Being a south Indian, Nothing much excites me more than a full plate of spicy food that is quick to make and healthy. This mouth-savoring Coconut Milk Pulao Recipe is one of my favorite go-to recipes for weekends or when I’m expecting some friends or guests over. It’s a delicious on-pot recipe that is made with coconut milk, Basmati rice, spices, and mixed vegetables.
Guess what, this is also my first food recipe on the blog :). So, let me give you an overview of what recipes I share here- Quick to make, vegetarian or vegan, healthy, and require fewer utensils (mostly one pot). These recipes are mostly exclusive to dl or done by altering the original recipe to make them hassle-free and lazy friendly 🙂
Being a lazy cook I tend to make my own recipes or alter recipes to make them hassle-free yet delicious. This is what led my bestie and me to experiment with this medley of Spices and Coconut when we first saw freshly made coconut milk in the Asian section of whole foods years back. We were super pumped to give it a try and the result was delicious.
Coconut Milk Pulao Recipe
Coconut Milk Pulao Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
- 2 Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1/2 can coconut milk
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/4 cup cashews
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
Vegetables
- 2 medium size onions, julienned
- 1 potato
- 6-7 green chilies, vertically sliced
- 3 medium size carrots diced
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1/4 cup beans cut into bite-size pieces
Spices
- 3 bay leaf
- 8 cloves
- 2 one-inch cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 1 tsp shahi jeera (sub with cumin seeds)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 4 green cardamoms or 1/e tsp cardamom seeds
- 1 mace
Instructions
Prep
- Add 1/2 can coconut milk to a bowl (which will be thick as paste), and mix it well to make it dense- add 1 cup water to dilute it
- In a different bowl add rice, now add 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk + water to it
- Add salt to the water and mix it. When you taste the water should be slightly salty.
Cooking Method
- Turn on the Instant pot in the sautee mode, and add ghee and oil to it.
- Once the ghee is hot, add all the spices, green chilies, and cashews and saute for a minute
- Add onions to it and some salt. Saute till the color of the onions turn light brown
- Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell of the paste goes away. Keep stirring frequently to avoid the mixture sticking to the pot. Stir in veggies to the mixture and saute for a couple of mins
- Hit cancel and scrape up all the browned bits left in the pot after sauteeing, use some water if needed. This step is crucial to avoid the burn notice
- Add the rice you prepped with coconut milk to it. Close the lid, choose the pressure cook button, and adjust the time to 7 mins on high pressure. If using pressure cooker, cook it for 3 whistles.
- Wait for natural release, and fluff the rice with a fork.
- Serve the rice hot with raita and kurma curry.
Nutrition Facts
Coconut is one of the richest sources of saturated fats that contain Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)- medium chain fatty acid that is essential for good health. It helps in improving digestion, increasing metabolism, decreasing hunger, and help in reducing abdominal fat.
In addition, Coconut contains no trans fat and is gluten-free- perfect for vegans. Also, the Lauric Acid in coconut contains Antiviral, Anti-fungal, and Antibacterial healing properties.
For 100 ml serving
- Calories- 154
- Protein- 1.4g
- Fat- 15g (13.2 saturated)
- Carbohydrates- 3.4g
What is your favorite simple meal recipe? leave them in the comments 🙂
Biryani is one of my favourite Indian dishes and I really like the sound of this coconut milk version! Pinning x