Vegetable pulao

I love no fuss pulao recipe, especially when it all can be made in one pot and under 30 mins. It is so easy to experiment with pulao recipes. You can make it to any flavor by adding the spices you like. You can make it in microwave oven, pressure cooker or simply right on the stove.

I enjoy my fair share of variety rice recipes. Do check my other pulao recipes.

In this recipe I am including coconut milk for that fair looking restaurant style pulao. The rice is flavored with whole spices like anistar, cardamom and bay leaf. I skipped tomato in this pulao to keep the color white.

I am making this recipe in my le creuset pot. But the same recipe can be translated to microwave or instant pot version.

Preparation time - 15 mins

Cooking time - 20 mins

Serves - 4

Ingredients

• Coconut oil / Ghee - 2 tbsp

• Whole spices

  • Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

  • Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

  • Bay leaf - 2

  • Anistar - 2 or 3

  • Cinammon stick - 1 inch stick

  • Cardamom pods - 4

• Green chilli - 4 slit across

• Onion - 1 cup | Finely chopped

• Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp | Crushed

• Vegetables - Carrot and beans | 1.5 cup | diced

• Basmati rice - 2 cups

• Salt - to taste

• Coconut milk - 1/2 cup

DIrection

1. Start by washing the basmati rice. Then soak it in 2 cups of water for 15 mins.

2. Meanwhile dice up carrot and beans into desired sizes.

3. Heat a pot, when the pot is hot add in oil or ghee. When it is smoking, add in the whole spices listed above.

4. Wait for the aroma to be released, make sure to monitor the temperature of the pan, we do not want burnt spices.

5. When nice aroma is released, add in the cashew nut and stir for few seconds.

6. To that add in onion, and sprinkle some salt over the top. Saute until the onion turns translucent.

7. Later add in the diced vegetables and add little water and cover it with the lid.

8. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetable are almost done. Note, not completely done.

9. Then drain water from basmati rice and add it to the vegetable masala mix.

10. Stir for a minute and to that add in the drained water and salt. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes.

11. While the pot is still damp with little water, add in coconut mix. Mix carefully and cover the pot with lid again. Cook for 5 more mins on low heat or until all moisture is absorbed by the rice.

Open the pot and enjoy hot pulao with any paneer dishes.

Note

1. Instead of vegetables if fenugreek leaves is added, it is methi pulao. If paneer and peas is added it paneer peas pulao. You get my idea right?

2. I added coconut for flavor, you can also add regular whole milk.

3. By adding coconut oil along with coconut milk, this can be made completely vegan.

4. Channa masala is also a surprising a delicious combination for pulao.

5. Be sure to know how much water is required for the type of rice you are using. We are looking for a cooked yet separate grains. That’s why soaking the rice before cooking helps getting desired texture.

6. Also a pro tip- add a tbsp of oil while cooking the rice if you are pressure cooking the rice separately.