Easy Vegetable Pilau Rice

Easy Vegetable Pilau Rice recipe is a classic Indian takeaway favorite, cooked with whole spices and vegetables of your choice. It’s Delicate, Aromatic, and Oh so easy!!  Do you love your yellow pulav rice but always worry, it is too difficult?

Let me tell you, this Pulao rice is so quick and easy to make, that you will never go back to takeaways again! My kids always request for this version of Veg Pulao rice along with a chilled glass of Mango Lassi !

VEGETABLE PILAU RICE RECIPE

We love Pilau rice at home – Be it Yellow Rice or this mixed vegetable pulav rice!  It is a total misconception that this dish is so complicated to make.

But let me tell you, this Pilau is one of the easiest recipes that you can make with Basmati rice. Serve it along with curries and poppadoms. For cooking steaming plain white rice, I have got you covered with a post on How to cook Basmati Rice?

Growing up in India, Pulao rice has always been a part of our weekend menu at home. The beauty of this dish is that it requires only whole spices to lend fragrance to the rice. It’s delicate, aromatic, and tasty that we would always reach out for a second serving!  My mum always made it in the pressure cooker like this Instant Pot Pulao Rice Recipe.

She also makes the BEST SABUDANA KHICHDI TOO! 

However, after moving to the UK, I came across so many interpretations of the same dish in restaurants and takeaways. It’s also known by so many names – Pilav, Pulao, Pulav, Pilau, Pilaf … But I still like our version of this simple Pilau rice that’s super quick and tastier than Indian takeaways. Moreover, this rice is ready in less than 30 minutes!

It tastes fantastic with my Easy Vegan Chickpeas Tikka Masala or Palak Paneer  or Saag Aloo too and a bowl of Cucumber Raita for a complete meal!

This recipe is one of the first recipes on Sandhya’s Kitchen published in June 2010. 

WHY MAKE THIS RECIPE?

 Ready in less than 30 minutes

 Super Quick and Easy

 Handful of ingredients

 Freezer friendly recipe

 Delicious as a STANDALONE recipe too!

The perfect partner to all your curries

Ideal for lunchboxes

HOW TO MAKE OUR EASY PEASY PILAU RICE

To make our Perfect Pilau Rice Recipe, you’ll need only a handful of ingredients

Basmati Rice

Whole Spices

Butter or Ghee

Mixed Vegetables – I like to use a mix of quick-cook vegetables like carrots, peas and sweetcorn. To speed up the process, I use a frozen vegetable mix that’s already in my freezer.  You can use any combo of vegetables though – ideally quick-cook!

Once the ingredients are sorted, its really simple to cook our perfect pulao.

Don’t want to make your rice with lots of vegetables, use just Mushrooms and make our One-Pot Mushroom Pilau Rice.

TIPS & SUGGESTIONS

Rinse the Rice well – No matter what type of rice you use, I will recommend rinsing the rice at least 5-6 times until clear.

Use Quick Cook Vegetables – I prefer to use any of the quick cook vegetables. And also cut the vegetables to a similar size. This step ensures the vegetables cook well.

Butter or Ghee lends the wonderful buttery texture and flavor to this rice dish. Do not skip it in the recipe. For a vegan alternative, use Vegan Butter or Olive Oil.

Easy to Scale Recipe – This recipe can be doubled or Tripled easily. Remember for every cup of rice, add 2 cups of liquid.

Serve this 30 minutes vegetable pulao with your favorite curries or use it as a stuffing inside your butternut squash, tomatoes, or even peppers.

To Make Pulao without Onion-  You will still love this dish. We do make it often without onions too!

IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE, YOU WILL ALSO LOVE

Homemade Nando’s spicy rice

Indian Cauliflower rice

Easy Yellow Pilau rice recipe

Mushroom rice

HAVE YOU MADE THIS RECIPE?

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Pulao recipe | Veg pulao recipe | Vegetable pulao | pulav recipe

Easy Veg Pilau Rice Recipe

5 from 18 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 3 People

Calories: 383kcal

Author: Sandhya Hariharan

Try this quick and easy Veg Pulav Rice – So much better than takeaways and oh so tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 Cup Basmati Rice – 300g
• 2 1/2 Cup Water – 600ml
• 100 g mixed vegetables – carrots, peas & sweetcorn
• 1 large white Onion sliced optional
• 1 Green Chilli, slit optional
• 2 Tbsp Butter or Ghee
• Salt to taste

Whole Spices

• 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 Bayleaf
• 3 Cardamom, crushed
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 inch Cinnamon Stick
• 3 Cloves
• 1 Black Cardamom
• 1 Black Peppercorn

Instructions

• Wash the rice at least 5 – 6 times until water runs clear. Soak them in enough water for 30 minutes. Drain the rice.
• Heat Unsalted Butter or Ghee in a medium sized pot.  Add Bayleaf, cinnamon, cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves and saute for 2 minutes, until fragrant.
• Add sliced white onions, green chilli (optional ) and cook them in low flame until soft and not brown.
• Add the drained rice and saute them for 2 minutes until rice is toasty and has coated with onions and spices.
• Add the vegetables and salt. Stir together for 1 minute.
• Add Water and bring it to boil. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to the low setting. Cook for 8- 10 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.
• Turn the heat off completely  and leave the lid on the pot for another 5 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff the rice with fork and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 68.9g | Protein: 6.7g | Fat: 8.6g | Saturated Fat: 5.1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 193mg | Potassium: 222mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2mg

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: pilau rice, rice recipes

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