Brown Rice Pulao Recipe (Indian Style)

Are you looking for a Brown Rice Pulao Recipe that is close to the Indian traditional Rice Pulao and tasty too? Trust me, your search ends here! This Brown Rice Vegetable Pulao is made in a one-pot pressure cooker and is flavored with vegetables of the season. Will you be able to resist it?

Veg Brown Rice Pulao is a simple recipe of brown Rice cooked with a variety of vegetables and is a healthy twist to classical White rice Pulao. Flavored with Indian spices and tempered in ghee, each bite of this Brown Rice Pilaf is bursting with deliciousness. This recipe has varying soaking and cooking times in comparison to white rice Pulao. Made in Indian style, this recipe is amazingly flavorful and great for those who have just started trying brown rice.

I love creating easy recipes and this one-pot Pressure Cooker Pilaf gathers quickly and turns out to be softer and flavorful as compared to any other method. You may also like more rice recipes from the blog: Vegetable Pulao, Cilantro Lime Brown Rice, Vegan Brown Fried Rice, and Indian Lemon Rice.

Jump to:

• Why Would You Love This Recipe?
• Ingredients
• How To Make Brown Rice Pulao in a Pressure Cooker
• Health Benefits of Brown Rice
• Expert Tips
• What to Eat With This Brown Rice Pulao?
• Variations
• How To Make Brown Rice in Instant Pot?
• FAQs
• Stories From Kitchen
• Healthy Veg Brown Rice Pulao {Pressure Cooker + Instant Pot}

Why Would You Love This Recipe?

• Gluten free Recipe
• Easily available ingredients
• Can be made Vegan.
• One-Pot Meal.
• Pressure Cooker Easy Recipe. (steps of Instant Pot mentioned).
• A hearty lunch.
• Savory Bold Flavors of Ghee, Indian spices and seasonal vegetables.
• The Best Brown Rice Pulao Ever!!

Ingredients

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

• Brown Rice: I have used the India Gate brand of Brown Basmati Rice which is locally available here. You may procure any Basmati brand for the brown rice that is available locally. 
• Vegetables: This recipe uses seasonal vegetables. I made it in the winter and used fresh cauliflower, peas, onion, and tomato. You may add carrot, finely chopped beans, zucchini, mushrooms, or any other local vegetable of your choice.
• Ghee: I love Desi Ghee Rice. It's healthy fat if taken in the right proportion. You may use any vegetable oil.  
• Spices: Being Indian means a natural love for our spices. This recipe of brown rice is made totally like traditional Pulao with Whole spices like Cumin seeds, Bay leaf, Big Cardamom, green chilies, and fine powdered spices like Red Chilli powder, Turmeric, Garam Masala, and Amchur (optional). These spices add perfect flavor to the pulao and make it totally Indian-style Brown Rice. You may also use black peppercorns (or black pepper powder), green cardamoms, cinnamon stick, dried red chili, cloves, etc. 
• Lemon Juice: adds the perfect tanginess to this brown rice. You may skip Amchur and more lemon juice.
• Green peas- I used frozen green peas from the Safal brand. Feel free to use fresh or frozen peas.
• Garlic: The grated fresh garlic sauteed with onions and green chilies in Desi Ghee makes the whole home aromatic. You may use ginger garlic paste as well.

How To Make Brown Rice Pulao in a Pressure Cooker

Step 1 Wash and Soak Rice

Gather all the veggies and brown rice. Soak brown rice in warm/hot water for about 20 min. Wash vegetables under running water.

Step 2 Dry and Chop Vegetables

Chop veggies as you like it in small or large chunks.

Step 3 Temper Veggies in Pressure Cooker

In a large pressure cooker, add 2 teaspoon desi ghee. Add bay leaf, black cardamom. I was short for other spices, you may add cloves, black pepper etc. Once its aromatic, add cumin seeds (Jeera). As it splutters, add Chopped garlic. (you may grate it even)

Step 4 Add Onions and Tomatoes

Add onions. Once they are transparent add green chilly and tomatoes.

Step 5 Spice It

Add spices like red chilly, haldi and garam masala. Add salt and vegetables like cauliflower, beans, carrots. Mix well and add peas.. Make sure to remove the rice from water in which they were soaked.

Step 6 Add Soaked rice

Add water to rice in the ratio 2.5:1. So , one portion of rice and three portion of water. Add more salt and mix well.

Step 7 Pressure Cook Rice

Put the lid on and give a pressure of 2 whistles on full. Simmer for 15 min. Don't release the pressure. Let it cool off itself and open 15 min after it cools off.

Step 8 Serve It

The Veg Brown Rice Pulao are ready. Serve with your choice of chutney, Papad and dahi!

Health Benefits of Brown Rice

Before I dive into the recipe, I would talk about the brown rice. In simple terms, Brown Rice is unprocessed white rice with loads of fiber. White rice loses the nutrient germ and bran during its processing which remains intact in the case of brown rice. 

This means that white rice becomes less healthy in comparison to the brown. White rice has more Glycemic Index (GI). High GI indicates that food is easily absorbed and carbs are converted to glucose, which means the blood sugar level rises.  White rice become more of the carbs supply and hence not a great choice for people looking for a healthy lifestyle or people with diabetics.

Expert Tips

1. Brown rice is surely not as delicious as you find white rice. It's your choice to make: healthy food or food for the tongue!
2. Brown rice doesn't go well with curries like its counterparts. You will slowly adapt to its taste and then you may experiment it with gravy dishes.
3. To begin with, it's chewy and doesn't feel as sweet as White rice. It would be better to start cooking it as a Pulao or Khichdi mixed with vegetables of your choice and team it with Dahi, papad, and salad.
4. The cooking time of brown rice is longer than white rice. Cooking time generally depends more on the variety/brand. In general, you may soak it for at least 30 min- to 1 hour (in hot water for better results). Add around 2.5-3 times the water. So for one bowl of raw rice, 2.5-3 bowls of water. The rice-water ratio depends on the brand. I used India Gate Brown Rice and my soak time was 30 min, rice-water ratio was 1-2.
5. They will not be cooked in 1-2 whistles. Give them 2 whistles on full and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
6. Don't release the pressure. Let it cool itself and open it after cooling off for about 5 min.  
7. One may use a non-stick pan but it takes quite a long time to cook rice.

What to Eat With This Brown Rice Pulao?

• Dahi/Curd- The Veg Pulao whether made using brown rice or white rice is always best teamed with plain Curd.
• Dal- One may have this brown rice with any Indian Dal (Lentil) like Arhar, Chana or yellow Dal. Find Popular Chana Spinach Dal Recipe.
• Choley/Rajma- If you ask any Indian, what's their favorite Rice curry: 90% of them will say Choley with Rice or Rajma with Rice. That's is the best traditional Rice combo of India. Find the perfect Choley Masala Recipe from my blog
• Any Gravy Dish- You may have this healthy rice with any gravy dish Palak Paneer, Chana Saag, Vegan Meatballs With Gravy or a light soup like Lemon coriander soup and Vegetable clear soup.
• Green Chutney/ Dip- This is the ultimate combination with any rice. You may try my popular Dhaniya Ambi Chutney for making the authentic Indian Green dip.

Variations

• Instant Pot Brown Rice: The same recipe can be used to make brown rice in the instant pot. You may find the detailed instructions in the following section.
• Try another variety: I have used India gate basmati brown rice and they give the best results. You may try any good brand easily available to you. But then the recipe would need certain tweaks as every variety of rice takes a different time to cook. A traditional pressure cooker is the safest way to make any type of rice. 
• Try Chinese Style: Fried Brown Rice is another pulao that can be made in Chinese style and can be teamed with Manchurian or Paneer Gravy dishes. You may need to first boil the brown rice and then add different vegetables to it. Make sure to chop the vegetables very small as fried rice tastes best when veggies are not distracting the taste.
• Try Another Ingredient: Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves (cilantro). Add French beans, zucchini, or any other vegetable of your choice. Add biryani masala for a flavorful delicious rice.
• Add Coconut Milk- Add a cup of coconut milk to make this brown rice creamy.

How To Make Brown Rice in Instant Pot?

Use saute mode in instant pot. Add oil/ ghee and spice it up. Saute all vegetables. It takes about 3-5 min. Next, add spices, salt and brown rice to the pot and stir it around for a minute or two to toast the rice slightly. Add water and Cook on high pressure mode for about 20 min. Once the cooking cycle is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally.

FAQs

Stories From Kitchen

Since you are still reading, I appreciate your efforts towards a healthy living!

This is not really a family recipe. Just like you, I have also been inspired to lead a healthy lifestyle from past few years. I know its a tough road but all we need is a simple handy recipe that doesn't involve too many steps and that we can easily correlate to our existing cooking styles. Here comes my savior: my sister-in-law a perfectionist in all that she does and specially in kitchen, ratios, cooking time, just like my mother-in-law.

This recipe is hers and she has tried gluten-free diet for healthy lifestyle and it was really simple once someone from family guides you. It removes all the hiccups that you generally face when you try things in kitchen afresh.

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Disclaimer: The healthy recipes are based solely on personal experience and are not created or endorsed by a nutritionist or dietician. I am not a qualified nutritionist or dietician. It is crucial to seek professional advice before making any substantial dietary changes or if you have specific dietary concerns.

Note: Adopting vegan lifestyle is a conscious choice that can be aligned with ethics or health issues. I try to create recipes- vegetarian as well as vegan that can be homemade by using less oil/ fat.

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