Adding methi matar combo in a biryani soundd interesting ! I love the addition of aromatic freshly ground spice masala with coconut, poppy seeds, fennel seeds. Sounds absolutely flavorful ! Can't wait to try my hand on this biryani .Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Poonam.
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Seema Sriram says
This is a very detailed recipe Archana. So glad to see all the biriyani doubts answered. I will surely try this once methi is back in the market, cant find any now here.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Seema
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Bless my food by Payal says
Peas are very common in biryani but adding methi is a unique idea. Never heard of using methi in rice ever. Really a worth trying recipe.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thank you.
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Padma Veeranki says
This is such a lovely combo....I make methi malai matar but never made biryani. You have explained it in so much detail answering all related questions! Looks so delicious ????Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Padma.
Reply
Priya Srinivasan says
Methi matar biriyani looks delish arch!!! Saw your web stories on this one ! Reading the difference between pulao and biriyani, i have never made a biriyani now! Love the details of the recipe! Would love to try this for a weekend lunch !Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
thanks, Priya definitely a weekend recipe 😀
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Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
What a detailed recipe this is Archana and love all the information you have provided. I love cooking with methi and this will be even more delicious with fresh homegrown methi. I have a batch of seeds sown and I will definitely be making this recipe.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 homegrown methi is definitely make this biryani yum.
Reply
Shobha Keshwani says
Looks so flavourful with all the masalas added to it. My hubby is a biriyani fan. I will make this for him. Variations are always preferred and enjoyed by everyone.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 thanks, Shobha.
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Neha says
The combination of methi and matar is always a big hit. I have always have been enjoying methi pulao but yesterday I tried this recipe of methi matar biryani. It turned out awesome. So flavorful!! Methi and the masala paste are the epitome of this biryani.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Neha. Glad you enjoyed it!
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Priya Vj says
Your write up on biryani literally made me to salivate and I started dreaming of biryani and just scrolled past the recipe...heheh... I scrolled up and read how u have made methi matar biryani and now I totally craving for one ..how I wish this pic could come alive to meReply
ArchanaPotdar says
We can make it when we meet. Will definitely like your take on it.
Reply
Mina Joshi says
Who doesn't love Biryani? Yours looks so delicious. This one has such healthy ingredients like fenugreek that it would certainly be a winner in my home.Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Do try it, Mina.
Reply
sizzlingtastebuds says
the history of these dishes in this post made for such interesting read, archana. the methi matar combo seems to shine through in this delish biryani!Reply
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Kalyani.
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