Pilau rice made extra delicious – and nutritious – with the addition of carrot, red pepper and peas! This easy peasy vegetable pilau rice recipe is ready in just 25 minutes and is virtually foolproof! The perfect accompaniment to a homemade curry.
A simple way to eat extra veggies!
Want an easy and delicious way to add extra veggies into your diet… make Vegetable Pilau Rice! OK, so it’s not going to add huge amounts of extra vegetables to your diet, but every little helps, right? And if you have any fussy eaters in your house, it might be a good way to sneak in those veggies!
And in any case, homemade pilau rice with added veggies is almost certainly going to be better for you than takeaway pilau rice or ready meal pilau rice… pair it with a healthy homemade curry and you’re onto a winner!
Vegetable Pilau Rice with Easy Lamb Dhansak
Easy peasy homemade pilau rice
Think making pilau rice is complicated and time-consuming? Think again. With my super simple recipe, it’s easy peasy!
All you need to do is fry diced onions, carrot and red pepper, a cinnamon stick, bashed cardamom pods, cloves, turmeric, salt and bay leaves. Then add in basmati rice and water, cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, before adding in the frozen peas (straight from frozen). Continue to cook for 3 minutes or until all the water is absorbed, then turn the heat off completely and allow the rice to steam for 5 minutes.
(Full recipe in the recipe card below.)
Make it your own!
This recipe is super easy to adapt, using whatever veggies you have in your fridge and cupboards. Sweetcorn, celery, different coloured peppers, diced aubergine and diced courgette all work well.
You could even add some cooked chickpeas or lentils, if you want to.
And if you like mushrooms, you might like to try my Mushroom Pilau Rice!
What to serve with vegetable pilau rice?
This vegetable pilau rice would work well with any of my easy peasy curries. But it goes especially well with my Easy Lamb Dhansak, which is shown in the photos.
Other good options include:
Or if you want to maximise your veg-intake, pair with one of my veggie curries, such as:
- Easy Vegetable Korma (Vegan)
- Roasted Aubergine and Red Lentil Dhal (Vegan)
- Easy Yellow Split Pea and Spinach Dhal (Vegan)
Vegetable Pilau Rice with Easy Lamb Dhansak
What to do with leftover vegetable pilau rice?
Put any leftover rice in a lidded container and place in the fridge where it will keep for 1 day. Reheat it until it is piping hot, before eating immediately.
Please take care to follow food safety guidelines when it comes to storing and reheating cooked rice.
Can you freeze vegetable pilau rice?
Yes you can. Put any leftover rice in a lidded container and place in the freezer within 1 hour of cooking, where it will keep for 1 month. Defrost your rice overnight in the fridge and reheat it until it is piping hot, before eating immediately.
Please take care to follow food safety guidelines when it comes to freezing, defrosting and reheating cooked rice.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Vegetable Pilau Rice
Ingredients
- 25 g butter (you can use ghee or 2 tablespoons of olive oil, if you prefer)
- 1 onion diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 1 small red pepper diced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cardamom pods gently bashed to open
- 2 cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 300 g basmati rice
- 600 ml boiling water
- 100 g frozen peas
Instructions
- Melt the butter very gently in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the diced onion, stir and cover with a lid. Cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until the onions are soft but not brown, stirring occasionally.
- Add the diced carrot, diced red pepper, cinnamon stick, bashed cardamom pods, cloves, turmeric, salt and bay leaves. Fry gently for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Add a small splash of water if it gets too dry!)
- Add in the basmati rice and stir to coat the rice with the spices and to ensure the diced vegetables are evenly distributed.
- Pour in 600ml boiling water and bring back to the boil. Cover with a lid and turn the heat right down. Continue cooking for 5 minutes.
- Add in the frozen peas (straight from frozen), stir and replace the lid. Continue to cook for 3 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. (See Note 1.)
- Turn the heat off completely (take the saucepan off the burner if you are using electric), but leave the lid on. Allow the rice to steam for 5 minutes.
- Serve with your favourite curry or why not try this with my Easy Lamb Dhansak?
Notes
- Rice cooking times do vary, so be sure to check packet instructions. I have used these exact timings with both Tesco Basmati Rice and Tilda Basmati Rice, and it comes out perfectly every time. If you find your rice is not sufficiently cooked after following the instructions above, simply add a little more water (if necessary) and cook a little longer. However, take care not to overcook!
- Suitable for freezing. (Take care to follow food safety guidelines when it comes to freezing, defrosting and reheating cooked rice.)
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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bernadette hodgson says
absolutely lovely
Eb Gargano says
Yay – that’s so great to hear!