This Indian restaurant style rice cooker pilau rice recipe delivers perfect results every time!
Pilau rice is a colourful Indian restaurant side dish, made with aromatic spices. Fragrant and delicious, it’s easy to infuse the spices and rice together in advance and transfer it to a rice cooker to cook to perfection. This also leaves time to organise your favourite curry dishes to eat alongside your cooked rice.
Ingredients For Indian Restaurant Style Pilau Rice In A Rice Cooker
- Basmati Rice: I like Biona Himalayan Basmati Rice.
- Spices: Cumin, Turmeric, Cloves, Cardamom, Bay Leaf, Cinnamon Stick
- Other Ingredients: Vegetable Oil, Onion, Water
How To Make Rice Cooker Indian Restaurant Style Pilau Rice
One of the most important steps in cooking perfect pilau rice is making sure the rice is rinsed of any excess starch. With the rice properly rinsed it’s sure to come out fluffy and delicious, so it’s worth taking the time to do this.
Step 1: Rinse
Wash 1 cup basmati rice rice two or three times in cold water until water runs clear. Drain thoroughly and set aside. In a small bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, Pinch sea salt, 2 whole cloves, 1 green cardamom pod, 1 tej patta bay leaf and 1/4 cinnamon stick. Set aside.
Step 2: Fry
Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a pot over a medium heat. Fry 1 small onion, finely chopped for 3 minutes. Then add prepared spices and stir-fry for 1 minute. Finally, add washed and drained rice and stir well until rice is evenly coated with oil and spices.
Step 3: Cook
Transfer ingredients from the frying pan to the inner pot of rice cooker and add water to 1 cup measuring mark in the pot. Cook rice on ‘white / long grain’ mode. When rice is cooked, mix well with a rice spoon, remove whole spices and leave on ‘keep warm’ mode for 10 minutes. Mix well once more to fluff up rice and serve.
I hope you’ll try this Indian restaurant style rice cooker pilau rice recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!
Rice Cooker Pilau Rice (Indian Restaurant Style)
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice (rice cooker cup)
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch sea salt
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 green cardamom pod crushed
- 1 tej patta bay leaf
- 1/4 cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
Instructions
- Wash 1 cup basmati rice rice two or three times in cold water until water runs clear. Drain thoroughly and set aside. In a small bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, Pinch sea salt, 2 whole cloves, 1 green cardamom pod, 1 tej patta bay leaf and 1/4 cinnamon stick. Set aside.
- Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a pot over a medium heat. Fry 1 small onion, finely chopped for 3 minutes. Then add prepared spices and stir-fry for 1 minute. Finally, add washed and drained rice and stir well until rice is evenly coated with oil and spices.
- Transfer ingredients from the frying pan to the inner pot of rice cooker and add water to 1 cup measuring mark in the pot. Cook rice on 'white / long grain' mode. When rice is cooked, mix well with a rice spoon, remove whole spices and leave on 'keep warm' mode for 10 minutes. Mix well once more to fluff up rice and serve.
Notes
Do you like this Indian restaurant style pilau rice recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The Indian Takeaway Secret you can find a host of restaurant style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make vegetable pakora, chicken tikka, paneer cheese and more! You can buy The Indian Takeaway Secret in paperback or kindle form here.
- Make your favourite Indian takeaway dishes at homeKenny McGovern’s obsession with recreating takeaway and fast food dishes over the years has led him to the belief that Indian cooking is perhaps the greatest example that variety really is the spice of life
- The different herbs and spices used in Indian dishes creates a vast range and depth of flavour, from spicy, sweet, savoury and sour curry sauces to fragrant and aromatic sides
- The Indian Takeaway Secret is a meticulously researched love letter to Indian cooking, containing delicious examples of traditional Indian cooking and street-food style dishes alongside popular recipes honed and developed largely in the UK, as well as the fusion food offered in many Indian restaurants today
- Inside you will find restaurant classics like pakoras, bhajis, Dansak and Tikka Masala; classic dishes such as Sharabi and Tarka Dal; as well as street food favourites including Disco Fry Egg, Akoora and Aloo Subzi
- With this vast array of tasty takeaway recipes for every occasion, you’ll be able to enjoy all your favourite Indian food from the comfort of your own home – and at half the price!
