Cabbage Rice or pulao is a simple one pot healthy rice dish made with cabbage, rice and few spices

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, Karnataka, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup basmati rice ((or sona masoori rice))
  • 2.5 cups cabbage ((shredded or finely chopped))
  • 1/2 cup green peas ((fresh/frozen))
  • 1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala powder ((or biryani masala powder))
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (chopped)
  • salt (to taste)
  • 1.5 cups water

To Grind/Blend

  • 1 inch ginger
  • 3-4 cloves garlic
  • 2-3 green chilies
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 2 cardamoms
  • 3 cloves

Method

Instant Pot Method

  1. Grind/Blend green chilies, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom together to a coarse paste. Keep aside. You can also add two tablespoons of fresh coconut while grinding tastes excellent.
  2. Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add oil to the POT. Once POT is hot, add in the cumin/jeera. Then add the blended mixture and saute for a few seconds. **Note: the mixture can stick or burn to the bottom, stirring continuously.
  3. Then add in the onions and saute until the onions turn light brown. Note:You can also add chopped tomatoes to this recipe, but I haven't added them in this.
  4. Now add in the chopped cabbage, green peas, turmeric powder, mix well and saute for a minute.
  5. Add rice, garam masala, salt, water, and give a quick stir.
  6. Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 6 minutes.
  7. Do a QUICK RELEASE (QR), OR if you have time, wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE (NPR).
  8. Once the pressure has released, open the lid. Add the juice of a half lemon and garnish with coriander leaves and mix well.
  9. Cabbage Rice or Cabbage pulao is ready, serve with yogurt or raita.

Indian Pressure Cooker Method:

  1. To make Cabbage Pulao in a traditional pressure cooker, follow the same steps as you would for the Instant Pot version. Once everything is added, close the lid, place the whistle on the pressure cooker, and cook on medium flame for 2 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally.

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.