Light and Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao

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Aug 20

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A **Light and Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao** is a great way to make vegetables not only appealing but essential at the dinner table. Plus, you can always add more veggies to your heart’s delight.

A Light and Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao is the perfect rice dish to serve with your favourite Indian dinners! This healthy rice pulao is loaded with an assortment of vegetables, and it’s cooked with aromatic spices and a bit of oil. We’re adding some green chilies to add some heat. This recipe will show you how to make this Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao by pan-frying the rice and by steaming it. I hope you try this out as a quick and nutritious side for your next Indian feast! Don’t forget to let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment down below! Enjoy!

What is a Pulao?

A pulao or pilaf is a fragrant Indian rice dish that is truly comforting and so satisfying! It’s a one-pot dish made with rice and vegetables, spices and fresh herbs. It’s one of the most common rice dishes in India, along with the many varieties of biryani.

I don’t make this vegetable pulao often but when I do I absolutely love it! It tastes so fresh and it’s super easy to prepare. You can honestly get this done in about 5 minutes once your rice is cooked! It’s a great way to get in plenty of healthy vegetables, and it’s excellent to pair with many Indian main dishes. This vegetable pulao is will only use a few ingredients so you can get this ready on the table in no time.

What’s the Difference Between Pulao and Biryani?

A pulao is a rice medley with vegetables, meat, or both. All the components are cooked together, and subtle aromatic spices are added. On the other hand, while a biryani could contain the same ingredients, the rice and the vegetables and/or meat are cooked separately, and then they are added together in the final plating. Therefore, a biryani is a much more involved dish than a pulao in terms of the number of ingredients used compared to a pulao. In addition, we add much more spices in a biryani. Lastly, biryanis take quite some time to cook and prepare, so they’re not a quick fix like a pulao is!

The Best Type of Rice for Healthy Vegetable Pulao

The best rice to use for a healthy vegetable pulao is Basmati rice. Because Basmati rice is a long grain rice, the grains will separate and the flavours of vegetables with the aromatic spices will spread throughout the vegetables. If you don’t have Basmati rice, then substitute with any long grain rice. Medium and short grain rice varieties have more starch and they become sticky, so those will not work for making a great pulao!

Is This Vegetable Pulao Spicy?

This vegetable pulao is not very spicy. What adds heat to the pulao is the green chilies. If you don’t want a spicy pulao, you can definitely omit it!

Ingredients for Light and Healthy Vegetable Pulao

Here is what you’ll need for this quick and healthy vegetable pulao:

Basmati rice
Ghee or oil
Onions
Carrot
Peas (fresh or frozen)
Green chili (optional)
Cumin seeds
Salt
Cilantro, for garrnish

How to Make Vegetable Pulao

Pan-Fried Method

1. To follow this method, you will required pre-cooked basmati rice. To do so, rinse 1 cup of rice and add to a pot. Then add about 2 cups of water. I tend to add just a bit less than 2 cups, to get the perfect separated, individual grains of rice.

2. Bring the water up to a boil on medium-high heat. Then turn heat down to low, cover, leaving a small slit open for steam to escape and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.

3. Once cooked, heat oil on medium heat and crackle cumin seeds until reddish brown. Add in green chilies and cook for 30 seconds.

4. Add onions and carrots with a pinch of salt, mix well and cook until the vegetables start to become soft, about 4-6 minutes. Then add the peas (frozen or fresh) and cook until soft.

5. Add rice and mix well until well coated with oil, vegetables and heated through.

6. Turn off the heat and season with salt to taste. Garnish with a squeeze of lime juice and some freshly chopped cilantro. Enjoy!

Steamed Method

1. Heat a pot on medium heat and crackle cumin seeds until reddish brown. Add in green chilies and cook for 30 seconds.

2. Add onions and carrots with a pinch of salt, mix well and cook until the vegetables start to become soft, about 4-6 minutes. Then add the peas (frozen or fresh) and cook until soft.

3. Then add rice and mix well until well coated with oil, sauté for about a minute. Add about 2 cups of water and bring the water up to a boil on medium-high heat. Then turn heat down to low, cover, leaving a small slit open for steam to escape and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.

4. Turn off the heat and season with salt, cilantro and lime juice.

What to Serve with Light and Healthy Vegetable Pulao

The possibilities to pair this vegetable pulao are endless! You can pair with nearly any raita or curry of your choice. Of course you could eat this pulao on its own if you wanted to! Here’s what I recommend:

Enjoy!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE Light and Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao HERE:

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!

veg pulao, vegetable pulao, vegetarian pulao, rice pulao, rice and vegetables

Indian, sides, rice, vegetarian

Indian, North Indian

Yield: 3 Cups

Author: Anadi

Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao | Easy Indian Rice Pulao w/ Peas & Carrots | Two Ways to Make Veg Pulaohttps://youtu.be/qN0WFq8Am00This healthy vegetable rice pualo is an easy Indian rice pulao made with peas, carrots, and onions. This recipe will show you how to make a quick nutritious vegetarian rice pulao using basmati rice. This vegetable rice pulao recipe will show you two cooking methods: how to make the vegetarian pulao steamed or pan-fried.2021-01-06

Light and Healthy Vegetable Rice Pulao

A light and healthy vegetable rice pulao is a great way to make vegetables not only appealing but essential at the dinner table. Plus, you can always add more veggies to your heart’s delight.

Prep time: 4 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 24 Min

Ingredients

1 Cup basmati rice
2 Tbsp ghee/olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 green chile
1/2 Cup carrot, finely diced
1 Cup onion, finely diced
1 Cup green peas (fresh or frozen)
1/2 Cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp lime juice
salt to taste

Instructions

Pan fried method

Rinse 1 cup of rice and add to a pot. Then add about 2 cups of water. I tend to add just a bit less than 2 cups, to get the perfect separated, individual grains of rice.
Bring the water up to a boil on medium-high heat. Then turn heat down to low, cover, leaving a small slit open for steam to escape and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.
Once cooked, heat a pan on medium heat and add oil and crackle cumin seeds, cook until reddish brown. Add in green chiles and cook for 30 seconds.
Add onions and carrots with a pinch of salt, mix well and cook until the vegetables start to become soft, about 4-6 minutes. Then add the peas (frozen or fresh) and cook until soft.
Add rice and mix well until well coated with oil, vegetables and heated through.
Turn off the heat and season with salt, cilantro and lime juice.

Steamed method

Heat a pot on medium heat and crackle cumin seeds until reddish brown. Add in green chiles and cook for 30 seconds.
Add onions and carrots with a pinch of salt, mix well and cook until the vegetables start to become soft, about 4-6 minutes. Then add the peas (frozen or fresh) and cook until soft.
Then add rice and mix well until well coated with oil, sauté for about a minute.
Add about 2 cups of water and bring the water up to a boil on medium-high heat. Then turn heat down to low, cover, leaving a small slit open for steam to escape and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.
Turn off the heat and season with salt, cilantro and lime juice.