This Indian style Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup recipe is light, healthy, full of flavour and so filling made in the Instant Pot pressure cooker or stovetop.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Total time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 1 large carrot (diced into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1/2 red bell pepper (diced into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1 large tomato (diced or (1 tablespoon tomato paste))
- 1/2 cup green peas (frozen)
- 1/2 cup sweet corn (frozen)
- 3/4 cup pearl barley (rinsed)
- salt (to taste)
- black pepper powder (to taste)
- 5-6 cups vegetable broth ((or water))
- juice of half lemon
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro)
Dry Spices:
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder ((or garam masala powder))
Method
Instant Pot Method:
- Firstly, wash and rinse the Barley, keep aside.
- Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it’s hot, add bay leaf, minced garlic, onions and saute for 2-3 minutes till onions soften.
- Add carrot, red bell pepper, tomato, green peas, sweet corn, pearl barley, dry spices like turmeric, ground cumin, curry, or garam masala powder into the pot.
- Then pour vegetable stock or water into the Instant pot along with some salt and black pepper.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 20 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, Quick Release(QR). Open the lid.
- Lastly, squeeze some lemon juice and garnish with cilantro. Stir it all up.
- Vegetable Barley Soup is ready to enjoy!
Stovetop Pot Method:
- Follow same steps as instant pot in a pot and cook covered for about 35-40 minutes until the barley and vegetables are cooked to your liking
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.