This easy and delicious Paneer Peas Pulao in Instant Pot is ideal for lunchboxes or busy weeknight meals. Enjoy this one-pot paneer pulao with raita for a satisfying and complete meal.
Rice is a typical food in our home. My go-to weekday lunch recipe is one-pot rice, especially pulao. Matar Pulao recipe is my favourite of the lot. Pulao recipes are easy to make and require no extensive preparation. We can throw in whatever vegetables and spices we have.
You can make this delicious Matar Paneer Pulao in under 30 minutes! My kids love Paneer, so I make a lot of Paneer-based recipes these days. Try my Matar Paneer Gravy if you are a fan of Matar Paneer Combination. Similarly, you’ll love this Paneer Peas Pulao once you try it.
About Paneer Peas Pulao
I love soft, melt-in-mouth Paneer. It is a Protein filled ingredient that is an excellent option for vegetarians to incorporate into their diet regularly. Most kids love Paneer, making it even more convenient to try out Paneer recipes often.
Paneer Peas Pulao is a fragrant, flavorful Pulao with simple ingredients and preparation. The addition of fried Paneer adds a great taste to the Pulao. Making this Paneer Pulao on a Sunday is my favourite thing to do. My entire family loves this Pulao and would eat it with no complaints!
Adding green peas with Paneer adds an extra taste to the Pulao. While you can add more vegetables, I decided to keep it simple just with these two ingredients and not make it like a Vegetable Pulao.
Instant Pot Pulao recipes are my favourite on a busy day or lazy weekend. Especially when it comes to Rice Recipes, I blindly go with the Instant Pot. I love how Basmati Rice gets cooked well in the Instant Pot. Making this Paneer Pulao in the Instant Pot is the easiest thing you can do. It gets ready in just a few minutes with outstanding results.
What type of rice should I use for making Pulao?
For a nice fragrant Pulao, I prefer using Basmati rice. The rice grains get cooked well in the Instant Pot and stay separate, making eating Pulao an enjoyable experience.
Pulao also tastes good when made with Seeraga Samba Rice. Seeraga Samba Rice is popular in South India and is used in many Biryani recipes. It has a texture and fragrance that makes the Pulao delicious.
Why does my Paneer become chewy?
After cooking, store-bought Paneer can become hard and chewy. After the pressure cooking process is complete, I fry the Paneer separately and add it to the Pulao. Alternatively, you can cube the paneer, soak it in warm water, and add it to the Pulao. Softening paneer can be achieved by soaking it in warm water.
Ingredients to make Paneer Peas Pulao
Paneer – I have used Store Bought Paneer in this recipe. You can use homemade Paneer too.
Green Peas – Frozen Green Peas or fresh green peas can be used.
Onion, Ginger Garlic Paste & Green Chilli – For Flavour and spice
Cumin Seeds, Bay Leaf, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Clove, Star Anise – These are the Whole Spices for the Pulao
Salt, Turmeric Powder, Kashmiri Chili Powder, Chili Powder & Garam Masala – The basic spice powders for Paneer Pulao
Ghee – To cook the spices and onion and to fry the paneer and cashews. Ghee is used for a nice flavour. You can use oil instead of ghee
Basmati Rice – Use Good Quality Long Grain Basmati Rice for the best results.
Coriander Leaves – For Garnishing
Water & Lemon Juice – Water to cook the rice and lemon juice for a final touch
How to make Paneer Peas Pulao in Instant Pot
Cut paneer into cubes. Add salt, turmeric powder, and Kashmiri Chili Powder to the paneer. Mix well and keep it aside.
Rinse and soak the Basmati Rice in enough water for 15 minutes. Drain the water after 15 mins and keep the rice aside.
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and add ghee. Once the ghee melts, add the paneer cubes, saute till golden brown and keep it aside. Next, add the cashews, saute till golden brown and keep it along with the roasted paneer.
To the same pot, add 1 tablespoon of ghee. Once the ghee melts, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, cumin seeds and star anise. Saute till the cumin seeds splutter and a pleasant aroma comes.
Add a thinly sliced onion and green chillies and saute till the colour of the onion slightly changes.
Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes away.
Next, add frozen green peas. Add salt, chilli powder, and garam masala. Mix once. Add water and rice. Adjust salt if needed.
Pressure cook for 6 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, manually release the remaining pressure.
Once you open the lid of the Instant Pot, add the paneer cubes and cashews to the Pulao. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and let it stay in warm mode for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, open the lid and gently stir the rice without breaking it.
Delicious Paneer Peas Pulao made in an Instant Pot is ready to be enjoyed. Serve hot with your choice of side dish.
Can I make Paneer Peas Pulao on the Stovetop?
Of course, yes. If you don’t own an Instant Pot, you can make this Paneer Peas Pulao on a stovetop pressure cooker. Follow the instructions above and cook the Pulao on a medium flame for two whistles. The rest of the steps remain the same.
Serving Suggestions for Paneer Pulao
Paneer Peas Pulao tastes the best when served with some simple raita. I usually prefer serving the Pulao with Onion Raita, Cucumber or Zucchini Raita. You can also serve Paneer Pulao and Okra Raita or Roasted Eggplant Raita.
A simple side dish like Bhindi Masala, Baby Corn Gravy or Mushroom Pepper Fry also goes well with Paneer Peas Rice.
Tips
The water ratio depends on the rice that you use. Some brands of rice require more water, while others may require lesser. I use India Gate Premium Basmati Rice or Tilda Basmati Rice. I prefer using 1 & ½ cups of water for cooking 1 cup of rice. Some people add only 1 cup of water, while others add 2 cups. It depends on the texture you prefer and the way your rice cooks.
For Paneer Pulao and Paneer Biryani, I always prefer frying the paneer cubes in ghee and adding it to the rice. If you do not want to do that, you can add the paneer cubes to the Pulao along with green peas and pressure cook them together.
Instead of frying the cashews and paneer cubes in the Instant Pot, you can fry them separately in a pan while the rice is cooking in the Instant Pot. I prefer frying them on a cast iron or nonstick pan for convenience. While the rice is cooking in the Instant Pot, I fry these on the stovetop and save time.
Coconut Milk can be added in place of water to enhance the flavour of this delicious Paneer Rice.
You can add carrots and green beans along with green peas. I wanted Paneer and Peas to dominate my pulao and hence did not add more vegetables.
Other Rice Recipes you may like
Thalappakatti Mushroom Biryani
Other Paneer Recipes you may like
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Recipe Card
Paneer Peas Pulao
Ingredients
- 250 grams Paneer
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 1 cup Frozen Green Peas
- 1 Onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic paste
- 2 Green Chillies
To fry the Paneer Cubes
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri Chili Powder
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
Whole Spices
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 2 Cardamom
- 1 Clove
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 Star Anise
Other Spice Powders
- 1 teaspoon Chilli Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- Salt as needed
Other Ingredients
- 20 Cashews
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 & ½ cups Water
- 3 tablespoon Chopped Cilantro
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, drain the rice and keep it aside.
- Cut the Paneer into cubes. Add salt, Kashmiri chili powder and turmeric powder. Mix well and keep it aside.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and add 2 tablespoon of ghee. Once the ghee melts, add the paneer cubes, saute till golden brown and keep it aside. Next, add the cashews, saute till golden brown and keep it along with the roasted paneer.
- Again, add 1 tablespoon Ghee to the pot. Once the ghee melts, add the whole spices. Saute for a minute.
- Add thinly sliced onion, and green chilli. Saute till onions slightly change in colour.
- Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes. To this, add frozen green peas.
- Add salt, garam masala and red chilli powder. Mix everything well.
- Now add water, and drained rice. Mix once. Add salt if needed.
- Close the Instant Pot with the lid. Pressure cook for 6 minutes. Make sure the pressure valve is in the sealing position.
- Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure manually.
- Add the fried paneer cubes, cashews, finely chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice to the cooked rice in the Instant Pot.
- Close the Instant Pot lid. Let it stay on Keep Warm mode for 5 minutes.
- Open the lid, gently stir the Paneer Pulao without breaking the rice.
- Serve hot with raita, side dish.