Make this delicious mixed vegetable pulao/pulav in Instant Pot with homemade pulao masala! Be it for a quick meal or potluck or weekend brunch; this veg pulao will surely be a crowd-pleaser.
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I love mixed vegetable pulao, so does my family. It’s one of my go-to recipes for our everyday meals, weekends, and potlucks also. I have a simple no-onion no-garlic pulao recipe on my blog and a few other ones. I will link them down below.
Homemade veg pulao masala
For this vegetable pulao, I made my own pulao masala. And it’s quite easy to make. All we need to do is roast the spices quickly and grind it coarsely. You can use it for other curries and gravies instead of garam masala.
Let’s get straight into the recipe. Please check the recipe card for the ingredients and the measurements.
How to make vegetable pulao in Instant Pot
Prepare the pulao masala-
- Heat a pan and when the pan is hot, add the green cardamom, cloves, star anise, peppercorns, cinnamon piece, and dry roast for 30 to 45 seconds. We don’t need to roast for a long time. We are roasting here for just bringing out the flavor. Let it cool for a bit and grind it coarsely and set it aside. You can make it well ahead and store it in an air-tight container also.
Soak the rice- Rinse the basmati rice thoroughly and soak the rice for 20 to 30 minutes.
Make the pulao-
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and when the display shows hot, add the oil. Wait for 20 seconds and then add the shah jeera—Fry for 20 seconds. Then add the green chilies and chopped onions. Saute until the onions turn soft for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and mint leaves—Cook for two minutes.
- Now add the mixed vegetables, ground pulao masala, and salt.
- Next, drain the water from the basmati rice and add the rice and the water. Mix gently.
- Press the cancel button, 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 pulav to cool for 5 minutes. Then fluff it up with a fork or spatula.
- Serve it hot with your favorite curry or raita.
Recipe Notes
- You can use black cardamom while making the pulao masala. In that case, reduce the green cardamom to 2 instead of 4.
- Adjust the green chili, salt, and veggies used as per your preference.
- Rice preset always worked for me, but you can also try cooking the rice for 3 to 4 minutes at high-pressure mode and quickly release pressure after 5 minutes.
- I did not add any garlic. You can add fresh garlic (2 to 3 cloves) and add it along with the onion. Or you can also use ginger-garlic paste, and you can add 1 tsp of ginger-garlic paste along with onions.
- Make sure to chop the veggies slightly big so that it doesn’t become mush.
- This is a rice pulao, but you can also use millets or quinoa. Do checkout my Instant Pot millet pulao for timing and details.
- Like ginger and garlic, I skipped bay leaf. You can add 1 dried bay leaf along with shah jeera.
- Soaking the rice for 20 to 30 minutes yields non-mushy rice and nicely done grainy rice.
- The amount of water depends upon the quality and age of the rice. I have used 1.25 cups of water for 1 cup of basmati rice.
Stove-top pressure cooker version of veg pulao
I made this veg pulao in Instant Pot, but you can also make it in a stove-top pressure cooker. You first temper and add onions and saute them in a pressure pan or cooker. Then add the veggies, rice, and salt and pressure cook for just one whistle over medium flame. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Then release the pressure naturally. You can also try cooking for two whistles and turn off the heat and release the pressure after 5 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Fragrant rice varieties work best. I highly recommend aged long grain basmati rice for the vegetable pulao. But you can also try it with regional rice varieties like seeraga samba, Gobindo bhog, etc.
No. Vegetable pulao is mostly a one-pot dish, and it’s mild too. In contrast, we marinate and cook the vegetables and rice separately for the traditional biryani, arrange them in layers, and slow cook them over low heat. You can find several regional biryani varieties, and it’s all about spices and cooking techniques when it comes to the biryani.
It’s a flavorful and easy one-pot dish loaded with vegetables making it a perfect meal for lunch or dinner. It’s great for lunch boxes and perfect for parties and potlucks. As it’s mild compared to biryani, it’s a great kid-friendly dish.
More pulao recipes from the blog!
PS – If you try this Instant Pot veg pulao, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it asap. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates.
📖 Recipe
Vegetable Pulao | Instant Pot Veg Pulao | Easy Veg Pulav
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
- wok or kadai to roast the spices
- Mixer jar or coffee grinder to grind the spices
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml; 1 tsp=5ml;
For the pulao masala-
- 4 green cardamoms
- 2 cloves
- 1- star anise
- 2- inch cinnamon piece
- 10 whole peppercorns
For the pulao
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp shah jeera you can use cumin seeds also
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 3 green chilies slit or to taste
- ⅓ cup mint leaves loosely packed
- 1.5 cup mixed veggies I used green peas, carrot, green beans, potatoes, and cauliflower. Cut into slightly big chunks
- 2 tsp salt or to taste
- 2 tbsps finely chopped cilantro
- 2 cups basmati rice rinsed and soaked for 20 to 30 minutes
- 2.5 cups water
Instructions
Prepare the pulao masala-
- Heat a pan and when the pan is hot, add the green cardamom, cloves, star anise, peppercorns, cinnamon piece, and dry roast for 30 to 45 seconds. We don’t need to roast for a long time. We are roasting here for just bringing out the flavor. Let it cool for a bit and grind it coarsely and set it aside. You can make it well ahead and store it in an air-tight container also.
Make the pulao-
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and when the display shows hot, add the oil. Wait for 20 seconds and then add the shah jeera—Fry for 20 seconds. Then add the green chilies and chopped onions. Saute until the onions turn soft for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and mint leaves—Cook for two minutes.
- Now add the mixed vegetables, ground pulao masala, and salt.
- Next, drain the water from the basmati rice and add the rice and the water. Mix gently.
- Press the cancel button, 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 pulav to cool for 5 minutes. Then fluff it up with a fork or spatula.
- Serve it hot with your favorite curry or raita.
Notes
- You can use black cardamom while making the pulao masala. In that case, reduce the green cardamom to 2 instead of 4.
- Adjust the green chili, salt, and veggies used as per your preference.
- Rice preset always worked for me, but you can also try cooking the rice for 3 to 4 minutes at high-pressure mode and quickly release pressure after 5 minutes.
- I did not add any garlic. You can add fresh garlic (2 to 3 cloves) and add it along with the onion. Or you can also use ginger-garlic paste, and you can add 1 tsp of ginger-garlic paste along with onions.
- Make sure to chop the veggies slightly big so that it doesn’t become mush.
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.
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HiVidhya,
Tried instant pot pulao and it turned out really good! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much. Glad you liked it.
Not clear as regards the cooking of rice. You started with draining the water?
I soaked the rice and then I drained the water and discarded that water. After adding the veggies, I added the rice into the Instant Pot and then added water again. I hope this helps.
Veg pulao looks so delicious and perfectly cooked with grains separate. Love how you effectively use Instant pot. I have been thinking long time to get instant pot.
Please do get one. You will love it.
I am relatively new to Instant pot and exploring it. Have made pulao, but used the pressure cook mode for 1-2 minutes. With the Rice mode, it goes for a lot of minutes, like 15+, so was worried. I think I will give it a try, as your pulao looks perfectly cooked and each grain separate.
I always resort to rice mode these days. Please do try.
Perfectly cooked pulao. Each grain standing out. I always use manual for 4 minutes and qr at 5 minutes. Works well for me. I should try ‘rice’ option too. The homemade masala sounds flavorful.
Thanks Harini.
The Pulao has an excellent texture Srividhya, so well made!..I would love to make this one sometime..good share!
Thanks much Valli.
Except for one or two spices , my recipe is quite the same as yours . I normally cook rice in a rice cooker and they come out very good .
Pulaos are hubby’s favourite and everytime I make it’s a new recipe , but I cant click them in routine . The basic pulao is healthy , quick and a delight to cook as well as eat .
Thanks Vaishali. A Rice cooker is an easy way to cook the rice. Now that I have the Instant Pot, I let go of my rice cooker.