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    Home » Biryani » Chettinad Vegetable Biryani ~ Tamil Nadu Special

    Chettinad Vegetable Biryani ~ Tamil Nadu Special

    Posted on February 15, 2015 · Last Updated on October 4, 2020 · By Srividhya G · 22 Comments

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    chettinadu kaikari biryani in a white serveware with raita

    Chettinad vegetable biryani, popularly known as Chettinadu veg biryani or kaikari biryani, is one of the delicious Indian biryani recipes prepared with the unique spices of Chettinadu and with the seeraga samba rice. 

    chettinadu kaikari biryani in a white serveware with raita and a big hotcase with biryani on the side

    Of all the Tamil Nadu cuisines, my favorite is the Chettinadu cuisine. I don’t know if it’s the spices or the simple yet delicious recipes that make me say so. But yes, it’s my favorite. There are so many recipes that I can keep talking about them. 

    While Chettinadu cuisine is known for its meat-based dishes, I am going to share a vegetarian recipe today – the vegetarian version of the Chettinad biryani. 

    I made this recipe as part of the Indian Cooking Challenge, and I adapted the recipe from their blog. As always, I modified the spices as per our taste.  

    What makes this biryani unique? Of course, the traditional Chettinadu spices and the seeraga samba rice. These spices are the Chettinad cuisine’s identity, and these spices differentiate them from the other cuisines. The three main ones that we use in this biryani are-

    The Chettinadu Spices-

    Marathi Moggu | Indian Capers | Kapok Buds

    MarathiMoggu

    Marathi Moggu is a unique bud used in this recipe. It is the unopened flower bud of the Red Silk Cotton Tree. We also use it for bisibelebath. It is quite popular in South Indian cuisine.

    Kalpaasi | Black Stone Flower | Dagad Phool

    Kalpaasi

    Kalpaasi is yet another unique ingredient that adds fragrant to this biryani. This is also one of the key ingredients in the Maharashtrian Goda Masala. You can find it as dried flowers or in powdered form, and you can use either one. For this biryani, I went with the black stone flower powder.

    Star Anise

    StarAniseed

    Star Anise is a spice commonly called star anise, star anise seed, Chinese star anise as per wiki.  It has a licorice flavor. It has medicinal benefits also. Star anise is a good source of shikimic acid used in the manufacture of Tamiflu, a flu treatment. So it is used in herbal teas, medicinal concoctions. 

    Seeraga Samba Rice-

    SeeragaSambaRice

    For chettinadu biryani, we use Seeraga Samba Rice, which is flavorful small ovular grain rice, not the basmati rice. The Livestrong website has an article about this rice. It has a unique taste. We love it for all our biryani recipes, be it for Ambur biryani or brinji rice.

    The recipe is very straightforward, and please don’t get overwhelmed with the long list of ingredients. Along with onion, we use shallots or small onions. Every ingredient here plays a significant role in the flavor, so if you can source shallots, please use that. 

    Now without any further ado, let’s see how to make this Chettinad veg biryani.

    chetinnadu vegetable biryani in a hotcase and in a white serveware with raita

    One-Pot Chettinad vegetable biryani with detailed step-wise pictures-

    Prep-Work-

    • Wash the rice and soak it in 4 cups of water for 30 mts. 
    • Peel the onions and chop them and also the vegetables and tomatoes.
    • Break the green chilies into two and keep aside.
    • Clean the mint and remove the stems and chop the cilantro and set aside. 

     Biryani preparation-

    • Heat a pan or kadai and add the ghee. I used my Dutch-oven for this biryani preparation. 

    roasted cashews

    • When the ghee melts, add the cashews and fry until it turns light golden brown. Please remove it from the pan and set aside.

    chettinadu biryani preparation step set 1

    • Now in the same pan, add the ¼ cup oil. When it is hot, add the bay leaves, cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, marathi moggu/kapok bud, and the star anise. Saute for a minute.
    • Now add the onion and shallots and saute until the onion turns soft. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and green chilies and saute for a minute or until the ginger and garlic’s raw smell goes off. You can add the green chilies along with onions as well. 
    • Add chopped Mint and Cilantro (reserve some to garnish) to the pan and saute for 1 minute.

    Chettinady vegetable biryani step set 2

    • Add the mixed vegetables to the pan. Mix well and cook for 3 to 4 minutes – no need to cover. 
    • At this stage, add chopped tomatoes, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt, and Blackstone flower powder to the vegetables and mix well. Add ¼ cup of water and cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the tomatoes are slightly mushy.

    making chettinad biryani in open pot method

    • Now remove the lid and add 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
    • Now add the drained rice and cook for 5 minutes in high flame.
    • By now, the rice would have cooked 80% and, if required, drizzle the remaining ¼ more water and reduce the heat to low—cover and cook for 12 minutes.
    • Then turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.
    • Add the fried cashews and garnish it with cilantro and serve warm. 

    chettinadu kaikari biryani in a white serveware with raita

    Recipe Notes-

    • Adjust the salt, veggies, and spices as per your preference.
    • If using a black stone flower, the dried one, add it along with the tempering ingredients. 
    • We use ¼ cup of veggies for cooking the veggies and 4 cups of water for the rice. For one cup of seeraga samba rice, I went with 1 ⅓ cup of water. And if needed, add ¼ more cup of water, but you won’t need more than that. 

    Kaikari / Chettinadu veg biryani pressure cooker version-

    • You can also make this pressure cooker. Follow the same procedure till you add 4 cups of water. When the water boils, add the rice and pressure cook over medium heat cook for one whistle. After one whistle, reduce the heat to low(on a number scale 1) and cook for just 5 minutes. It acts as a DUM, but it is not mandatory. Allow the pressure to release naturally. After opening the pressure cooker lid, allow the rice to cool for 5 minutes and fluff it gently.

    More Veg Biryani Recipes to Explore-

    • Paneer biryani
    • Rawther biryani
    • Millet biryani
    • Thalaserry veg biryani

    PS – If you try this Chettinadu vegetable biryani, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it asap.  Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates.

    📖 Recipe

    chettinadu kaikari biryani in a white serveware with raita
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    5 from 2 votes

    Chettinad Vegetable Biryani ~ Tamil Nadu Special

    Chettinadu Vegetable Biryani recipe or the popular kaikari biryani prepared with seeraga samba rice! A delicious veg biryani recipe.
    Prep Time15 minutes mins
    Cook Time35 minutes mins
    Total Time50 minutes mins
    Course: Entree
    Cuisine: Chettinadu, TamilNadu
    Servings: 10
    Calories: 385kcal
    Author: Srividhya G

    Equipment

    • Saucepan or kadai or Dutch oven

    Ingredients

    Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1 tbsp=15ml; 1 tsp=5ml;

    For Cashew Tempering

    • 2 tbsp ghee
    • 15 grams cashew nuts

    To Temper-

    • ¼ cup oil
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 2- inch cinnamon stick
    • 4 green cardamoms
    • 6 cloves
    • 1 marathi moggu/kapok buds
    • 1- star anise

    Other Ingredients

    • 5 green chilies broken (adjust as per taste)
    • 15 shallots
    • ½ cup onion chopped
    • 2 tomatoes chopped (approx 175 grams)
    • 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
    • 3 cups of mixed vegetables (I used beans, carrot, peas, potatoes, and cauliflower
    • 1 tsp red chili powder
    • 1 tbsp coriander powder
    • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
    • ¼ tsp Blackstone flower powder
    • 1 cup mint leaves tightly packed
    • ¼ cup cilantro chopped
    • 1.25 tbsp salt or to taste
    • 3 cups seeraga sambar rice rinsed and soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained
    • 4.5 cup water

    Instructions

    Prep-Work-

    • Wash the rice and soak it in 4 cups of water for 30 mts.
    • Peel the onions and chop them and also the vegetables and tomatoes.
    • Break the green chilies into two and keep aside.
    • Clean the mint and remove the stems and chop the cilantro and set aside.

    Biryani preparation-

    • Heat a pan or kadai and add the ghee. I used my Dutch-oven for this biryani preparation.
    • When the ghee melts, add the cashews and fry until it turns light golden brown. Please remove it from the pan and set aside.
    • Now in the same pan, add the ¼ cup oil. When it is hot, add the bay leaves, cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, marathi moggu/kapok bud, and the star anise. Saute for a minute.
    • Now add the onion and shallots and saute until the onion turns soft. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and green chilies and saute for a minute or until the ginger and garlic's raw smell goes off. You can add the green chilies along with onions as well.
    • Add chopped Mint and Cilantro (reserve some to garnish) to the pan and saute for 1 minute.
    • Add the mixed vegetables to the pan. Mix well and cook for 3 to 4 minutes - no need to cover.
    • At this stage, add chopped tomatoes, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt, and Blackstone flower powder to the vegetables and mix well. Add ¼ cup of water and cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the tomatoes are slightly mushy.
    • Now remove the lid and add 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
    • Now add the drained rice and cook for 5 minutes in high flame.
    • By now, the rice would have cooked 80% and, if required, drizzle the remaining ¼ more water and reduce the heat to low—cover and cook for 12 minutes.
    • Then turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.
    • Add the fried cashews and garnish it with cilantro and serve warm.

    Notes

    • Adjust the salt, veggies, and spices as per your preference.
    • If using a black stone flower, the dried one, add it along with the tempering ingredients.
    • We use ¼ cup of veggies for cooking the veggies and 4 cups of water for the rice. For one cup of seeraga samba rice, I went with 1 ⅓ cup of water. And if needed, add ¼ more cup of water, but you won't need more than that.
    • Pressure Cooker Version-
    • You can also make this pressure cooker. Follow the same procedure till you add 4 cups of water. When the water boils, add the rice and pressure cook over medium heat cook for one whistle. After one whistle, reduce the heat to low(on a number scale 1) and cook for just 5 minutes. It acts as a DUM, but it is not mandatory. Allow the pressure to release naturally. After opening the pressure cooker lid, allow the rice to cool for 5 minutes and fluff it gently.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 993mg | Potassium: 414mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3286IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 4mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

    Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen
    For Video RecipesCheck out My YouTube Channel

    Update Notes – Updated the recipe with recipe cards and new pics in 2020.

    189 shares
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    Filed Under: Biryani, Variety Rice Tagged With: biriyani varieties, Chettinadu biryani, chettinadu spices, how to prepare chettinadu vegetable biriyani, Indian Cooking Challenge, seeraga samba biryani

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sangeeta says

      September 29, 2020 at 11:57 am

      Can we use basmati rice for this recipe? If yes, will anything else (cooking time, water quantity etc) change?

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        September 29, 2020 at 12:08 pm

        Yes, you can definitely use basmati rice. You can go with the same water measure ie for 1 cup use 1 1/3 cups of water. After the minutes of initial cooking, check the doneness of the rice and if needed water and then cover and cook accordingly. Keep checking after 8 minutes. If you are using a pressure cooker, you can use 1.25 cups of water and pressure cook for 1 whistle and reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat. I hope this helps.

        Reply
    2. Alboni says

      August 24, 2016 at 5:50 am

      Nice chetinad biriyani, perfectly cooked !!!

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        August 24, 2016 at 7:54 am

        Thanks a lot Alboni.

        Reply
    3. CHCooks says

      March 04, 2016 at 4:16 am

      This is simple awesome Sri.. Going to be making this very soon :)

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        March 04, 2016 at 8:09 am

        Wow you visited right away :-) Thanks a lot GB. Thanks a lot. I book marked you DGL biryani too. When I comment from phone I am not able to type lengthy ones. ;-)

        Reply
        • CHCooks says

          March 19, 2016 at 10:49 pm

          I’m making this for lunch today and shower excited :) Will let you know the result soon :)

          Reply
          • Srividhya G says

            March 20, 2016 at 7:00 am

            Oh wow awesome. Hope u all liked it.. Thanks ?

            Reply
    4. simplyvegetarian777 says

      May 27, 2015 at 2:47 pm

      This is absolutely delightful Vidhya! Will try soon. Love the detail on chettinad cuisine.

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        May 27, 2015 at 4:01 pm

        Thanks a ton Sonal. :-)

        Reply
    5. kowsika says

      May 26, 2015 at 7:12 am

      ya yummy

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        May 26, 2015 at 9:13 am

        Welcome here kowsika and thanks

        Reply
    6. skd says

      February 27, 2015 at 9:19 am

      I have learnt about two spices i never knew existed.

      Reply
      • srividhya says

        February 27, 2015 at 12:08 pm

        :-) Thanks

        Reply
    7. Vaayadi Pennu ;) says

      February 21, 2015 at 11:13 am

      ahha.. another of my fav.. and a recipe, love Biriyani.. will try it out when near a kitchen and let you know.. with pictures of course :)

      Reply
      • srividhya says

        February 21, 2015 at 6:20 pm

        Sure.. :-)

        Reply
    8. popgoesthebiscuit says

      February 16, 2015 at 1:38 pm

      Interesting, Never heard of these ingredients ya.

      Reply
      • srividhya says

        February 17, 2015 at 3:31 pm

        Thanks :-) Actually got to know about these from one of our chef friend.. He makes great chetinadu mushroom. Planning to post that soon :-)

        Reply
    9. Srivalli says

      February 15, 2015 at 10:11 pm

      Nice reading about your notes on Chettinad, will look forward to the pictures when you get your spices…glad you all liked it..

      Reply
      • srividhya says

        February 17, 2015 at 3:32 pm

        Yup.. Will update it tomorrow and will let you know.

        Reply
    10. Malar says

      February 15, 2015 at 2:13 pm

      You know what, I never know how to prepare briyani ;) That’s why I have no biriyani recipe in my blog…..This looks fabulous Sri!!! I don’t know that these spices are also used ;)

      Reply
      • srividhya says

        February 17, 2015 at 3:46 pm

        Try this one Malar.It is very easy and comes out really good. (He he recipe endu ella) And regarding the ingredients our chef friend was mentioning about these and I came to know about these. Lot to explore in Tamil cuisine itself pa

        Reply
    5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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