Fragrant, comforting, and easy to serve as a complete meal, Perfect Basmati Rice - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker is a vegetarian Indian side dish made with basmati rice, water, and oil in about 20 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice (rinsed)
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon oil ((or ghee), optional)
- salt (to taste, optional)
Method
Instant Pot Method
- Rinse the basmati rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear (removes extra starch) and drain the remaining water. Note: This is a no-soak method and my rice always turns out soft, fluffy, and separated.
- Add the rinsed rice, water, oil, and salt to the Instant Pot steel insert. Give a quick stir. For softer rice: add 1 ¼ cups water. For al dente rice: add 1 cup water.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then Quick Release the remaining pressure manually.
- Open the lid and use a fork or ladle to fluff up the rice and serve hot with curry of your choice.
How to Cook Pot-in-Pot Basmati Rice
- In a small stainless steel container (or pyrex glass bowl), add 1 cup of rinsed basmati rice, and 1 ¼ cup water. Add 1 cup of water to the 6qt inner pot. Place a trivet on the inner pot. Then place a small container with rice and water on the trivet and cover it with a lid. Follow the remaining recipe instructions.
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.
