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Veg Pulao Recipe in Pressure Cooker (No Onion No Garlic Rice Recipe)
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Vegetable Pulao Recipe (Instant Pot and Stove Top)

Vegetable Pulao is an easy Indian Vegetarian Main Course Rice recipe made with Basmati Rice, Mixed Vegetables and whole spices. Step-by-step Recipe Instructions to cook vegetable pulao on Stove Top Pressure Cooker and Instant Pot. Easy weeknight dinner best served with Raita, Dal or curry.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Instant Pot Vegetable Pulao, Veg Pulao Recipe in Pressure Cooker, vegetable pulao recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 3 people
Author Vidya Narayan

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker and Instant Pot

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Basmati Rice
  • 2 cups Mixed Vegetables (Beans, Carrot, Potato, Cauliflower and Peas)
  • 1 Onion medium size, sliced
  • 1 tbsp Ghee or Clarified Butter
  • 1 tsp Jeera or Cumin Seeds
  • 3 Bay Leaf or Tej Patta
  • 1 tsp Black Peppercorns
  • 6 Cloves
  • 5 Dalchini or Cinnamon Sticks (2.5" length)
  • 2 Green Cardamom or Chhoti Eliachi
  • 1 Black Cardamom or Badi Eliachi
  • Water Read Notes below
  • Salt to taste

1 cup is 250 ml, 1 tbsp is 15 ml and 1 tsp is 5 ml.

Instructions

Prepping Rice

  • Wash and soak 1 cup of Basmati Rice for 15 - 20 mins. Ensure you rinse the rice until the water runs clear and discard the water used for soaking.

Stove Top Pressure Cooker Instructions (without onion)

  • Heat a pan, add ghee, cumin seeds, whole spices. Sauté well until the spices release their aroma.
  • Add the mixed vegetables, sauté and then add the soaked and drained rice.
  • Mix well. Be gentle while mixing to prevent the rice grains from breaking. Switch off the flame.
  • Transfer the contents to a pressure cooking vessel, add water, salt to taste, mix once and then cover with a lid and pressure cook for 4 whistles on high.
  • Once the pressure is released, allow the pulao to cool slightly before fluffing it with a fork. Serve hot.

Instant Pot Instructions (with Onion)

  • Read the Instructions for Prepping the Rice (above)
  • Switch on the Instant Pot, Press Sauté Mode. Once its hot, add ghee or clarified butter, cumin and whole spices.
  • Once the spices and cumin have roasted, add onions, mixed vegetables and Basmati rice (soaked and drained). Switch off Sauté Mode. Mix well, add water and salt to taste
  • Cover the Instant Pot Lid, Turn the vent to sealing and pressure cook on Low for 6 minutes followed by 10 mins of NPR. Press Cancel.
  • Release the balance pressure manually, Open the lid and fluff the rice using fork.

Video

Notes

Rice to Water Ratio 
For Instant Pot - I have used 1 : 1 and 1/4 cup Water 
For Stove Top Pressure Cooker, 1 cup of rice : 1 and 1/2 cups water
Notes for Pressure Cooking 
  1. I have used a 10 litre pressure cooker for this recipe. Water is added at the bottom and the pressure cooker safe stainless steel vessels are kept one above the other. (holds 3 - 4 vessels, depending on size). Hence it requires a pan to sauté the ingredients before placing it for cooking inside the pressure cooker. 
  2. If using a small cooker (2 litre pressure cooker), you can directly sauté and pressure cook. Also, cook the rice for 1 whistle and allow further cooking for 5 - 10 mins on low flame. Cook Time can depend on size of cooker / model / make etc. Use your judgement. 
Notes for Instant Pot Cooking
  1. Always press cancel once pressure cooking is complete. If the Instant Pot goes in keep warm mode, the rice can stick to the bottom if kept longer. 
  2. To avoid burn signal, always deglaze the pot with water and push the rice below liquids before pressure cooking. 
Alternate Rice Varieties and Cook Timings 
If using Short Grain or Long Grain Brown Rice - Use 1 and 1/2 cups of water for every cup of rice and Pressure cook on High for 22 minutes followed by a natural pressure release of 15 mins. 
For Sona Masoori Short Grain White Rice - Use 1 & 3/4 cup water for every cup of rice. For very firm grains, use 1 and 1/2 cups of water. Pressure Cook on High for 5 minutes followed by NPR of 15 mins. This ratio works for Kolam, Ambe Mohar and Ponni Rice as well. 
General Notes 
  1. When chopping vegetables for pulao, ensure the pieces are thicker to prevent them from getting mushy while pressure cooking. 
  2. Adjust the whole spices according to your taste buds and / or availability. 
  3. If you don't stock whole spices in your kitchen, you could also add store bought biryani pulav masala (approximately 2 tsps) to this recipe. Add it while the rice and vegetables are sautéed in ghee and cumin seeds. 
  4. Soaking the rice is not mandatory but as a thumb rule, I highly recommend and follow the same. It is one of the best ways to ensure non-sticky rice texture. 
  5. Vegetable Pulao can be made in two ways - With and without onion, using 2 methods of cooking - Stove top pressure cooker and Instant Pot. 
  6. The timings given are based on time required by IP and pressure cooker to sauté, develop pressure, cook and cool. 
  7. The recipe is Gluten Free. 
  8. For a Vegan Recipe, substitute ghee with neutral flavor oil. 
  9. The recipe does not contain nuts. It is also non-spicy, making it kid-friendly. No chilies are used. 
  10. This recipe is perfect for kids lunch box, office lunch as it gets done quickly and is filling as well. Some plain or flavored yogurt and cucumbers or carrots would make it a complete meal. 
Meal Prep / Storage 
  1. The recipe can be easily doubled if you are meal prepping for the week. 
  2. Once the pulao has cooled, store it in an airtight container. It stays fresh in the refrigerator for a week and longer when stored in freezer. 
  3. It can be re-heated in a microwave and on stove-top in a pan. While re-heating drizzle some ghee for flavor.