Veg Pulao Recipe | Veg Pulav | Rice Pilaf
This Veg Pulao Rice | Veg Pulav | Rice Pilaf is a delicious and aromatic one-pot wholesome meal. Enjoy this veg pulao by itself or along with some curry or yogurt raita. Pulao is also known by other names like Pulav, Pilaf, Polow or Pilau.
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 2 tbsp ghee/ oil
- Whole spices (2 bay leaves, 2 cloves, 5 peppercorns, 3 green cardamoms, 1 star anise, 1-inch cinnamon stick)
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
- 1/4 inch grated or finely chopped ginger/ginger paste
- 1 tsp finely chopped garlic/garlic paste
- 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped french beans
- 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
- 1/2 cup mixed vegetables, carrots, sweet corn kernels, lima beans, green peas
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala/pulao masala
- Salt, to season
- 2 cups water/vegetable stock
- Cilantro/Coriander leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes in water, drain and keep aside.
- Heat ghee in a deep bottomed pan, add bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorn, and star anise, sauté till the spices release their aroma.
- Add sliced onions and sauté on low heat until translucent.
- Add finely chopped ginger garlic ( or you can even add ginger garlic paste), sauté until the raw aroma of ginger garlic is gone.
- Add chopped tomatoes, sauté on low heat until it turns mushy.
- Add all the chopped vegetables and saute for a minute.
- Add all the spices on low heat and mix well.
- Add the washed and drained rice and sauté gently for about a minute taking care not to break the rice grains.
- Add 2 cups of water/vegetable stock
- Add salt to season and stir again. Check the seasoning by tasting the water, it should taste salty, if not you may need to add a little more salt. Let the rice cook with the lid covered on low heat. It takes about 10 minutes
- Once cooked, let it sit undisturbed for 10-15 minutes, then gently fluff with a fork.
- Garnish with cilantro (optional). Serve with raita/any curry of your choice or simply relish it as it is.
Notes
- You can use any vegetables you wish to.
- Adjust the spices to suit your spice level, the above quantities of spice powders yields a very mildly spiced rice. If you like a spicy veg pulao, increase the chilli powder, also add some chopped green chillies.
- For a simple pulao recipe without vegetables: omit the veggies i.e. skip steps 5 to 7, you may add or skip adding spice powders too. You may add tomatoes if you wish to.
- Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml