Vegan and gluten-free, this Beetroot Spinach Pulao/Pilaf is a beautiful medley of vegetables, spices, and long-grained white rice. It is an easy one-pot meal that can be made in a jiffy and pairs perfectly with any raita. Learn to make this tasty pulao recipe in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) in straight 30 minutes.
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What is Pulao?
Pulao is a one-pot rice dish made by cooking fragrant basmati rice with aromatic spices, herbs, and nutritious vegetables.
There are many kinds of pulao recipes made though out India like veg pulao, paneer pulao, Kashmiri pulao, Tawa pulao, zarda pulao, etc.,
There are often days when we are looking for simple, one-pot comfort food that’s quick to make, nutritious and good to eat. For me, any rice dish fits the bill perfectly on such days.
This beet and spinach pulao are my families one of the favorite rice dishes.
WHY DO I LOVE THIS RECIPE?
- This dish Genuinely requires fewer preparations and it is ridiculously easy to cook
- It needs just 10 minutes of active time.
- It is perfect for any occasion or when you have guests over.
- requires a very handful of ingredients
- Comes out perfect every single time
- The whole spices used in this pulao lend it an aromatic and distinct flavor.
- The use of vegetables like spinach and beetroot makes it reasonably healthy.
- It would not at all be wrong to say that anyone (even bachelor) can bring this pulao together easily anywhere in the world.
- This is a perfect comfort meal for the busy weeknights. It is slightly sweet, spicy, and flavorful with all the freshly crushed masalas!
- Wait, did I tell you that you are absolutely good to go for this veg pulao as an office lunch or for a school lunch box? Yes, that’s the best and quick fulfilling meal idea for lunch or snack boxes.
- Plus, this vegetable pulao is a great idea to slink veggies in your kid’s diet.
Ingredients required
This is an overview of the ingredients in the recipe (very handy to use as a visual grocery list at the store). Quantities are mentioned in the recipe card.
How to make Beet Spinach Pulao? Step by step process –
Dry roast all the Pulao masala ingredients on medium to low flame for 2 minutes. Keep it aside and let it cool down completely. (Photo 1 and 2)
Now take these roasted spices in a blender jar, add ginger and garlic. (Photo 3)
Grind them to a coarse powder. Keep it aside. (Photo 4)
Turn on the saute mode of your instant pot.
Heat oil. Add crushed masala and saute for 10 to 15 seconds, stirring frequently. (Photo 5 and 6)
Now add chopped onion, saute it for a minute. (Photo 7)
Add beetroot and spinach, red chili powder, and salt. Stir very well. Make sure there’s nothing stuck at the bottom. (Photo 8 and 9)
Add Soaked basmati rice, water, and coconut milk. (Photo 10 and 11)
Cover the instant pot with its lid. Press the manual/ pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes, with the pressure valve in the sealing position. (Photo 12)
Once cooking time is done, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and carefully quickly release the remaining pressure. (Photo 12)
Open the lid. Let the rice sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, fluff the rice using a fork.
Beetroot and Spinach Pulao is ready. Sprinkle some lemon juice and garnish it with cilantro.
Serve it hot with your favorite raita and papad.
(Note – Traditional pressure cooker method is given in recipe card).
Pro-tips, notes and quick FAQ
- Cut the beetroot into small cubes.
- Always use good quality whole spices. It is the key to make perfect and aromatic pulao. For this particular recipe, I prefer to use homemade masala.
- Do not skip Cilantro and lemon juice at the end. It brings out lots of flavors.
- Try to use good quality basmati rice. The grains will remain separate and the fragrance will be amazing. But if you do not have basmati rice, use any other kind of rice.
- Always rinse the rice for at least 3 times until the water runs clear. This process reduces the starch.
- Always, strain the soaked rice and leave it in the strainer for 2 minutes.
- Soaking rice for 30 minutes is an important step. The rice absorbs the water and swells up while cooking. The soaking process makes rice fluffy and every grain separates.
- Water to rice ratio is the key to get fully cooked grainy pulao. So make sure to use the perfect ratio.
- Rice substitution – If you don’t want to use white rice, you may substitute it with
Brown rice – use 2 cups of water instead of 1 cup and increase the cooking time from 4 minutes to 20 minutes.
Quinoa – you don’t need to adjust anything. Just use quinoa instead of white rice.
- The ground masala can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.
- After the pulao is cooked and after you open the pressure cooker lid, let it rest for at least 5 minutes before fluffing it with a fork. It will make sure the grains do not break while fluffing it.
- If you are not vegan, you can use ghee instead of oil. Ghee will make the flavor stand out even more.
- You can use vegetable stock instead of water. It takes the taste to a whole new level.
- Try not to skip the coconut milk for the flavors to stand out.
- You can always adjust the red chili powder as per your taste.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe.
- This pulao can be made in 3qt and 6qt Instant pot.
What can we serve with this?
This rice dish can be served with any raita like boondi raita or cucumber raita. A piece of papad on the side works like a charm.
Can we freeze this?
Yes, this freezes really well. Let the pulao cool down, transfer it into an air-tight container, and store it into the freezer. This stays good for about a month.
So, guys, what are you waiting for?
Go and gather all of the items, start whipping it up.
Our other Rice Recipes from the blog –
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Beetroot and Spinach Pulao
Ingredients
For Pulao Masala
- 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 2 Cardamom
- 1 Dry red chili
Other ingredients
- 1.5 cups Beetroot chopped
- 2 cups Spinach chopped
- 1 cup White Basmati rice
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon Garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger, chopped
- 1 cup Coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon Chili powder
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 cup water
- Cilantro and lime juice
Instructions
In Instant Pot (Electic pressure cooker)
- Soak white basmati rice for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the rice in a strainer and drain all the water. Let the rice sit for about 2 minutes in the strainer.
- Dry roast all the Pulao masala ingredients on medium to low flame for 2 minutes. Keep it aside and let it cool down completely.
- Now take these roasted spices in a blender jar, add ginger and garlic.
- Grind them to smooth powder (Not very smooth). Keep it aside.
- Turn on the saute mode of your instant pot.
- Heat oil. Add crushed masala and saute for 10 to 15 seconds, stirring frequently.
- Now add chopped onion, saute it for a minute.
- Add beetroot and spinach, red chili powder, and salt. Stir very well.
- Make sure there’s nothing stuck at the bottom.
- Add Soaked basmati rice, water, and coconut milk.
- Cover the instant pot with its lid. Press the manual/ pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes, with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
- Once cooking time is done, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and carefully quickly release the remaining pressure.
- Open the lid. Let the rice sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, fluff the rice using a fork.
- Beetroot and Spinach Pulao is ready. Sprinkle some lemon juice and garnish it with cilantro.
- Serve it hot with your favorite raita and papad.
In traditional Pressure cooker –
- Soak white basmati rice for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the rice in a strainer and drain all the water. Let the rice sit for about 2 minutes in the strainer.
- Dry roast all the Pulao masala ingredients on medium to low flame for 2 minutes. Keep it aside and let it completely cool down.
- Grind them to a coarse powder. Keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and ginger. Saute it for a few seconds.
- Add chopped onion. Saute it for a minute.
- Add beetroot and spinach. Mix well.
- Add crushed Pulao masala and cook for few seconds.
- Add red chili powder, salt, coconut milk, rice, and water. Stir very well.
- Cover the pressure cooker and take 2 whistles. Let the pressure cooker release completely before opening the lid. Gently fluff the rice.
- Beetroot and Spinach Pulao is ready. Add some lemon juice and garnish it with cilantro. serve it with your favorite raita and pickle.
Video
Notes
- Cut the beetroot into small cubes.
- Always use good quality whole spices. It is the key to make perfect and aromatic pulao. For this particular recipe, I prefer to use homemade masala.
- Do not skip Cilantro and lemon juice at the end. It brings out lots of flavors.
- Try to use good quality basmati rice. The grains will remain separate and the fragrance will be amazing. But if you do not have basmati rice, use any other kind of rice.
- Always rinse the rice for at least 3 times until the water runs clear. This process reduces the starch.
- Always, strain the soaked rice and leave it in the strainer for 2 minutes.
- Soaking rice for 30 minutes is an important step. The rice absorbs the water and swells up while cooking. The soaking process makes rice fluffy and every grain separates.
- Water to rice ratio is the key to get fully cooked grainy pulao. So make sure to use the perfect ratio.
- Rice substitution – If you don’t want to use white rice, you may substitute it with
- The ground masala can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.
- After the pulao is cooked and after you open the pressure cooker lid, let it rest for at least 5 minutes before fluffing it with a fork. It will make sure the grains do not break while fluffing it.
- If you are not vegan, you can use ghee instead of oil. Ghee will make the flavor stand out even more.
- You can use vegetable stock instead of water. It takes the taste to a whole new level.
- Try not to skip the coconut milk for the flavors to stand out.
- You can always adjust the red chili powder as per your taste.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe.
- This pulao can be made in 3qt and 6qt Instant pot.
What can we serve with this?
This rice dish can be served with any raita like boondi raita or cucumber raita. A piece of papad on the side works like a charm.Can we freeze this?
Yes, this freezes really well. Let the pulao cool down, transfer it into an air-tight container, and store it into the freezer. This stays good for about a month. This post updated with new pics, video and content, originally published in Nov, 2016Nutrition
Warm regards,
Dhwani.
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