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This week I am back with a savoury recipe – an Indian-inspired rice dish: Vegetable Pulao! This vegetable pulao is very simple to make, and tastes absolutely phenomenal with all the different spices mixed through it!
This Vegetable Pulao dish is inspired by a recipe by Chetna Makan (you may remember her from Bake Off a few years ago). I love watching her YouTube videos and have become obsessed with some of her recipes! They are so good and this Vegetable Pulao is no exception! See below my own twist/interpretation for it, as well as some tips and tricks on how to make it.
What is Vegetable Pulao?
The world “pulao” means rice dish, and this dish is basically rice smothered in spices and a whole load of vegetables! Pulao is sometimes also referred to as “pilaf”, and if you like this type of recipe, you can also try some of my other rice dishes, such as my Curried Chickpea and Cauliflower Pilaf, Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya, or Healthy Vegetable Stir-fry.
The homemade Pav Bhaji Spice mix
The below recipe calls for a few tablespoons of Pav Bhaji Spice mix. Making your own spice mixes is so much fun to do, plus the below recipe makes enough of the Pav Bhaji spice to cook this Vegetable Pulao 3-4 times. I’ve made this dish so often that I have used up all my spice mix – I’d better make some more!
Spice mixes are made from whole spices, with this one calling for whole fennel, coriander and cumin seeds, pepper corns, cloves, and a cinnamon stick. You will also need a whole mace (the covering of nutmeg) and some whole dried chillies, although you can also use chilli flakes if you can’t find whole chillies. Many large supermarkets now sell whole spices, but I would recommend going to an Asian specialist supermarket to buy larger (and cheaper) bags of the spices!
You will need a spice/coffee grinder for making the spice mix. I own this one here and can really recommend it. However, blitzing the turmeric powder into the spice mix at the end did cause the plastic lid to discolour and go yellow – so perhaps mix through the turmeric once you have added your spice mix to a jar! 😊
More Indian Cooking Recipes
I love Indian cooking – the spices, the textures, the smell, the taste… So good! Recently, I have tried to make a few more Indian dishes myself and get a bit better and making dishes using whole spices and homemade spice mixes. If you want to try some of my other recipes, check out some of my favourites below:
- Aloo Ghobi | Potato and Cauliflower Dish
- Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Chickpea Curry
- 2-Ingredient Naan Breads
- Chickpea and Spinach Curry
- Red Lentil Dhal with Roasted Crispy Aubergine
- Curried Chickpea and Cauliflower Pilaf
- Easy Lamb Bhuna
- Creamy Coconut and Chicken Curry
- Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal
Vegetable Pulao | Easy Indian Cooking
Recipe
Ingredients:
For the Pav Bhagi Spice Mix:
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp black pepper corns
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 whole mace (seed covering of nutmeg)
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- Dried red chillies or chilli flakes (to taste)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
For the Vegetable Pulao:
- 400g basmati rice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 large onions
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 red (or any other colour) pepper, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 1 large courgette, grated
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 3 tsp pav bhaji spice mix (see above)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small bunch fresh coriander, leaves and leaves separated and finely chopped
- Natural/plain Greek yoghurt, to serve
You will also need:
- A coffee/spice grinder (I used this one)
- Sieve
- 1 medium-sized pot
- 1 large frying pan with a lid
Method:
- To make the spice mix, dry roast all of the spices (apart from the ground turmeric) in a non-stick pan over a medium heat (don’t add any oil). Shake the pan every few seconds to make sure the spices don’t burn, and roast for 1-2 minutes until the spices smell fragrant.
- Transfer the spices into a spice/coffee grinder and grind into a fine powder. Then add the ground turmeric, and blitz once more until combined. Transfer the spice mix to into a jar and set aside until needed.
- To make the rice, place it in a sieve and rinse under cold water. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the rice, followed by a teaspoon of cooking salt. Cook for about 20 minutes until soft, then drain and set aside until needed.
- In the meantime, in a large frying pan, heat the sunflower oil and butter until hot, then add the cumin seeds and cook for a minute until they start to sizzle. Next, add in the chopped onion and fry for 4-5 minutes until lightly golden.
- Add the grated garlic to the pan and cook for a minute before adding in the chopped tomatoes. Then add the pepper, carrot, courgette and chopped coriander stalks, and place a lid on the frying pan. Gently cook the veg on a low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes until soft.
- Once the vegetables are soft, stir in the salt, turmeric, chilli (to taste), pav bhaji spice mix and some freshly ground black pepper. Mash the vegetables a little using a potato masher before stirring in the cooked and drained rice.
- Finally, stir half of the chopped coriander leaves through the rice. Serve the vegetable pulao with a dollop of natural yoghurt and the remaining chopped coriander.
