Vegetable Pulao – Rice Pilaf With Mixed Vegetables

Vegetable pulao is Indian style rice pilaf made with long grain white basmati rice, mild spices and mixed vegetables. This is a very easy recipe for vegetable pulao or Indian rice pilaf using a lot of veggies and its so simple to make yet very delicious!

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Indian vegetable pulao or mixed vegetable rice pilaf makes a nice side dish or you may also enjoy this as a main dish along with other vegetable sides or any sides of your choice.

It often makes a great side dish for a great vegetarian dinner or lunch.

I have this easy instant pot vegetable rice pulao recipe which is another simple and easy vegetable rice pilaf recipe using basmati rice and mixed vegetables which is prepared in the instant pot!

When served as a side dish, you may serve the vegetable pulao with plain yogurt and pickles and when served as main dish, you can serve it along with any vegetable curry and other sides along with yogurt, raita, pickles etc to make a wonderful vegetarian meal.

What is vegetable rice pulao?

As I told, vegetable pulao is basically a simple and easy Indian rice pilaf made with white basmati rice and lots of mixed vegetables of your choice.

While rice pilaf recipes often calls for broth, Indian vegetable rice pulao is often made with just plain water.

However, you may use vegetable broth instead of water for improved flavor & nutrition!

It is flavored with mild spices like cardamom, cinnamon etc and also we can use ghee or butter to add more flavor.

Mint leaves or cilantro leaves are also added for flavor, but in this recipe I am not using mint or cilantro leaves, and it is still very delicious!

You can add chopped cilantro leaves (fresh coriander leaves) for garnishing, if you have cilantro.

Main Ingredients In Vegetable Rice Pulao

Main ingredients in Indian vegetable rice pulao or rice pilaf are rice, mixed vegetables and mild whole spices.

Rice – the rice that we commonly use to make vegetable pulao is long grain white basmati rice.

This is because basmati rice is one of the best and most fragrant rice which can be cooked easily as well. Rice pulao or pilaf made with long grain white basmati rice is delicious with each grain separate, fluffy and fragrant.

White basmati rice is often enjoyed as plain white rice along with curry or other side dishes and its also used in special dishes like pilaf, biryani etc.

Mixed vegetables – a good vegetable pulao or vegetable rice pilaf is often made with lots of good quality vegetables.

You can use fresh & frozen vegetables to add to your vegetable pualo, but make sure to use good quality vegetables.

Most often, you can find veggies like peas, potatoes, onions, cauliflower, carrots, green beans etc added to Indian vegetable pulao, but you may also skip some of these based on your choice or availability and add some other veggies of your choice too.

In this recipe, I didn’t use cauliflower but I added bell peppers which made the pulao more colorful and added a different flavor.

I also used a frozen vegetable mix of peas, carrots, beans etc and fresh vegetables like potatoes, onions & bell peppers (capsicum as known in India).

I also added some corn for a sweet flavor, which complimented very well with the bell peppers and others vegetables.

While you make vegetable rice pulao, its important to maintain a balance between the quantities of rice and vegetables used, so its better to use an approximate ratio of rice to veggies if possible.

That will make sure you do not use too much rice or vegetables, but just the right amount of veggies and rice to balance the flavors.

Spices – mild spices like whole cardamom, star anise, cinnamon sticks etc are often used to flavor vegetable rice pulao along with ginger, garlic et. These spices play an important role in adding a mild but nice flavor to the vegetable pulao!

Protein – you can add protein to your vegetable pilaf easily by adding sliced paneer or cooked soy chunks or lentils or beans like chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rajma (red kidney beans) etc as you like.

In this easy vegetable pulao, I didn’t add any protein but if you wish you may lightly fry some paneer cubes and mix up with the cooked pualo to add some protein, or you can add some other proteins like I mentioned above.

How to make vegetable rice pulao?

We use the following ingredients to make this easy, delicious Indian style vegetable pulao or rice pilaf with mixed veggies.

Ingredients to make vegetable rice pulao

white basmati rice 2 cups

salt adjust to taste

butter 2 tablespoons (or ghee)

oil 2 tablespoons

ginger garlic paste 1 tablespoon

water 5 cups

vegetables & corn:

bell peppers (capsicum) 2 (seeds removed and sliced)

potatoes 2 medium sized cubed

onions 2 large sliced long

mixed vegetables chopped 1 cup (I used frozen veggies of chopped carrots, green beans & frozen peas)

corn (fresh or frozen) ½ cup

Spices:

bay leaves 2

cinnamon stick 1

star anise 1

cardamom 2

cloves 2

Step By Step Instructions

In a large pan, heat the oil and lightly fry the whole spices.

Add the sliced onions and lightly fry for about 8 to 10 minutes until the onions are beginning to brown.

Add the ginger garlic paste, stir well and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the cubed potatoes, mix well and stir fry in low heat for about 6 to 7 minutes until the potatoes are lightly stir fried. Make sure to stir in between.

Add all the remaining vegetables and corn too, add enough salt for the vegetables, stir well. Saute for another couple of minutes.

Add rinsed white basmati rice also to the pan, add enough salt for rice and stir well the contents so the rice and vegetables are well mixed.

Saute the rice & vegetable mix for a couple of minutes in low heat.

Add the water, mix everything well and gently deglaze the pan with the spatula if anything is stuck on the bottom of the pan.

Also add the butter or ghee, stir in.

Heat the mixture in high heat and once the mixture boils, cover the pan with lid and cook in low heat for 10 minutes.

Once cooked for ten minutes, open the pan, stir the rice well and then cover again and cook for another couple of minute (or few more minutes) until the water is all evaporated and the pulao is cooked perfectly.

Open the pan, stir the contents and cook in low heat (without lid) for another 1 more minute and switch off the stove.

Keep the pulao closed for few minutes.

After few minutes, gently stir the rice with a good quality spatula or gently fluff using a fork.

Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves or curry leaves or fried onions & cashews if desired (optional).

Serve the pulao hot with yogurt, salads, raita or any vegetable curry of your choice.

More Easy Delicious Rice Recipes:

instant pot peas pulao (pilaf)

sweet corn rice pulao (pilaf)

instant pot rice pulao

instant pot biryani with vegetables and paneer

easy paneer pulao recipe

Below you can get the recipe for vegetable pulao with mixed vegetables in detail.