Instant Pot Indian Pilau| Rice With Peas & Carrots

Make a delicious and authentic Indian Pilau easily and quickly in your Instant Pot! Peas and carrots with rice have never tasted so good!

What Makes This Indian Pilau So Good?

If you're a fan of Indian Pilau, prepare to make the easiest, and arguably most delicious pilau you've ever made! And if you've never had pilau before, you're in for quite the treat! This is a deliciously authentic and easy Indian recipe that you'll want to make over and over again.

Now I know this recipe is certainly not low carb, but sometimes you just NEED to have some rice in your life. It's one of those dishes that is just so good and comforting (and also vegetarian)that you have cravings for it from time to time. And trust me, once you've tried it you're sure to have cravings as well.

From the savory sweetness of the spices, peas, and carrots to the tender deliciousness of the rice, you'll find yourself savoring every bite.

Did I forget to mention that this recipe is an Instant Pot recipe as well? So not only is in oh-so-good, but it's so easy to make and much faster than traditional methods. This might be the easiest Indian Pilau you've ever made!

What's The Difference Between Biryani And Pilau?

While there are many differences, there are a few things that stand out to me.

• First of all, Biryani is a main dish, whereas Pilau is typically just a side dish.
• Biryani contains meat, and sauce and is all mixed together with a variety of spices and seasonings and in general, is an entree, which makes it far different from Pilau.
• Biryani is a heavily seasoned dish and Pilau is only mildly seasoned. While Pilau is a delicious rice dish that's also Indian, it's nothing like Biryani.

How To Make Indian Pilau

1. Turn the Instant Pot to sauté. When it's hot add ghee, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns and stir to flavor the ghee. Allow them to sizzle for 30 seconds. Then add the green onions and stir.
2. If you're using ground garam masala, add it to the pot along with the onions.
3. Add in the rice water and salt and mix well.
4. Then add the frozen onion peas and carrots on top. Do not stir.
5. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for four minutes. When the cooking time is over allow the pot to rest undisturbed for 10 minutes. Then release all remaining pressure.
6. Using a very light, hand mix the peas carrots and rice together and tip into a large serving dish to serve.

Tips And Tricks For Making Indian Pilau

• Make sure you don't bite directly into any of the whole spices! If you weren't raised eating traditional Indian food, we are trained from a young age to eat around the whole spices. So do yourself a favor and try not to chomp on any of the whole spices while you're inhaling this delicious goodness.
• You can use Garam Masala if you'd like, and in doing so you'll save yourself the extra effort of having to eat around the whole spices, but it really is that much better when you use whole spices. The spices flavor the rice around it and the water in a gentle fashion, with different tastes in different bites.
• If you decide to use Garam Masala instead of the whole spices, I highly recommend you make it yourself. Here is a great Garam Masala recipe for you to use!
• You can sub any other frozen veggie that you'd like.
• You can add paneer for protein if you'd like.
• Typically for 2 cups of rice, you'd only use 1.75 cups of water. But in this case, we're using two cups of water to account for steaming the additional vegetables. My Perfect Pressure Cooker Rice post has some great tips on cooking rice in the Instant Pot.

What Can I Serve With Indian Pilau?

• Make this restaurant-quality Matar Paneer recipe in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker at home in minutes!
• This traditional Langar Ki Dal combines two types of dal to make a hearty dish that's just perfect!
• Check out this authentic Chicken Vindaloo Recipe made from scratch with no spice pastes! Once you try this, you will be able to use this recipe as a base to make Pork Vindaloo or Beef Vindaloo.
• You may also be interested in this Kashmiri Yakhni Pulao
• If you're craving something sweet, finish off your meal with some Halva.

So whether you consider yourself a pilau fanatic or if this is your first time having it, you're sure to love this Indian Pilau recipe! Make sure to share this recipe on Pinterest and Facebook so your friends and family can enjoy it too!