To all vegans, here is a spicy and delicious vegan biryani with tender jackfruit or raw jackfruit. Thanks to the Instant Pot, now you can make this delightful biryani in no time. Check out the vegan jackfruit biryani or the kathal biryani recipe below.
Last year, I got an opportunity to read and review the book – The Indian Vegetarian Cookbook by Dr. Pushpesh Pant published by Phaidon Press. I tried the bharwan gatte recipe, and I posted it on the blog along with my thoughts about the book. I tried a few other recipes as well, and one among them is the jackfruit biryani.
When I saw the biryani theme for this April month, I realized I have the right recipe for the alphabet “J.” The perfect title for this post would be tender jackfruit biryani, but during these A-Z recipe marathons, you need to play a bit with alphabets. Hence the name jackfruit biryani. It is popularly known as kathal biryani in kathal.
I adapted Dr. Pant’s recipe but made this biryani a vegan one and also made this in the Instant Pot. I know tender jackfruit is getting popular in the vegan world. You can use it as a plant-based meat substitute in many recipes. The unripe or the raw fruit has a neutral taste and pick up flavor well. I learned that the cooked tender jackfruit has a meat-like texture.
Tender Jackfruit:
Jackfruit is very popular in tropical countries and it is used widely in South and Southeast Asian cuisine. Tender jackfruit is the unripe or raw or young jackfruit. Even though you cannot use the ripe and sweet ones for savory recipes, you can use the seeds to make dry curries. Check my jackfruit seeds thoran recipe, jackfruit seeds gravy, jackfruit seeds sambar to learn how to use the seeds. Ripe jackfruits are very sweet and you can relish them as-is and also make kheers. I made the vegan jackfruit kheer with the ripe fruits.
Now coming back to tender jackfruit, you can find them during summer in abundance. There is a bit of cleaning involved. Raw jackfruits are quite sticky, and you need to remove the thorny outer layer and get the inner flesh. But these days you can find frozen ones and canned ones as well, and that’s what I did. :-) I do get tender jackfruit here in the Indian grocery stores, but for this recipe, I went with the frozen ones. Here is the picture of the same,
Now without any further ado, here is my jackfruit biryani recipe,
How to make kathal or raw jackfruit biryani in Instant Pot-
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 green cardamom
- 1 black cardamom
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2-inch cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup tender jackfruit, thawed to room temperature
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 ⅓ cup water
- 1 cup of rice
Steps:
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and with the display shows “HOT” add the oil.
- After 30 seconds, add the bay leaf, green cardamom, black cardamom, black peppercorns, cinnamon, and cloves — Fry for 30 seconds.
- Then add the chopped onion,ginger-garlic paste. Cook until the onion turns translucent.
- Next add the tender jackfruit, coriander powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, and salt.
- Mix well and cook for two to three minutes.
- Now add the water and mix thoroughly and make sure you scrape the bottom of the Instant Pot. Let it simmer for a minute.
- Next, add the rice and mix gently.
- Press the cancel button and then close the Instant Pot lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Press the “Rice” preset button and when the cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Carefully open the lid after releasing the pressure and allow the biryani to cool for 5 minutes. Then fluff it up with a fork. Serve hot with raita.
Recipe Notes-
- If you are using canned jackfruit, make sure you rinse the jackfruit thoroughly. Adjust salt according to the sodium level of the canned ones.
- Adjust the salt and spices according to your preference.
- If you don’t want to use the rice preset, cook the biryani in the manual high-pressure mode for 5 minutes and then release the pressure quickly after three minutes.
PS: If you try this Instant Pot Jackfruit Biryani recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate the recipe. Also, follow my YouTube Channel for new video recipes.
📖 Recipe
Jackfruit Biryani | Instant Pot Tender Jackfruit Biryani
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil preferably neutral oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 green cardamom
- 1 black cardamom
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2- inch cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 1 onion finely chopped
- ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup tender jackfruit if using frozen, thawed to room temperature
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 ⅓ cup water
- 1 cup rice soaked for 15 minutes and drained
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and with the display shows "HOT" add the oil.
- After 30 seconds, add the bay leaf, green cardamom, black cardamom, black peppercorns, cinnamon, and cloves — Fry for 30 seconds.
- Then add the chopped onion,ginger-garlic paste. Cook until the onion turns translucent.
- Next add the tender jackfruit, coriander powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, and salt.
- Mix well and cook for two to three minutes.
- Now add the water and mix thoroughly and make sure you scrape the bottom of the Instant Pot. Let it simmer for a minute.
- Next, add the rice and mix gently.
- Press the cancel button and then close the Instant Pot lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Press the “Rice” preset button and when the cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Carefully open the lid after releasing the pressure and allow the biryani to cool for 5 minutes. Then fluff it up with a fork. Serve hot with raita.
Notes
- If you are using canned jackfruit, make sure you rinse the jackfruit thoroughly. Adjust salt according to the sodium level of the canned ones.
- Adjust the salt and spices according to your preference.
- If you don't want to use the rice preset, cook the biryani in the manual high-pressure mode for 5 minutes and then release the pressure quickly after three minutes.
Nutrition
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.
Hi Vidhya,
This is a really good recipe. I tried this with the canned jackfuit from Trader Joes. It came out good.
But I would like to try the same with the frozen jackfruit. What is the brand you used for the frozen one ?
I am going to make it for a potluck so making sure I get the right one.
Thanks,
Rani
Thanks, Rani. I got the “daily delight” brand’s frozen jackfruit from Indian groceries.
Oh ok. Will try the “daily delights” brand. Is it called tender jackfruit ?
Yes. It says “Fresh Frozen Tender Jack” on the pack.
Biryani bowls are so inviting Vidya!! I too wanted to make this biryani and had bought the raw jackfruit from Indian store but it was too sweet and since no one is interested in it’s kheer, had to discard it.. Looking at your post, now I can buy the frozen ones for use. As I was in two minds whether to buy the frozen ones or not. Thanks for the lovely share.
Frozen ones works well for this recipe Swati. Please do try next time.
Very interesting and unique biryani with jackfruit. I never got a chance to taste it before . It looks absolutely delicious. Maybe , I should give this biryani a try.
Please do try Pavani. I am sure you will love it.
Some of the inspiration for this BM came to me from that book , too ! Personally I felt it should have had more (a lot of) pics and organised better.. this tender jackfruit is a vegan meat substitute is what i hear.. very well done !
Thanks much. :-)
Wow! What an amazing dish this is. I have never cooked basmati rice in the rice preset function. Also this biryani sounds so easy to make. Shall pick up the frozen tender jackfruit next time.
Thanks Harini. Use less water for the rice preset. It comes out well.
Always wanted to try this but somehow i dint and couldnt try out.. Yours have turned out so beautiful and really tempting!!
Thanks Sharmila. Please do try and I am sure you will like it.
Cleaning the baby jack fruit is such an intensive join. I would be glad if I could get frozen ones here. This is a wonderful sub for meat in recipes. The biryani looks fantastic Vidya.
Thanks Gayathri. :-)
Excellent choice Srividhya, I also made two versions with this fruit and we all enjoyed tit! Your pictures have come out so good..
Thanks much Valli. Lover your version as well.
Jackfruit is a tricky ingredient what i personally feel ;) Love this way to use jackfruit. Loving your rice series vidhya.
Thanks Priya.
Another jackfruit Biryani ! Yes the texture of this fruit is like meat and hence my aversion to it :(( .
I am sure people who like to eat jackfruit would love this Biryani ., the flavours are interesting .
oh ooo…I liked the texture and we make dry curries – thorans also. I think I got used to it. Thanks, Vaishali.
Jackfruit biryani looks too good. I am yet to try jackfruit in my dishes. Will try your dish sometime.
Thanks. Please try Sushma. I am sure you will love it.
Right now Pant’s book is sitting on my bed side table and I tried a stuffed vegetable dish recently. I did not think about checking the frozen section for jackfruit and did not think canned one would be suitable for this dish and gave up cooking this biryani. Biryani looks amazing. I have yet to try this and wondering how the jackfruit tastes here.
The book is amazing na? Suma, check the frozen aisle in Indian groceries. You can find these jackfruits. I prefer these than the canned ones.
Dear Vidhya. Thank you for this excellent recipe, it made a for a delicious meal! I want to make this for my parents but they don’t own a pressure cooker/ instant pot. Do you have any advice for cooking this without one? Many kind regards, Ro
Definitely, you can make it on stove-top. For 1 cup of rice, add 1.5 cups of water and once the water boils, add the rice and cook on high heat for 5 mts and reduce the heat to low and cover and cook for 10 to 12 mts.