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satvik pulao

INSTANT POT SATVIC VEGETABLE PULAO

It is a delicious, mildly spiced, no-onion, no-garlic one-pot dish, with lots of vegetables and fragrant Basmati rice, flavored with an array of spices infused in each grain of the pulao. It is best served with any raita like boondi raita, cucumber raita or just plain yogurt but if making vegan, just a side of some salad or juice is suffice.
Course Brunch, Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Author Vanitha Bhat

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups Basmati rice
  • Vegetables – about 1 to 1 ½ cups diced or chopped carrots, green beans, cauliflower, green peas, corn etc.
  • Tomatoes – 2 small
  • 1 to 2 green chilies/Serrano peppers
  • 3 tablespoon oil
  • 1 teaspooon jeera/cumin seeds
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 1 piece cinnamon stick
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • 3-4 tsp coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon haldi/turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 cups hot water

Instructions

  1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil (or a mixture of oil and ghee if not vegan) in the inner pot of Instant Pot on “Sauté”
  2. When the oil is hot, add 1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds, 3-4 cloves, 1 small piece of cinnamon and 2 green cardamoms.
  3. Let it aromatize the oil for a few seconds and then sprinkle ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper powder and 3 teaspoons coriander powder. Stir to coat with oil and fry a bit.
  4. Add the tomato puree.
  5. Mix well and sauté or fry, stirring continuously until the oil starts to separate from the mixture.
  6. Toss in the drained basmati rice along with grated ginger (1 teaspoon) and mix.
  7. Fry this on medium heat, stirring often to toast the rice a bit, scraping the bottom as you do.
  8. When fairly toasted, add the veggies (fresh or frozen) and ½ cup yogurt if using. Mix well.
  9. Add 2 cups hot water and 1 ½ teaspoons or to taste salt.
  10. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot while mixing as you do not want burnt or stuck portions at the bottom; they will burn in your stove top pressure cooker and give a “BURN” signal on your instant pot while pressure cooking.
  11. Turn the sauté button off, TURN THE VENT TO SEAL and pressure cook on “HIGH” for exactly 5 minutes.
  12. After 5 minutes, press “cancel” button and NPR (naturally pressure release) for about 10 minutes.
  13. (If using stove top pressure cooker, let the pressure drop naturally).
  14. After 10 minutes, QPR or quickly release the pressure manually in the Instant Pot.
  15. Let the pulao sit in the pot for a good 15 minutes to allow for any excess moisture to be absorbed and then open.
  16. Fluff the pulao gently using a spatula, taking care not to break the rice grains as much as possible.
  17. That is it! Time to dig into mouthwatering, mildly spiced yet super delicious and quick to make satvik vegetable pulao.
  18. This easy dish makes for a perfect lunch or dinner dish and perfect as a lunchbox option too.
  19. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

  • Adjust the amount of spices according to personal taste. This recipe makes for a mild pulao; feel free to increase the amount of spices if you want.
  • Try and use aged Basmati rice for best results. You can use regular rice too instead of Basmati rice.
  • Use the same measuring cup for rice and hot water.
  • Soaking Basmati rice is optional but recommended.
  • Do not try and mix “hot from the pot”, just cooked pulao;  the grains will be so soft, may break and the pulao may turn mushy. Wait at least 15 minutes before fluffing up the pulao.
  • Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot before turning up the pressure to avoid “BURN” sign on your instant pot.