Peas Pulao Recipe (Matar Pulao) — Easy, Vegan & Delicious

A Walk Down Memory Lane

My earliest memories of growing up in Delhi, India, were eating my mom’s peas pulao recipe or vegetable rice pilaf on a cold winter’s evening.

The reason this vegetable rice recipe was made during the winter months is that peas were in season and they were at their freshest and sweetest. Nowadays, here in the US, I use frozen peas – except for when I find fresh peas in the farmer’s markets in late spring and early summer.

However, what I miss the most is sitting in the cold winter sun as a young girl and helping my grandmother and mom shell the peas, breathing in the sweet aroma and listening to their family stories.

Later in the evening, we’d use them to make pea pulao served alongside our piping hot yellow lentil soup recipe.

Matar pulao is the ideal comfort food that I still turn to when I want something quick and simple, without sacrificing flavor. Now, I can make it all year-round with the help of frozen peas!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This peas and rice recipe isn’t just delicious; it’s quick and easy to make, and can be made on the stovetop, in an Instant Pot or by using a stovetop pressure cooker.

It’s packed with flavor, and the leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days.

What is a Pulao?

Depending on where you live, you may spell it pilaf (US), pilau (UK), or pulao (India). The earliest documented recipe for rice pilaf (matar pulao) goes way back to the 10th century in the Middle East.

Believe it or not, it is so widely popular around the world. Here are a few countries and regions that serve variations of this dish that you may be familiar with: India, Brazil, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, Central Asia, France, and Greece.

Pilaf or pulao is a rice dish that usually involves cooking in some type of broth or stock (vegetable, chicken, beef, fish, etc.), along with adding a variety of aromatic spices like cloves, red chilies, ginger, vegetables like peas, bell peppers, and tomatoes and other ingredients like shrimp, clams, and sausage.

Just to clarify, pulao is not Biryani even though they use many of the same ingredients. The cooking process, textures, and tastes are where we see the differences. The most well-known version of Pulao is the Spanish version called paella.

What is Peas Pulao?

In India, peas pulao is an extraordinarily popular dish that is made using basmati rice, fragrant spices, and green peas.

The amazing thing about this versatile, vegetable rice pilaf dish is that you can eat it alone or customize it to satisfy any taste bud in your family. It’s also just as filling and nutritious as my simple vegetarian soup recipes.

The possibilities truly are endless, which makes this the perfect vegetable rice main dish, side dish, or base for your next family meal, potluck, or picnic.

What is Matar Rice?

In Hindi, matar is known as green peas and pulao is known as rice pilaf. So, interpreted loosely to mean, ‘rice flavored peas,’ it involves way more than rice and peas.

What makes this traditional vegetable rice recipe so special is the combination of flavorful and fragrant spices like cloves, cardamom, cumin, and the contrasting texture of the onions and peas.

It’s also different from vegetable pulao, which uses veggies such as carrot and cauliflower alongside peas. Matar rice only uses peas, without any other vegetables.

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Rice: Aged basmati rice works best for this recipe to keep it fluffy, but as I’ll explain in more detail below, you can also use jasmine rice as a substitute.
• Green peas: Fresh or frozen green peas are the other main ingredient. If you’re using frozen peas, make sure to add them at same time as the rice, after the oil, onion and spices have been sautéed.
• Onion: Thinly-sliced is best. If you’re cooking for Jain friends or relatives, you can always leave the onion out!
• Spices: Aromatic spices including cloves, caradmom and cumin are a must for this recipe.
• Olive oil: Since this recipe is vegan, it uses olive oil instead of ghee.

Traditional matar pulao recipes use ghee for a richer flavor. My family has always made the dish with olive oil in an attempt to make it more heart healthy. It works beautifully and you honestly will not miss it!

Make It More Traditional

There are a couple of ways to make this vegan recipe a little more traditional:

• Add mint leaves: Many traditional matar pulao recipes include a handful of fresh mint leaves (pudina), which adds a beautiful fragrance. If you have mint on hand, add it with the peas. It is optional but highly recommended.
• Ginger and garlic: The traditional way to make pea pulao involves adding ginger and garlic. You can either add fresh ginger and garlic, finely chopped, or use ginger-garlic paste to speed things up. Just like mint, this is an optional addition but a great way to add more depth to the flavor.

Choosing the Right Rice

Aged basmati rice is the best type of rice for peas pulao recipes because it holds less moisture and starch than freshly harvested grains.

It comes out fluffy, whereas other recipe types (especially sticky rice) stick together and form large clumps. The ageing process adds a delicious nutty aroma that complements the other flavors in the recipe just perfectly.

Aged basmati rice also helps to keep your peas intact; too much moisture from rice and green peas can easily turn mushy.

But how can you tell if your basmati rice is aged? Aged basmati rice should be clearly labelled in shops. Looking at the grain itself, you can tell if it’s aged because it has a cream/yellow tint and longer, narrower grains than typical basmati. It also feels drier to touch.

If you don’t have any aged basmati rice, you can use jasmine rice as a substitute. The end product will be slightly more moist and ‘stickier’, but the sweet aroma ties in with the other spices really nicely.

Sticky rice should be avoided for pea pulao. The dish should be light and fluffy, so sticky rice is just way too dense and will clump together, making it impossible to keep the grains separate.

Step-by-Step Instructions For Matar Pulao

There are three ways of making this peas and rice recipe: the stovetop method, Instant pot method or stovetop pressure cooker method.

The first stovetop method involves cooking the olive oil, spices and onions in a saucepan, before adding the green peas, basmati rice, water and salt. The ingredients are left to simmer for around 12 minutes, then sit out off the stove for around 5-10 minutes.

The second method, using an Instant Pot, is just as easy. You can use the sauté mode to combine the onions, olive oil and spices. Once the other ingredients are added, and the valve is switched to ‘sealing’ position, it can be left for around 6 minutes on manual/pressure cook.

The third method uses a stovetop pressure cooker. You’ll need a rice:water ratio of 1:1.5 for this method. Then, all you need to do is cook the recipe on a medium heat for one whistles, turn of the heat and (with caution) release the pressure manually. Open the lid, fluff the rice and serve!

The Instant Pot and Cooking Rice

The Instant Pot has become so popular over the years and with good reason. For me, it replaces my rice cooker and saves me a lot of time in the kitchen when I am in a rush and want to get dinner on the table fast.

If you have hectic days like me, going from place to place running errands around town or with kids, then you would love using the Instant Pot, I can throw the rice in there and when I return home, the rice is done… boom!

It will help you make this matar pulao or vegetable rice pilaf dish a breeze.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet!

SHORT GRAIN RICE RICE- 1 CUP WATER- 1 CUP STOVE TOP- 12 MIN. INSTANT POT- 5 MIN.

MEDIUM GRAIN RICE RICE- 1 CUP WATER- 1 1/4 CUP STOVE TOP- 18 MIN. INSTANT POT- 5 MIN.

LONG GRAIN RICE RICE- 1 CUP WATER- 1 1/4 CUP STOVE TOP- 15 MIN. INSTANT POT- 5 MIN.

Tips For The Best Results

• Soak your rice before you make this dish to remove excess starch.
• Opt for dried spices for a big flavor boost.
• If you don’t like bland rice, you can use the tips below to add flavor.

What Can I Add to Rice to Give it Flavor?

Rice by itself is like vanilla ice cream; adding your favorite and imaginative toppings catapults it to a whole new level! Let’s get creative:

✔   Try replacing cooking water with flavored broth. This adds a rich flavor and aroma to the rice.

✔   Add slices of your favorite dried fruit such as mangos, apricots, cranberries, currants, raisins, or even figs. This adds a chewy texture with a hint of sweetness and it also looks beautiful as well.

✔   Add some crunch and texture with your favorite seeds like chia, pumpkin, sesame, flax, and sunflower. Seeds not only amplify the texture of your rice, but they also add tons of nutrition as well. I call this a “win-win!”

✔   Add toasted walnuts, pecans, almonds, peanuts, or even hazelnuts. Toasting is an extra step you won’t regret, it brings out the natural oils from the nuts, intensifies the flavors, is very aromatic and a bonus is, that it’s also good for you.

Storage and Reheating

This pea and rice recipe can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

To freeze the rice:

• Cool the rice until it reaches room temperature.
• Label a freezer-safe plastic bag with the type of rice and date. I often use freezer food blocks instead.
• Scoop the desired quantity into the bag.
• Close the bag tightly and lay it on the freezer shelf, where it will keep for up to three months.

To reheat the rice:

• Take the rice out of the freezer bag/block.
• Let it defrost on the kitchen counter for up to two hours.
• Reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave.

How Do You Spice Up Cooked White Rice?

If I’m reheating, there are still tons of ways I can add flavor to cooked white rice. I just go by what flavor I feel like eating at the moment or what the family requests are.

Rice is a beautiful, blank canvas, so the possibilities are truly endless:

✔   Try adding ghee or olive oil with some salt and black pepper while hot for a simple take.

✔   Want to go sweet, try adding sauces like honey, hoisin, or sweet soy sauce.

✔   Need to add some heat, try adding spices like chile flakes, dried paprika, fresh cilantro, lime juice, or curry powder.

✔   Who doesn’t love dessert? If you want to try something out of the box and transform your white rice into an after-dinner treat, try adding brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, currants, and coconut milk.

Serving Suggestions

The best rice and peas recipe is one that’s served with a complementary condiment. The classic pairing is a cucumber or onion raita, but you could also serve it alongside a refreshing dip such as mint cilantro chutney.

I almost always serve my peas pulao recipe with dal. Nothing beats dal chawal (rice) for me and my family – it’s our ultimate comfort food. Two of our go-tos are my South Indian dal recipe and my easy vegan dal makhani.

My vegan Indian rice pudding is one of my favorite vegan Indian desserts from the same cuisine, so that’s always reliable if you’re craving a sweet treat afterwards.

Health Benefits & Allergens

The recipe is gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free. It has around 30g of carbohydrates and approximately 178 calories per serving.

The ingredients also have some great benefits:

• Olive oil is rich in healthy fats and antioxidants.
• Cumin is high in antioxidants.
• Cardamom has more antioxidants. It may help with lowering blood pressure, too.
• Bay leaf is a source of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium.
• Cinnamon is loaded with antioxidants.
• Clove also offers antioxidants, and may improve liver health.
• Green peas have fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin K, and are thought to be good for digestion.