A quick and easy, yet flavorful rice dish, that can be best described as something between a biryani and pulao, this Instant Pot Vegetable Masala Rice is our go-to Sunday one pot meal.
This is the single most made dish in the Instant Pot in our kitchen. I made this a whole lot when I was pregnant. Low energy but still need to eat all those veggies and everything good for you, without compromising on the taste. This was it for me!
And, I see myself using this as a go-to recipe with a newborn and a just started school kindergartner at home.
And I say its somewhere in between a pulao and a biryani is because, for me, pulao is a lightly spiced rice dish with veggies in it, where as in biryani its more the complex flavors of spices, the herbs - mint and cilantro and all the vegetables / meat that completes the taste profile. This is a perfect in between with some level of complexity to it from the sourness of tomatoes, the color from the turmeric and of course all the spices, but the taste of basmati rice does not get drowned in it.
Ok, let me just say this, you have gotta try this!! and you will know what I am talking about!
You may also want to try some of these other popular Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Avial - Mixed Vegetable Curry
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Vegetable Masala Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- ½ red onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 1 green cardamom
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne / red chilli powder
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- 2 Thai green chillies slit vertically
- 2 Roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 small head cauliflower cut into florets
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- ½ cup chopped green beans
- ½ cup frozen green peas
- salt to taste
- ¼ cup minced cilantro for garnish
Don't forget to check out Step-by-step instructions with photos in the body of the post above
Instructions
- Rinse the rice and keep aside. Crush together cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom, star anise and cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle and keep aside.
- Put the Instant Pot on saute mode and add the oil to it and heat it. Add the onions to it along with the ginger and garlic paste. Give it a quick stir and add the crushed spices to it. Saute for a couple of minutes till the onion starts to soften.
- Now, add the turmeric powder, cayenne, coriander powder and the green chillies and give it a quick stir again.
- Add the tomatoes, mix well and let it soften just a little bit. Now, add all the vegetables, rice, salt and water and mix well.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot, move the knob to sealing mode and change the cooking setting to Manual and set the time to 5 mins.
- After the 5 mins of cook time is done, it will take roughly another 5 more mins for the pressure to be released naturally. Once NPR is done, the little stainless steel pin next to the sealing knob will go down. Move the sealing knob to release and then slowly open the lid.
- Give the rice and veggies a quick mix and add the minced cilantro leaves on top. Serve with plain yogurt or your choice of raita.
Nutrition
Here are some reader favorite Instant Pot Indian recipes:
- Instant Pot Avial - Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut
- Instant Pot Vegetable Masala Rice
- Instant Pot Saffron Kheer - Instant Pot Indian Saffron Rice Pudding
- Instant Pot Sambar Rice
Numrata Patel says
If I were to add dry daal to this, how much water should I increase in the recipe along with salt?
Manju says
If you were to add dal to this, it will sort of become a khichdi, so you can add 1 cup water to 1/2 cup of dal (assuming it is moong dal). It wont be a fluffy consistency anymore. And yes, a little more salt to adjust to the dal and the extra water, but not a lot 🙂 Hope that helped. Sorry your comment got stuck in spam and I just got around to seeing it.