This Beetroot Rice or Beetroot Pulao is a one pot dish that is slightly spicy with the sweetness of beetroot coming through in the spiced rice. Makes for an healthy and tasty lunch or dinner option.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup basmati rice (- 200 grams)
  • water as required (- for soaking rice)
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 to 3 green cardamoms
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 to 3 cloves
  • 5 to 6 black peppercorns
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ⅓ cup chopped onions (- 50 to 55 grams or 1 medium-sized)
  • 7 to 8 curry leaves (or 1 small to medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf))
  • 1 cup finely chopped beetroot (- 125 grams or 2 small to medium beets)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or ½ inch ginger + 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves)
  • 1 to 2 green chilies (- slit)
  • ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder ((or cayenne pepper or paprika))
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder ((ground coriander))
  • 1.5 to 2 cups water (or as needed - I added 1.5 cups water)
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (for garnish - cilantro leaves)

Method

Prepping rice

  1. Rinse basmati rice in water very well. Then soak the rice in enough water for 20 minutes.
  2. After 20 minutes, drain the water from the rice. Set the rice aside. Instead of basmati rice, you can even use any other fragrant rice or even regular or short grained rice.

Making beetroot rice

  1. Heat oil in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Then add all the whole spices.
  2. The oil should be hot enough so that the mustard seeds crackle as soon as you add them in the oil. Do keep on a low to medium-low heat, so that the other spices do not get burnt.
  3. Add chopped onions and curry leaves.
  4. Stir and sauté till the onions start to become light golden.
  5. Then add ginger-garlic paste, slit green chilies and ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves.
  6. Saute for a few seconds till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
  7. Now add finely chopped beetroot. Do chop the beetroot finely. You can also grate beetroots and then add. Stir and sauté for a minute.
  8. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and coriander powder. Mix and stir well. Add the rice.
  9. Stir gently and saute for a minute.

Cooking beetroot rice

  1. Add 1.5 to 2 cups water. Depending on the type and quality of rice, you can add water. For basmati rice, you can add 1.5 to 1.75 cups of water. I added 1.5 cups water.
  2. Season with salt as required. Stir and mix. Taste the water and it should have a slightly salty taste.
  3. Pressure cook on a medium flame for 2 whistles or for 8 to 9 minutes. You can also cook this pulao in a pan or pot. If cooking in a pan then add the water accordingly. It will take more time to cook in a pot but you can make this recipe in a pot.
  4. When the pressure settles down on its own, remove the lid. Gently fluff the rice.
  5. Garnish with 2 tablespoons of the chopped coriander leaves. Serve beetroot rice with a side veggie salad or raita. It pairs well with any raita variety like boondi raita or cucumber raita or onion raita.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.