By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 12, 2026
Serves 4
631 cal · 25 min
Nasi Biryani
Recipe GLPR2fedcb7554f647
A fragrant Indian-style rice dish featuring aromatic spices, toasted cashews, golden raisins, and crispy fried shallots. Infused with rose essence and turmeric, this vegetarian biryani delivers layers of flavor with every bite. Perfect as a main course or side dish.
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Ingredients
2¼ cups (450g) basmati rice
3 tablespoons butter
3 cardamom pods
½ cup (70g) raw cashew nuts
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup (80g) golden raisins
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 star anise pods
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon rose essence or kewra water
2½ cups (600ml) water
1 tablespoon hot water (for turmeric mixture)
1 tablespoon water (for rose essence mixture)
Directions
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the sliced shallots and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they turn golden brown and crispy. Transfer the fried shallots to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and reserve for garnish.
In the same pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, and cardamom pods. Toast the spices for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring gently, until they become fragrant.
Add the basmati rice to the pot and stir well to coat the grains evenly with the butter and spices. Stir in the golden raisins.
Pour in the 2½ cups (600ml) of water and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil, then season with salt. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until the water is completely absorbed by the rice.
Once the water is absorbed, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
While the rice cooks, prepare the garnishing mixtures. In a small dish, stir the ground turmeric with 1 tablespoon of hot water until smooth. In another small dish, mix the rose essence or kewra water with 1 tablespoon of water.
Carefully sprinkle both the turmeric mixture and the rose essence mixture over the cooked rice. Using a fork or spatula, gently fluff the rice to incorporate the mixtures and distribute them evenly throughout.
Cover the pot and let the rice rest for 10 minutes off the heat to allow the flavors to fully develop and blend.
Toast the cashew nuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly golden. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Transfer the biryani to a serving dish. Garnish generously with the crispy fried shallots and toasted cashew nuts. Serve hot as a main course or alongside your favorite meat curry.
Comments
This dish is a special-occasion choice rather than a weeknight fallback. Cardamom pods, star anise, and rose essence are not routine pantry items at Charlotte chains—you'll need a trip to an Indian or Asian grocer like Penzey's Spices or an international aisle at Kroger or Harris Teeter, which adds real friction to a 25-minute promise. The ingredient list itself is cheap (basmati, cashews, raisins run $8–10 total for four), but 25 minutes is a lie: proper biryani requires soaking rice and blooming spices in hot oil, then a layered steam that alone takes 15–20 minutes, pushing honest time to 40–45 minutes. The upside is that it reheats beautifully and the technique is forgiving once you commit, making it worth the setup for a weekend project or when you're already buying from a specialty market.
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