Instant Pot Quinoa Pulao is an easy one-pot meal made with fluffy quinoa, mixed vegetables, aromatic spices, and herbs for a flavorful high-protein, high-fiber meal.
1-2teaspoonslime or lemon juiceadd after cooking; optional step
Instructions
Add serrano chilies, ginger and garlic to a mini food processor and pulse a few times to finely chop all. You can skip this step if you have premade ginger garlic paste. In that case, just finely chop the green chilies with the onion.
Select SAUTE to preheat the Instant Pot. Now add oil (or ghee) and cumin seeds. When the cumin begins to sizzle, add chopped onion and finely chopped ginger, garlic and chilies. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions begin to turn translucent.
Add the frozen vegetables, rinsed and drained quinoa, nuts, salt, spices, half of the chopped cilantro, and saute for a minute. Add the bay leaves.
Now add water, give it a stir and using your spoon scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure nothing is stuck to the pot. Cancel Saute and close the lid. Change the pressure valve to sealing position. Select Manual or pressure cook for 2 minutes at high pressure.
When the cooking time is up, let the pressure release naturally, takes about 5 to 7 minutes. Open the lid when the pressure pin drops.
Gently fluff the quinoa with a fork. Add cilantro and lime juice (if using) and gently fluff the quinoa again to incorporate them. Now let the pot sit uncovered for about 5 minutes to allow any excess moisture to evaporate.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve warm with a cooling cucumber raita. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Quinoa: For best results, rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under cool running water for 2-3 minutes, rubbing the grains gently with your fingers. This helps get rid of the bitterness and toxic saponins. I even rinse the bags of "pre-rinsed" quinoa.
Spices: Since the quinoa cooks so quickly, we want a blend of whole spices and ground spices so that it can really absorb the flavors. Use 2 bay leaves and add half the cilantro during cooking.
Water: If following the Instant Pot method, use 1 ¼ cups water. If making the quinoa pulao on the stove, increase the amount to 1 ¾ cups water.
Scrape: Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot once you add the water. This prevents burning and picks up any flavorful bits stuck to the bottom.
Fluffy texture: Allow the quinoa to rest for 5 minutes after fluffing with a fork to evaporate any excess moisture. This allows every grain of quinoa to glisten and not adhere to each other.
Note: The nutrition facts below are my estimates. If you follow any diet plan, I recommend cross-checking with your preferred nutrition calculator.