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This stovetop Indian pullao recipe features fluffy basmati rice, seared paneer cheese, green peas, caramelized onions, and aromatic spices. It uses a handful of ingredients and makes a flavorful accompaniment to your favorite main dish.
This recipe is one that I learned from a local Indian entrepreneur here in New York named Sheila Narayanan. I became familiar with Sheila through her company, Simply Masala, which sells spice kits of pre-measured ingredients to make a variety of favorite Indian dishes.
I interviewed Sheila for my podcast to learn more about Indian cooking and how her business came to be. You can check her interview on episode 69 of Passing the Plate.
After getting to know her, I asked her to show me how to make an Indian rice dish so I could share a homemade dish with the Big Flavors audience. I spent a lovely morning learning this Indian rice with paneer in her kitchen. During her cooking process, I took notes and tweaked her recipe so it's easy to follow for home cooks.
I have a video coming to my YouTube channel soon where Sheila demonstrates how to make this delicious pullao. But for now, I'm sharing how to make this dish at home. My family really enjoyed it!
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🧡 Why we love this recipe
- It uses simple ingredients.
- Paneer cheese can be substituted with halloumi cheese, or you can swap it for bite-sized pieces of chicken (or your favorite protein).
- The flavor of the spices really infuses into every part of the dish, making it more exciting than a "plain" rice side dish.
- The flavors are versatile enough to pair with any number of Indian main dishes, like tikka masala, lentil dal, chana masala, or aloo gobi.
📝 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make this vegetarian pullao (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full directions):
- Uncooked basmati rice
- Avocado oil (or other neutral flavored oil)
- Paneer cheese (you can substitute halloumi if needed)
- Ghee (optional)
- Whole cumin seeds
- Cinnamon stick
- Red onion
- Frozen peas
- Ground garam masala
- Ground cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt
- Cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)
🧀 Ingredient spotlight: paneer
This recipe uses paneer which is a type of cheese that is commonly used in Indian cuisine. Paneer doesn't melt when heated, making it great for grilling, sautéing, and frying.
Paneer is available at Indian markets, some specialty food co-ops, and places like Whole Foods. Note that it can be tricky to find, so you may want to call ahead before you head to a store to buy it.
I went to 4 different stores near where I live in Ossining, NY, and wasn't able to find it.
Halloumi is a good substitute (and what I had to use when I made and photographed this recipe). It has a similar texture to paneer.
Note that halloumi is often seasoned with mint and is fairly salty, so you may need to adjust the amount of salt in recipes when using it instead of paneer.
✅ How to make this recipe
- Rinse rice, then add water and boil until partially cooked.
- Sauté the cubed paneer and sauté until browned.
- Toast the cumin seeds and cinnamon stick.
- Add the sliced onions and cook until lightly caramelized.
- Add the peas and remaining spices and cook until heated through.
- Add the partially cooked rice and paneer to the pea mixture. Cover and cook on low heat until the rice is fully cooked and everything is heated through and infused with the spices.
- Garnish with reserved onions and cilantro leaves and enjoy.
See recipe card below for full instructions.
📌 Tips
I talk a lot about caramelizing onions and how it takes a lot longer than most recipe writers will admit to. I do it low and slow for recipes like my chicken fajitas.
For this particular recipe, we're using a higher heat and not worrying about getting them super caramelized, so it happens more quickly. You can feel free to cook them longer if you want them to be more deeply golden.
Reserve a few tablespoons of the onions for garnishing your final dish, if desired. They add a great pop of color to the top of the pullao.
If you didn't take the time to fully thaw your peas, that's not a problem! You can either run them under cool water to thaw them, or just add them still a little frozen and let them cook longer before adding the rice to the skillet.
I like using a large, high sided skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this dish. Once you add the rice, it's quite a bit of food, and you need room to stir things around.
If you find you have a lot of water in the saucepan after steaming your rice, you can drain the excess out.
Conversely, if you find that your rice is drying out after you've added it to the paneer and peas but isn't fully cooked through yet, you can add a few splashes of water to the skillet. Give it a stir and continue cooking until it's fully cooked and heated through.
I found that you need to pay attention to the heat while making this dish and adjust as needed. You may need to lower the heat if the paneer is browning too quickly to keep it from burning.
If the rice pot starts spurting while it's covered, remove the lid for a quick moment, give it a stir, and cover it again.
💡 What to serve with pullao
Shelia recommends serving this pullao with lentil dal for a complete meal.
In the photos above, I served it with aloo gobi made from one of the Simply Masala spice kits, some homemade raita made with my homemade yogurt, and frozen garlic naan from Trader Joe's.
My recipe for turning store-bought naan into garlicky cilantro naan would also be a great choice. It was an absolutely delicious plant-based Indian meal!
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Print📖 Recipe
Description
This stovetop Indian pullao recipe features fluffy basmati rice, seared paneer cheese, green peas, caramelized onions, and aromatic spices.
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil (or other neutral flavored oil), divided
- 8 ounces paneer cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon ghee (optional)
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 large red onion (or 2 small), thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 8 ounces frozen peas, thawed
- ½ teaspoon ground garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Place it in a medium saucepan. Add 2 cups water and bring to boil over high heat. Once boiling, cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the rice is partially cooked, about 5-8 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, deep skillet over moderate heat. Add the cubed paneer and sauté, turning the pieces as needed, until golden brown on all sides, about 5-8 minutes. Carefully remove the paneer to a bowl and set aside.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil (and ghee, if using) in the same skillet. When the oil is very hot, add a couple of cumin seeds; if they don't immediately crackle, heat oil a little longer and try again. If they crackle, add the rest of cumin seeds and cinnamon stick and lower the heat to medium. Stir.
- Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to lightly caramelize, about 10 minutes. Remove 2 tablespoons of the onions to use for garnish later, if desired.
- Add the peas, garam masala, cayenne, and salt to the skillet. Mix well and continue to cook until peas are heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Add the partially cooked rice and paneer to the peas. Gently stir everything together until fully combined. Reduce heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook until everything is heated through and the rice is fully cooked, about 5-8 minutes more.
- Serve rice garnished with the reserved onions and cilantro leaves, if desired.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Sheila Narayanan of Simply Masala
Halloumi cheese can be substituted for paneer. Note that halloumi is often seasoned, so you may need to use less salt during the recipe preparation.
Ground allspice can be substituted for the garam masala.
You may need to lower the heat if the paneer is browning too quickly to keep it from burning.
If the rice pot starts spurting while it's covered, remove the lid for a quick moment, give it a stir, and cover it again.
If the rice is getting dry when it's in the skillet heating through with the spices and vegetables, feel free to add a splash of water and stir it together.
Sheila recommends serving this pullao with a lentil dal and yogurt raita for a complete meal.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ of recipe
- Calories: 404
- Sugar: 4.5 g
- Sodium: 376 mg
- Fat: 17.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.5 g
- Fiber: 3.9 g
- Protein: 12.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sheila says
Very cool and so easy to make!! Always a favorite
Ashley says
Thank you so much for showing me how to prepare this!